Thirteen video game titles in 11 events will be included in the esports category for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, as confirmed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
On February 6, 2025, the OCA’s Executive Board initially approved 11 titles to be featured in the upcoming Asian Games, which included Street Fighter 6, Pokemon UNITE, Honor of Kings, League of Legends (Asian Games Version), PUBG (Asian Games Version), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Dreams Three Kingdoms, Naraka: Bladepoint, Gran Turismo 7, eFootball Series, and Puyo Puyo Champions.
However, the final list of games was updated on February 22, 2025, retaining 11 medal events but has now included 13 titles.
Identity V (Asian Games Version) has replaced Dreams of Three Kingdoms. Street Fighter 6 will be joined by the Tekken Series and the King of Fighter Series to become a single-medal event under Competitive Martial Arts (Team Competition).
Among the listed esports events, the Philippines has the best chance to take the gold medal in Mobile Legends, as evidenced by the country’s performance in the MLBB World Championship, winning five of the last six, as well as three Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) gold medals.
Esports was first featured during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, as a demonstration sport, which included Arena of Valor (AOV), Clash Royale, League of Legends, Pro Evolution Soccer, and StarCraft II.
It would eventually be upgraded to an official medal event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, which featured EA Sports FC Online, Street Fighter V, Arena of Valor, Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, League of Legends, and PUBG mobile.
Among the titles featured during the last edition of the Asian Games, only League of Legends (won by South Korea) and PUBG mobile (won by China) were retained.