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At the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, e-sports was officially included in the Asian Games for the first time, marking another important milestone in the history of e-sports. At that time, a total of seven games were selected for the Asian Games, and the Chinese team won four golds and one bronze in six of the events, becoming the pride of countless Chinese people.

In the same year, e-sports was once again selected for the 20th Asian Games, becoming an official event of the "Aichi Nagoya Asian Games" to be held in Nagoya, Japan from September 19, 2026 to October 4, 2026. Which games will be selected as official events has always been a topic of concern for players and peers.

Recently, GameLook learned through Hero Sports VSPO that Hero Sports Chairman Ying Shuling has successfully served as the leader of the Nagoya Asian Games E-sports Working Group - it is this working group that will be responsible for the screening of e-sports events for the 20th Asian Games.

It is reported that the Nagoya Asian Games E-sports Working Group was appointed by Raja Randhir Singh, Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia and Chairman of the Sports, E-sports and Wushu Committee, and has three members. In addition to Ying Shuling, there is also a member from Hong Kong, China, Carlos Tang Jiahe, and Hideki Okamura from Japan.

Among them, Ying Shuling and Okamura Hideki are both members of the first Olympic Council of Asia e-sports committee. The so-called Olympic Council of Asia is responsible for coordinating sports activities between Asian countries and regions to ensure the smooth holding of the Asian Games held every four years. There are 19 standing committees such as the e-sports and e-martial arts committees, which aim to provide advice to the Olympic Council of Asia.

Ying Shuling is well-known to domestic game industry peers. He is not only the founder of Hero Sports, but also the founder of Hero Games. Okamura Hideki was once a senior executive of SEGA and is currently the chairman of the Japan Esports League. This is Japan's first national esports league and the official management body of Japanese esports.

As GameLook once pointed out, when e-sports truly becomes a global event, the game relationships involved are intricate and complex. As e-sports enters Asia on a regular basis, Chinese people have become the leaders of the e-sports working group responsible for selecting competition items, which means that Chinese e-sports has once again taken a crucial step in the future struggle for discourse power.

    It is not only a selection of events, but also a positive game

Ying Shuling's election as the head of the Nagoya Asian Games e-sports working group means that the Chinese will become one of the makers of the e-sports rules for the next Asian Games. They will have more say in the direct game and will be able to strive for more participation for Chinese companies, Chinese players and Chinese audiences.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games, there were seven games as official competition events. Four of them were Tencent games, and the remaining three were from Dianhun Network, Perfect World, and Capcom. It can be said that the reason why the Chinese team was able to achieve four golds and one bronze is inseparable from the heavy participation of Chinese manufacturers.

For example, due to the lack of attention and the lack of domestic operators, "Street Fighter 5" became the only official event absent from the Chinese team; or because Blizzard games were completely shut down in China at that time, the Hangzhou Asian Games officially cancelled the "Hearthstone" event.

It can be said that the games selected for the Asian Games e-sports are the direct competitive strength of the Chinese team in hitting the podium. Therefore, when Chinese people have the right to speak, it means that a certain number of Chinese games can be selected for the Furuya Asian Games, helping Chinese players to gain the first-mover advantage.

From another perspective, although Japan has always lagged behind other parts of Asia in the field of e-sports, in order to promote the growth and development of Japanese e-sports, Japan's three major organizations (the Japan Electronic Sports Association (JeSA), the Electronic Sports Promotion Organization (EPO) and the Japan Electronic Sports Federation (JeSF)) established the Japan E-Sports Union (JeSU) in 2018.

According to the information on the official website of the Japan Esports Union, there are only 18 games that have been certified by the organization (only JeSU-certified game competitions offer cash prizes) as of July 2024, including "eFootball", "COD", "Street Fighter 6", "DNF", "Dead or Alive 6", "TEPPEN", "Monster Strike", "Puzzle & Dragons", "Rainbow Six", etc.

The joining of Hideki Okamura is to help Japanese e-sports players have the opportunity to show their talents on the international stage. Therefore, the above-mentioned events are likely to be selected for the Nagoya Asian Games. But to be honest, these related events are less commercialized in China and are not the game events that Chinese players are good at.

Fortunately, with Ying Shuling becoming the leader of the e-sports working group responsible for screening competition events, regrets such as the collective disappearance of the Chinese team in "Street Fighter 5" can be greatly reduced.

In the longer term, as e-sports' inclusion in Asia becomes more normalized and its inclusion in the Olympics is imminent, when more Chinese people take part in the formulation of rules for the Asian Games' e-sports events, helping the Chinese team continue to be active in global events will also directly inject confidence into the long-term development of China's e-sports industry.

    Sounding the charge for entering the Olympics, helping Chinese people gain a foothold in the wave of e-sports globalization

Since e-sports entered the Asian Games, it has been getting closer and closer to traditional sports such as basketball and football. However, if e-sports wants to continue to expand its influence and be recognized by the public at home and abroad, the first thing to do when selecting e-sports projects is to solve the viewing experience. In this regard, the core team of Hero Sports has led and successfully hosted and participated in important events such as Gamers8, KPL, PEL, and PCL.

In June 2023, Hero Sports and IMG Group will jointly be responsible for the live broadcast of all categories of competitions at the first Olympic Esports Week. At last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, Hero Sports was responsible for the production of international public signals for all categories of esports competitions. This year's first Esports World Cup is co-organized by Hero Sports.

There are significant differences between e-sports and traditional sports in live broadcast production. For example, multi-module and cross-departmental cooperation is an unprecedented challenge for e-sports live broadcasts. To some extent, Hero Sports, which has hosted many global events and accumulated rich experience, is helping to define the threshold for viewing e-sports events.

After all, only when more audiences understand and appreciate e-sports competitions can the commercialization capability be continuously improved. Therefore, it is crucial for Ying Shuling to be the leader of the e-sports working group. Bringing his and Hero Sports' experience to the planning of the e-sports project of the Nagoya Asian Games will largely determine the appearance of the future Asian Games e-sports event experience.

Only when e-sports repeatedly performs well in international events such as the Asian Games and continues to enhance global awareness can it provide more possibilities for it to enter the Olympics.

The inclusion of e-sports in the Olympics has been a long-cherished wish of global players, game developers and the e-sports community for many years. During the Paris Olympics, the 142nd International Olympic Committee General Assembly will be held in Paris, and a series of important proposals, including hosting the e-sports Olympics, will be voted on at this meeting.

Of course, entering the Olympics has never been a fairytale ending for e-sports to "successfully pursue their dreams." It's just that e-sports has become large enough in the process of commercialization, and the number of viewers, the influence of the events, and the commercial value of related industries are comparable to popular sports, to the extent that the International Olympic Committee has to pay attention.

IOC President Bach once revealed at the Gangwon Province Winter Youth Olympic Games that he is considering holding the first Olympic eSports Games in 2025 or 2026 at the latest. From a timing perspective, the success or failure of the eSports event at the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games may play a decisive role in the inclusion of eSports in the Olympics.

Facing this crucial battle, the seat Ying Shuling obtains is extremely important. It will determine the level of participation of Chinese games, Chinese players, and Chinese e-sports in such international events, and consolidate the favorable position of Chinese people in the wave of e-sports globalization.

After the Hangzhou Asian Games, more e-sports players will win glory for the country in international competitions, which is also what the media including GameLook and Chinese game practitioners are happy to see. Only by promoting e-sports to gradually move towards globalization, formalization, and systematization and maintaining a high position can we further eliminate social prejudice and become an industry understood by the public, going further and further.

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