In a news announcement, the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) revealed that the 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) will feature Esports as a Medal Sport. The 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games will be played out in Pattaya, Thailand’s eastern Gulf coast known for its beaches. AIMAG is the biggest multi-sport indoor event in Asia, which is hosted by countries of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) every four years.

The announcement came after a closed room meeting which was called by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF), Thailand Electronic Sports Federation (TESF) and the Olympic Committee of Thailand (OCT). The meeting was held to discuss the viability of Esports as a Medal Sport and format to follow. Although AESF hasn’t disclosed the games that will be played out just yet, we can make an educated guess from the earlier events and say that at least Dota 2 and Hearthstone will be played.

Last time Esports was featured as a demonstration sport at the 2017 AIMAG and featured Hearthstone, StarCraft II, The King of Fighters XIV, and Dota 2. In 2007, 2009 and 2013 Esports was played as a Medal Sport in AIMAG and as a demonstration event at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.