Esports make historic medal debut at 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou
Seven sets of medals are on offer in esports’ first appearance as a medal sport at an Asian Games, ranging from the likes of EA Sports FC Online (formerly FIFA4 Online) to classic esports favourite League of Legends.
It is the time of esports.
Just three months after the inaugural Olympic Esports Series, seven game titles will be official medal events at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, in an Asian Games first.
The sport was given full medal status at a meeting of the Olympic Council of Asia in 2017, with esports appearing at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, as demonstration events.
It builds on esports’ prior appearances at the Asian Indoor Games from 2007 to 2013 as a medal event (and in 2017 as a demonstration event), as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Esports Championships, held in parallel with that year’s Commonwealth Games as a demonstration event.
Esports, which has a big footprint in Asia especially in mobile games, is expected to be one of the most popular spectator events at the Asian Games.
Tickets to the esports events, to be held at the China Hangzhou Esports Centre, have been sold through a ballot lottery due to its popularity. Nearly every session of esports competition is expected to be a 5,000 sell-out.
“Asian esports has become a thriving industry, unleashing enormous potential and connecting people from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries,” Asian Esports Federation president Huo Qigang has previously told media.
Game titles involved in esports at 2022 Asian Games in 2023
The seven events being held in esports at the Hangzhou Asian Games are:
- Arena of Valor Asian Games Version
- EA Sports FC Online (formerly known as FIFA Online 4)
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
- League of Legends
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2
- Peace Elite Asian Games Version (also known as PUBG Mobile)
- DOTA2
Teams and players to watch in 2023 Asian Games esports
Teams from hosts China as well as the Republic of Korea are expected to dominate in the esports categories.
The super-popular League of Legends player Lee “Faker” Sanghyeok from the T1 esports team will be in action in the LoL event for the Republic of Korea. He is one of 16 South Korean esports players on the team, with any gold medal winners given an exemption from otherwise-compulsory military service required of South Korean men.
In the Street Fighter V tournament, Thailand will be able to call on Thum “MindRPG” Homchuen – the winner of the Street Fighter VI exhibition tournament at the Olympic Esports Series in Singapore in June.
Competition schedule of esports at 2023 Asian Games
All times China Standard Time (UTC +8 hours)
Sunday 24 September
- Arena of Valor Asian Games Version group stages, quarter-finals
- EA Sports FC Online qualification, round of 32, losers’ bracket round 1, winners’ bracket round 1, losers’ bracket round 2, winners’ bracket round 2, losers’ bracket round 3, winners’ bracket round 3, losers’ bracket round 4
Monday 25 September
- Arena of Valor Asian Games Version semi-finals
- EA Sports FC Online losers’ bracket round 5, losers’ bracket round 6, losers’ bracket round 7, winners’ bracket final
- League of Legends group stages
Tuesday 26 September
- League of Legends group stages
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition qualification, round of 32, losers’ bracket round 1, winners’ bracket round 1, losers’ bracket round 2, winners’ bracket round 2, losers’ bracket round 3, winners’ bracket round 3, losers’ bracket round 4, losers’ bracket round 5, losers’ bracket round 6
- 14:00 – Arena of Valor Asian Games Version bronze medal match
- 19:00 – Arena of Valor Asian Games Version final
Wednesday 27 September
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2 group stages
- League of Legends quarter-finals
- Peace Elite Asian Games Version qualification
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition losers’ bracket round 7, winners’ bracket final
- 19:00 – EA Sports FC Online losers’ bracket final
- 20:30 – EA Sports FC Online final
Thursday 28 September
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2 quarter-finals
- League of Legends semi-finals
- Peace Elite Asian Games Version preliminary rounds 1 and 2 (four groups)
- 19:00 – Street Fighter V: Champion Edition losers’ bracket final
- 20:20 – Street Fighter V: Champion Edition final
Friday 29 September
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2 semi-finals
- Peace Elite Asian Games Version round of 16 eliminations (four groups)
- DOTA2 group stages
- 14:00 – League of Legends bronze medal match
- 19:00 – League of Legends final
Saturday 30 September
- Peace Elite Asian Games Version semi-finals (two groups)
- DOTA2 quarter-finals
- 14:00 – Dream Three Kingdoms 2 bronze medal match
- 19:00 – Dream Three Kingdoms 2 final
Sunday 1 October
- DOTA2 semi-finals
- 19:00 – Peace Elite Asian Games Version final
Monday 2 October
- 14:00 – DOTA2 bronze medal match
- 19:00 – DOTA2 final
How to watch esports at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou
To watch the 2022 Asian Games held in 2023, you can tune into the various TV broadcasters and on-demand streaming 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