LoL pros to compete for gold medals at 2022 Asian Games

The Olympic Council of Asia announced today that esports pros will compete for official medals in eight of the 10 videogame titles that will be present at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. This will be the first time in the Asian Games’ 18-year history that esports will be an official medal event.

.@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

Eight esports will be eligible for medals at the 2022 Asian Games

In a statement posted to the OCA’s website, it was revealed that eight games will be eligible for medals. These titles will reflect the popularity and growth of esports in China and other parts of Asia as a whole. Two additional titles will be demonstration games. The medal-eligible titles are Arena of Valor (Asian Games Version), Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, FIFA, Hearthstone, League of Legends, PUBG Mobile (Asian Games Version) and Street Fighter V. The demo titles will be AESF Robot Masters and AESF VR Sports. Both titles are powered by Migu, a subsidiary of state-owned Chinese telecommunications giant China Mobile.

The Director-General of the OCA, Husain Al-Musallam, stated that he hopes the timing of the event will allow participating players and teams enough time to prepare for upcoming qualifier stages.

“I believe we have ticked all the right boxes ensuring a high level of competition which promises great viewing for enthusiasts and casuals alike,” said Al-Musallam. “We at the OCA are looking forward to working closely with our friends at the Asian Electronic Sports Federation and the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee to ensure a successful execution of the esports event at the 2022 Asian Games.”

Esports at the Asian Games

Esports first debuted at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia as an unofficial exhibition sport; the OCA General Assembly added esports to the event’s sports program in 2020. However, this will be the first time in Asian Games history that esports will be an official medal event.

Talent from competitive League of Legends regions China, South Korea and Vietnam notably participated in the 2018 Asian Games. China went on to win the tournament. The winning team consisted of former Royal Never Give Up top laner Yan “Letme” Jun-Ze, former RNG jungler Liu “Mlxg” Shi-Yu, LGD mid laner Su “Xiye” Han-Wei, former RNG bot laner Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao and EDward Gaming support Tian “Meiko” Ye.