The eSports competition, or electronic video gaming, will be a demonstration sport at the 5th AIMAG and will feature four events:
*MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena): Dota 2 (team event)
*RTS (Real-Time Strategy): StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void (individual event)
*Card: Hearthstone (individual event)
*One sports game (FIFA or NBA) to be confirmed (individual event)
The OCA has invited all 64 National Olympic Committees – 45 from Asia and 19 from Oceania – to enter the eSports competition, and a series of qualifying rounds will provide the finalists for AIMAG 5.
The first stage is for NOCs to register their players before a June 10 deadline. From this list, each NOC can select no more than two players/teams for each game by June 30.
These chosen players will then take part in one of six regional qualifying competitions to be held from July 1-20: East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, South East Asia and Oceania. Qualifying places available are:
East Asia: Dota 2 (1 slot), Sports Game (3), StarCraft II (3), Hearthstone (3)
South Asia: Dota 2 (1), Sports Game (2), StarCraft II (2), Hearthstone (2)
Central Asia: Dota 2 (1), Sports Game (1), StarCraft II (1), Hearthstone (1)
West Asia: Dota 2 (1), Sports Game (3), StarCraft II (3), Hearthstone (3)
South East Asia: Dota 2 (2), Sports Game (3), StarCraft II (3), Hearthstone (3)
Oceania: Dota 2 (1), Sports Game (3), StarCraft II (3), Hearthstone (3)
Host country: Dota 2 (1), Sports Game (1), StarCraft II (1), Hearthstone (1).
The number of players/teams in each of the four events at AIMAG 5 is:
Dota 2 (8), Sports Game (16), StarCraft II (16), Hearthstone (16)
The national and regional rounds will be conducted online, with the finalists coming together for AIMAG 5, which will run from September 17-27, 2017 at the Ashgabat Olympic Complex.
The AIMAG 5 eSports competition is being organised by the OCA, Ashgabat 2017 organising committee and Asian eSports Federation. Alisports and Duo Sport Group have been appointed by the OCA and the Asian eSports Federation to provide technical support for the competition./.(Ocasia.org)