Asian Games Adds FIFA To Game Range Alongside Behemoths LoL And Dota
The Asian Games will be recognising esports as medal events for the first time, with eight titles being added including FIFA.
Predominantly a title in Europe and North America, FIFA will compliment behemoth titles that are popular in Asia, such as League of Legends, Dota 2, and Hearthstone.
The Games, held by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), will be the first Olympic tournament to recognise esports as a medal-worthy event.
Held in Hangzhou, China, in September 2022, the Asian Games will allow the elite players in the following eight titles to compete to be crowned regional champions on an Olympic scale.
The eight esports in the 2022 Asian Games are:
- Arena of Valor Asian Games version
- Dota 2
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2
- FIFA 22
- Hearthstone
- League of Legends
- PUBG Mobile Asian Games version
- Street Fighter V
Hong Kong-based Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) will be the “technical delegate” for the Asian Games, according to the OCA, where they will be responsible for the management and operations of all eight esports - including qualification processes.
In previous years, esports has been a non-medal event, also known as "demonstration sports", which included Pro Evolution Soccer over FIFA and mobile title Clash Royale.
This time around, two additional esports will be added as demonstration sports: Robot Masters and VR Sports.
With the esports being played out on an international scale, each country will field a team in the respective titles, meaning that we might not see the typical teams that we're used to seeing in the regions. For example, representatives in the League of Legends' LCK could stick together, or form an all-star team to take on their counterparts in China.
The significance of the medals will also reflect on the esports athletes' mandatory military service, for the applicable countries, who often exempt the medalists from having to join their armed forces.
As a huge step forward for esports in Asia, the news comes just weeks after China strangely added harsh restrictions on gaming for players under the age of eighteen - restricting them to just three hours a week.