The OCA (Olympic Council Of Asia) previously announced that the 19th Asian Games was postponed due to COVID-19, but now they have finally revealed the new dates for the upcoming first-ever Asian Games to feature esports as a medal sport. The 19th Asian Games will take place in Hangzhou, China, from 23 September to 8 October 2023.

According to a press release by the AESF (Asian Electronic Sports Federation), they fully support the decision by the OCA and the relevant parties to postpone the Games to a date to 2023. The AESF has also reassured that the Road to Asian Games (RDAG) Regionals 2022 are still on track to be conducted in 2022 through to 2023.

The Road to Asian Games (RDAG) Regionals 2022 was originally announced in May 2022. Malaysians who are interested can register themselves via the Olympic Council Of Malaysia offical website. However, at the time of writing, there are no details or a way to register yet. Perhaps these will be added in the near future.

The 2022 Asian Games will make history by having esports featured as an official medal sports event for the first time in history. This is following the debut of esports at the Asian Games in 2018 as a demonstration sport.

The confirmed games at the 2022 Asian Games so far include:

1. Arena of Valor (Asian Games Version)
2. DOTA 2
3. Dream Three Kingdoms 2
4. EA SPORTS FIFA branded soccer games
5. HearthStone
6. League of Legends
7. PUBG Mobile (Asian Games Version)
8. Street Fighter V

However, it is likely that these games will probably change, since the Asian Games has been postponed a full year later. For instance, by then Street Fighter 6 will probably already have been released and have replaced Street Fighter 5 as Capcom’s main fighting game. A lot can happen in a year, especially in the esports and games industry.

Stay tuned on Kakuchopurei for any future updates on esports and the 19th Asian Games.