All plugged in for Asiad debut
A year after the historic decision to include e-sports as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games, the nature of the competition is starting to take focus.
The Asian E-sports Federation on Monday revealed the identity of six games to be used in the Asiad in Indonesia. The list features three individual events: real-time strategy classic StarCraft 2, collectible card hits Clash Royals and Hearthstone; and three team events: Pro Evolution Soccer, multiplayer online battlefield arena romp League of Legends (LOL) and Arena of Valor, an international version of Tencent’s homegrown hit King of Glory.
Although the titles have been confirmed, many details, such as qualification procedures and tournament structure, remain unclear, leaving many countries uncertain if they are ready to enter the competition.
“E-sports events are currently all professional tournaments, such as the LOL Pro League (LPL), China’s toplevel professional league for LOL, and they are based on professional e-sports clubs,” said Yang Zitao, a former pro gamer who is now an e-sports broadcaster and e-sports content manager of Ecosports.
“However, for events like the Asian Games, we need national teams. National e-sports federations are facing different situations. Under these circumstances, questions remain about how countries will assemble their national teams.
“Take League of Legends as an example. Success is measured by players’ years-long cooperation and strong sense of teamwork.
“It might be a good idea to select national teams directly from club teams. Another problem is that some top club teams in China are formed by multinational players.”
Since last Friday, prestigious Chinese club Royal Never Giveup, as the winner of LPL spring season, has been representing China at the LOL Mid-Season Invitational in Berlin, a tournament featuring teams from 13 regions competing for cash and global ranking.
Despite the lack of clarity, fans should look forward to the Games as a milestone for gaming, given it is the first time e-sports is being recognized at a major traditional sporting event.
Barring any major hitches, e-sports will then be listed as an official sport for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games — completing an arduous journey that began four years ago when South Korea tried and failed to add e-sports as an event for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
Quite simply, the e-sports phenomenon has become too big to be ignored anymore, while new Asian E-sports Federation president Kenneth Fok Kaikong deserves a lot of credit for the breakthrough.
Next on Fok’s agenda is getting the Olympics to take notice.
“We have to make e-sports embrace the Olympic spirit,” said Fok.
“We need to promote the positive values of traditional sports and try our best to deal with the reservations some have over e-sports’ supposed violent content.
“We need to regulate it and have an industry code.”