For the first time in the history of League of Legends, the game is included as an official competition at the Asian Games. Including LoL in the Asian Games medal table demonstrates a breakthrough for esports.
League of Legends at the Asian Games
At the 2022 Asian Games, the best LoL athletes will compete to win an important medal. Undoubtedly, this is the most important LoL competition to date, remembering that the Asian Games have an Olympic character.
The LoL competitions will occur from September 25 until September 29, 2023. It is important to note that all LoL battles will occur in patch 13.12.
Faker at the 2023 Asian Games so far (Korean athletes taking photos with him) 😭🤣 #페이커 pic.twitter.com/hzORFTINI6
— ky (@keriyusi) September 23, 2023
The introduction of esports
The Asian Games is a continental multi-sport competition between athletes across Asia, held every four years. The International Olympic Committee recognizes this event as the second most important multi-sport competition after the Olympic Games. The 2022 edition will welcome esports as an official medal sport for the first time. National teams chosen by the 45 members of the Olympic Council of Asia are anticipated to compete in this event.
Like LoL, other esports were chosen to be part of this edition of the Asian Games. The other esports that will be played in this competition are:
- Arena of Valor
- Dota 2
- Dream Three Kingdoms 2
- EA SPORTS FC Online
- PUBG Mobile
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
League of Legends
As mentioned, this event will be the biggest League of Legends inter-nation event. In the Asian Games, we will see the confrontation between 15 nations in an express tournament before the Worlds. It is important to note that the competition will occur over five days. Remember that Olympic competitions usually last only a few days in most disciplines.
The length of the tournament will not be the only surprise for LoL fans. Given the formality of this event, the commentators must be very correct regarding the narration. For example, some of the most noticeable changes in the broadcasts are that the narrators will have to refer to players by their first name and to refer to kills, they will have to say dots. Another detail we should mention is that the competition will occur in patch 13.12, which is another oddity. However, this is because the first qualifiers started to be played with this version, and the tournament should be finished with this one.
Now, each match will be available on various TV channels and on different online platforms such as AfreecaTV or Bilibili. In addition, the broadcasts will be available in the different languages of the Asian nations.