The Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2022 will feature eSports on top of the traditional physical games. As such, eSports is making its official debut, and the winners will get a medal. There will be eight events where medals are waiting for the champions and two demonstration games.
The organizers announced the games, and they will take place in September 2022. The organizers are in close contact with the Asian Electronic Sports Federation.
The game titles are:
- EA Sports FIFA
- League of Legends
- Street Fighter
- Area of Valor
By definition, eSports include contemporary games only. There will also be PUBG, but the games will have an Asian version. For medals, players will duke it out on Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, and Hearthstone.
For the two demonstration events, spectators will witness games for Robot Masters and VR Sports, both of which are powered by Migu.
In Jakarta last 2018, eSports was only featured as a demonstration. The events for eSports had no medals associated with them.
The games featured in 2018 were:
- Clash Royale
- Hearthstone
- Pro Evolution Soccer
- Arena of Valor
- League of Legends
- StarCraft II
Asian Games Details
Here are some of the key information people need to know about the upcoming Asian Games:
- Opening Ceremony – September 10, 2022
- Closing Ceremony – September 25, 2022
- Host City – Hangzhou
In total, there will be 482 events to watch out for in 61 disciplines.
Overall, there will be 37 sports in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Of all these, 28 are games in the Olympics.
As of 22, Asian Games is the 19th of its run. The Olympic Council of Asia, or the OCA, made the right call to include eSports. It is the first time in the history of the organization when eSports will be a medal-winning event. Although eSports was merely a demonstration game in the past, it is now officially recognized as a sport. In other sporting organizations, eSports was already a medal-winning category.
Back in 2019, in the Southeast Asian Games, they also featured games as a demo only. These games were Tekken, StarCraft II, Hearthstone and others.
It has been a while now that the International Olympics Committee has had dialogues about adding eSports as a category. It has been that way for many years, and the discussion keeps popping up when the Olympics is drawing near.
The eSports industry has been gaining momentum for a long while, and it is high time that the council officially recognizes it as part of the Olympics. Unfortunately, the Asian Games is seemingly an experimental event. Its success will determine whether eSports shall be considered for the actual Olympics. Fans can only wait and see what is in store for the future of eSports.
Attracting Volunteers
As of December, the organizers have been active in their recruitment efforts for the 19th Asian Games. They have over 220,000 applicants for volunteer work, according to the HAGOC, the organizing committee of the event. College students comprise 67% of the applications. There are many applicants who can speak minority languages, and they account for 15,000 of the total applicants.
From November this year until April of 2022, the volunteers will go through a selection process. They will undergo online screening, tests and interviews both on the site and online. The tests include English proficiency and psychological evaluations.
Once chosen, the volunteers will perform 13 kinds of services. These services are all there to ensure that the games run smoothly. In addition, the volunteers will take responsibility for welcoming the guests, seeing them off and providing language support.
Some will be part of the concierge, and others will take care of the registration process. In addition, some volunteers will do transportation work, accommodation and logistics.
Out of all the applicants, the organizers will only choose 52,000. They will get their deployments in Hangzhou. Some will be assigned to other cities like Ningbo, Shaoxing, Junhua, and Wenzhou.
At this point, the press accreditation is already open. The committee released a guide on November 26. There is a deadline for the application process, and people in the media industry need to comply with the expectations.
The deadline is April 30 next year; the organization will release pre-valid accreditation cards by the 10th of June. All the cards will go through validation upon arrival in Hangzhou. It gives the recipients multiple entries to China between August 11 and October 10.
The guide is the first edition, but changes will certainly come. According to HAGOC, they will update the guide to reflect changes in the processes, all of which rely on the developments of the event.
Meanwhile, in the world of sports betting, it is almost certainly guaranteed that sites like https://gg.bet/en-ca/casino will have something for the fans. The 19th Asian Games is a big event that marks the recognition of eSports, and the stakes are high.
Surely, betting odds will make the rounds on the internet, and betting experts need to be in tune as to the line-up of the players. In addition, analyses and reviews of past performances will flood the industry, so everyone must stay tuned to further news.
