Esports to make Asian Youth Games debut

The Olympic Council of Asia has announced that esports will debut as a medal event in the 3rd Asian Youth Games to be held in Bahrain from October 22 to 31.

According to reports, young esports players will compete alongside athletes from 20 other sports, representing 45 countries in the 14-17 years age group.

“The Asian Youth Games is an important platform that now recognises esports as a competitive sport. With esports already a medal event in the Asian Games, this will create more opportunities for young players and help develop a strong esports community,” said Lokesh Suji, director of the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) and vice president of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF).

Last year, the International Esports Federation (IESF) also held the first Esports World Cup featuring 22 video games for a combined prize pool of over $60 million. The staggering amount was distributed across various games, making it one of the largest prize pools in esports history.

Saudi Arabia’s Falcons had won the tournament held in Riyadh, scoring 5,665 points. The Falcons had strengthened their lead by winning the Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile Championship in Week 1 and Free Fire in Week 2.

The team was awarded $7,000,000 (PKR 1.93 billion) in a ceremony attended by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also presented them the winning trophy.

The 2025 edition of the cup is also set to take place in Riyadh in June-August, the prize pool for which is expected to exceed $60 million.

Want to read about Esports World Cup 2025?