Asian Games 2023 esports: How to watch EA Sports FC Online, full schedule, format at 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou
Discover the format, full schedule and how to watch the debut of EA Sports FC Online, a virtual football game, as an esports medal event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Esports is due to make its debut as a medal sport at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou, taking place from 23 September to 8 October 2023.
Seven events are on the calendar, including EA Sports FC Online – a massive multiplayer online (MMO) football game formerly known as FIFA Online 4 until a recent split between game developer EA Sports and football's world governing body. The game was released only in Asia, and runs on the AI engine developed for EA Sports' FIFA 17 game.
Some 36 players representing 22 teams will compete at the 5,000-capacity China Hangzhou Esports Centre from 24 to 27 September for the right to be crowned the inaugural Asian Games champion in EA Sports FC Online.
Here's what you need to know about the event.
EA Sports FC Online (formerly FIFA Online 4) format at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou
In Hangzhou, the 36 players will compete in a modified double-elimination tournament.
With two key exceptions, players will have to lose two games to be knocked out from the competition. The exceptions are the qualification round, where the eight lowest-ranked players will play a single match against one of the other seven for the right to qualify to the main draw (and the four losers are sent home), as well as the gold medal final, where the loser ends up with silver even if they have not previously lost a match.
This means that any player who loses a match in the main bracket from the round of 32 up to the winners' bracket final will drop into a lower losers' bracket. A loss in a losers' bracket match will mean elimination. By continuing to win in the losers' bracket a player can still reach the bracket final.
The loser of the losers' bracket final will win bronze, while the winner advances to the gold medal final to play the winner of the winners' bracket final, with gold and silver awarded in that match.
Every round will be played as a best-of-three.
Losers' bracket round format:
- Losers' bracket round 1: 16 losers from main bracket round of 32
- Losers' bracket round 2: eight winners from losers' bracket round 1 and eight losers from winners' bracket round 1
- Losers' bracket round 3: eight winners from losers' bracket round 2
- Losers' bracket round 4: four winners from losers' bracket round 3 and four losers from winners' bracket round 2
- Losers' bracket round 5: four winners from losers' bracket round 4
- Losers' bracket round 6: two winners from losers' bracket round 5 and two losers from winners' bracket round 3
- Losers' bracket round 7: two winners from losers' bracket round 6
- Losers' bracket final (winner of this match qualifies for gold medal final, loser takes bronze): Winner from losers' bracket round 7 and loser of winners' bracket final
Schedule of EA Sports FC Online esports matches at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou
All times China Standard Time (UTC +8 hours)
Sunday, 24 September
- 09:00 – Qualification matches
- 10:30 – Round of 32 matches (main bracket)
- 14:00 – Losers' bracket round 1 matches, winners' bracket round 1 matches
- 15:30 – Losers' bracket round 2 matches, winners' bracket round 2 matches
- 19:00 – Losers' bracket round 3 matches, winners' bracket round 3 matches
- 20:30 – Losers' bracket round 4 matches
Monday, 25 September
- 09:00 – Losers' bracket round 5 matches
- 10:30 – Losers' bracket round 6 matches
- 19:00 – Losers' bracket round 7 match
- 20:30 – Winners' bracket final
Wednesday, 27 September
- 19:00 – Losers' bracket final (loser wins bronze; winner moves on)
- 20:30 – Final (gold-medal match)
How to watch esports at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou in 2023
To watch the 19th Asian Games held in 2023, you can tune into the various TV broadcasters and on-demand streaming services provided by the broadcasters. The list includes:
- CCTV in China
- TBS in Japan
- Sony LIV (Sony Sports Network) in India
- MediaCorp Channel 5 and mewatch.sg in Singapore
- MNCTV, RCTI, iNews TV, and Vision+ in Indonesia
- KBS, MBC, SBS, and TV Chosun in the Republic of Korea
- OneSports in Philippines
- RTM and Astro in Malaysia