Esports at the 2026 Asian Games
Video game sports events
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The esports tournament at the 2026 Asian Games is being held between 22 September and 2 October 2026 at Aichi International Exhibition Center.[1][2][3]
| Esports at the 2026 Asian Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Aichi International Exhibition Center Hall D |
| Location | Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan |
| Dates | 22 September – 2 October 2026 |
| Competitors | 537 from 29 nations |
Background
On 8 July 2023, the Olympic Council of Asia officially added esports to the 2026 Asian Games calendar with the Japan Esports Union and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation as co-organizers.[4]
In November 2024, the OCA was planning to remove esports from the Asian Games with plans to create a separate competition for non-traditional sports including chess and card games.[5]
On 6 February 2025, the OCA's executive board approved 11 video game titles for the esports tournament,[6] and finalised on 22 February 2025 with an updated line-up, which included 13 video game titles in 11 events.[7]
Schedule
The schedule is as follows:[2][8]
| P | Preliminary rounds | E | Elimination stage | ¼ | Quarter-finals | ½ | Semifinals | F | Finals |
| Event↓/Date → | 22nd Tue | 23rd Wed | 24th Thu | 25th Fri | 26th Sat | 27th Sun | 28th Mon | 29th Tue | 30th Wed | 1st Thu | 2nd Fri | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eFootball | P | ¼ | ½ | F | N/a | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gran Turismo 7 | P | ½ | F | N/a | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Honor of Kings | N/a | P | ¼ | ½ | F | N/a | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Naraka: Bladepoint | N/a | P | ½ | F | N/a | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Puyo Puyo Champions | N/a | P | ¼ | ½ | F | N/a | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Identity V | N/a | P | ¼ | ½ | F | N/a | ||||||||||||||||||||
| League of Legends | N/a | P | ½ | F | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | N/a | P | ¼ | ½ | F | N/a | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pokémon Unite | N/a | P | ¼ | ½ | F | N/a | ||||||||||||||||||||
| PUBG Mobile | N/a | E | E | F | N/a | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Competitive Martial Arts[a] | N/a | P | ¼ | ½ | F | N/a | ||||||||||||||||||||
Games
The following are the events and the corresponding game titles and platforms for the esports competition for the 2026 Asian Games.[9]
| Event / Game title | Platform | No. of players | |
|---|---|---|---|
| eFootball | PC | 2 (Team; one player per platform) | |
| Mobile | |||
| Gran Turismo 7 | PlayStation 5 | 1 (Single) | |
| Honor of Kings | Mobile | 5 (Team) | |
| Naraka: Bladepoint | PC | Team | |
| Puyo Puyo Champions | PC | 1 (Single) | |
| Identity V | Mobile | 7 (Team) | |
| League of Legends | PC | 5 (Team) | |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | Mobile | 5 (Team) | |
| Pokémon Unite | Nintendo Switch | 6 (Team) | |
| PUBG Mobile | Mobile | 5 (Team) | |
| Fighting games | Street Fighter 6 | PlayStation 5 | 3 (Team; one player per title) |
| Tekken 8 | |||
| The King of Fighters XV | |||
Qualification
Qualification tournaments were held for six events covering six video game titles in Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.[10]
| Games | Date | Venue | Teams qualified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity V[11] | 30 May–1 June 2026 |  Singapore |
 China Chinese Taipei Hong Kong Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines South Korea Thailand Vietnam |
| Naraka: Bladepoint[12] | 4–5 June 2026 | China Chinese Taipei Hong Kong Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam | |
| League of Legends | 12–14 June 2026 | Kuala Lumpur |
Chinese Taipei Hong Kong India Malaysia Saudi Arabia South Korea United Arab Emirates Vietnam |
| Honor of Kings | 13–21 June 2026 | China Hong Kong Indonesia Kazakhstan Laos Malaysia Myanmar Nepal Philippines South Korea Thailand Vietnam | |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang[13] | 18–21 June 2026 | Singapore |
 Cambodia Hong Kong Indonesia Iran Jordan Kazakhstan Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Philippines Saudi Arabia Uzbekistan |
| PUBG Mobile | 19–21 June 2026 | Ho Chi Minh City |
China Chinese Taipei Indonesia Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Myanmar Nepal Pakistan South Korea Thailand Vietnam |
Medalists
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| eFootball |
|||
| Gran Turismo 7 |
Taj Izrin Aiman Taj Madira Malaysia |
Naif Al-Faleh Saudi Arabia |
Kim Young-chan South Korea |
| Honor of Kings |
|||
| Naraka: Bladepoint |
|||
| Puyo Puyo Champions |
|||
| Identity V |
|||
| League of Legends |
|||
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
|||
| Pokémon Unite |
|||
| PUBG Mobile |
|||
| Competitive Martial Arts[a] |
Medal table
* Host nation (Japan)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malaysia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | South Korea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
Participating nations
Bahrain (6)
Cambodia (6)
China (23)
Chinese Taipei (33)
Hong Kong (43)
Indonesia (34)
India (15)[14]
Iran (3)
Japan (25) (hosts)
Jordan (15)
Kazakhstan (25)
Kyrgyzstan (3)
Laos (5)
Malaysia (44)
Mongolia (9)
Myanmar (17)
Pakistan (8)
Palestine (5)
Philippines (30)
Qatar (3)
Saudi Arabia (18)
Singapore (8)
South Korea (36)
Syria (3)
Tajikistan (3)
Thailand (29)
United Arab Emirates (13)
Uzbekistan (12)
Vietnam (23)
Notes
- Covers three titles: Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, The King of Fighters XV – This is a team competition with only one medal to be awarded.[7][9]