Eight esports titles, including League of Legends, DOTA 2, and FIFA, will be debuting as medal events at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, the Olympic Council of Asia has announced.
Esports will make their official debut at the Asian Games in 2022 with eight games, according to a press release from the Olympic Council of Asia.
League of Legends, DOTA 2, FIFA, and Street Fighter V are among the games that have been selected as official competitions for the prestigious multi-sport event, which will be held from September 10 to 25 in Hangzhou, located in the Chinese province of Zhejiang.
Medal event esports
In 2018, esports appeared at the Asian Games in Jakarta as demonstration events. Six titles were chosen to showcase the discipline: Arena of Valor, Clash Royale, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Pro Evolution Soccer, and Starcraft II. As demonstration events, the medals awarded did not count towards the final medal tallies.
China topped the unofficial medal standings with gold medals in Arena of Valor and League of Legends, as well as a silver medal in Clash Royale.
Now esports will take their place amongst the official medal events. Eight titles will be contested at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, according to the Olympic Council of Asia:
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- Arena of Valor
- Dota 2
- Dream Three Kingdom 2
- FIFA
- HearthStone
- League of Legends
- PUGB Mobile
- Street Fighter V
.@lolesports will be a medal sport in the 2022 Asian Games👇https://t.co/ug2ub3xkmm pic.twitter.com/vOg3VL0lxx
— David Higdon (@davidhigdon) September 8, 2021
The decision to add esports to the Asian Games was made in December 2020 at the OCA General Assembly and allows players the chance to represent their nation on the biggest regional sporting stage.
- Read More: From VALORANT pro to Paralympic gold
This official inclusion of esports is also likely to reignite debate as to whether esports should be admitted into the Olympics.