Advertisement
Esports
Tech

Esports debuts as official medal event at Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games

  • After debuting at the 2018 Asian Games as a demonstration sport featuring titles like League of Legends, esports wins approval as an official event
  • Esports still faces an uncertain future in the Olympics

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The Indonesian team competes in an esports match as an exhibition sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on August 28, 2018. Photo: AFP
Karen Chiu

Esports will become an official medal event in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2022, marking a first for the multi-sports tournament and a major step forward for competitive gaming.

Advertisement

The move was confirmed by the Hangzhou organising committee on its Weibo account on Wednesday.

Esports was first included as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Six titles were featured: Arena of Valor, Hearthstone, League of Legends, StarCraft II, Clash Royale and Pro Evolution Soccer 2018. China took home two golds while Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan each took one.

The gaming community had expected the incorporation of esports as a sporting event in the Hangzhou Games after the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced in 2017 a partnership with Alibaba’s sports arm, Alisports. But the journey was not without hiccups.

(Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.)

Advertisement
When the OCA unveiled its initial list of medal sports for the 2022 games, esports was conspicuously absent. It left esports advocates in the region scrambling to petition for its inclusion.
The China esports team play Taiwan in an Arena of Valor exhibition match at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on August 26, 2018. Photo: AP
The China esports team play Taiwan in an Arena of Valor exhibition match at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on August 26, 2018. Photo: AP
Advertisement