Electronic sports will be an official medal event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China after the Olympic Council of Asia, the governing body of sports in the continent, inked a strategic partnership with Chinese sports group Alisports, a division of the Alibaba group, on Wednesday.
As part the terms of the partnership, electronic sports or e-sports will be a demonstration event at the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in September and also at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. By the 2022 edition, it will become an official medal sport, “reflecting the rapid development and popularity of this new form of sports participation among the youth”.
While there is no confirmation on what e-sport titles will be played in 2022, the release announced that FIFA 2017, MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) and RTA (Real Time Attack) gaming types would be contested at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.
Electronic sports are a growing industry and its revenues in 2016 were estimated at $ 99.6 billion-plus in 2016.