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Asian Games 2022 has massive potential as far as esports is concerned. After a successful pilot event last year, this year's Asian Games was set to be hosting esports as a medal category event. That was the original plan, which has now been affected by COVID-19.
On April 6, organizers announced that this year's games would be postponed indefinitely. This will surely disappoint fans of games like PUBG Mobile, League of Legends and DOTA 2, all of which are eligible titles.
In 2018, the Asian Games organized esports as a separate pilot event, which was highly successful. Events like the Asian Games and the Olympics are constantly trying to engage the younger demographic and esports has emerged as the perfect option. However, the plans will have to be shelved for now with news of a delay.
Asian Games 2022 indefinitely delayed
The Asian Games 2022 is scheduled to be hosted by the Chinese city of Hanzhou. The original plans would have seen the event occur between September 10 - 25. However, the plans have now been halted based on a decision taken by the Olympic Council of Asia.
The biggest reason for disappointment will surely come from the players, fans, and esports. Titles like PUBG Mobile, League of Legends, DOTA 2 and more have been kept in the categories as players from different countries in Asia will contest against each other.
While this will upset a lot of players and fans, the decision is expected to a large extent. Earlier in April, it was announced that there could be a possible delay. This is due to the current COVID situation in China.
Hangzhou is closest to one of the most densely populated cities in the world in the form of Shanghai. The city is witnessing one of the worst outbreaks and has caused a massive strain on the authorities. This is why the decision has been made, as was anticipated by all those involved for some time now.
A fresh set of dates isn't yet known, but fans should be hopeful. All the required facilities for the different esports events have already been built and allocated. Hence, it will be a matter of time, and once the situation is tackled, the hopes will be for the resumption quite soon.
The Asian Games 2022 at Hangzhou is a huge moment for esports. The Commonwealth Games 2022 will also be hosting esports as a pilot event. There has been speculation about esports being included in the Olympics in the future.
Fans will hope that normalcy returns as soon as possible so nations can compete across the different categories at the Asian Games 2022.
