Esports at Asian Games 2023: Know the games - EA Sports FC 24 (formerly FIFA Online 4), League of Legends, DOTA 2, Street Fighter V

Seven separate esports titles will be up for grabs, with India participating in four of them - DOTA 2, EA Sports FC 24 (formerly FIFA Online 4), League of Legends, and Street Fighter V.

Representative Image: EA Sports FC 24 will be one of the several esports titles to be played at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Esports will make its formal competition debut at the Asian Games in 2023 after being showcased at the previous iteration.

Seven separate esports titles will be up for grabs. DOTA 2, EA Sports FC 24 (formerly called FIFA Online 4), League of Legends (LoL), and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition (SFV) are the four tournaments in which India is scheduled to compete.

EA Sports FC 24 (formerly FIFA Online 4)

EA Sports FC 24  is a virtual football game where players control teams made up of real-world football players. It is similar to playing a real football match, but on a console where you control the players and their actions.

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Two players play against each other in a match that lasts almost 15 minutes with a halftime break in between and the player with the most goals scored wins. Players can select any players who are currently playing or legends from the past to play in their customised team.

Charanjot Singh in action at the FIFAe Nations Cup. He will also be in action at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The player has to make multiple strategies for different formations and select the right players to defend, pass, and attack with precision in order to prevail. Players have fixed ratings given by the game’s publishers according to their performances in real life and the pace of a player is the key factor as everyone usually prefers faster players to help them win.

Format: All games including the final will be played in the best-of-three (BO3) format

Team India: Charanjot Singh, Karman Singh Tikka

League of Legends

League of Legends is a team-based strategy game where each player controls a powerful fantasy character. Two teams battle against each other across a map and work together to defeat their opponents by taking down their base.

DAMWON Gaming and G2 Esports in action in a DOTA 2 game at the League of Legends World Championships 2020. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The first team to destroy a structure known as the Nexus, lying at the back of each team’s base, wins the match.

There are five positions in a team as follows:

Top: Dominates the top lane, excelling in 1v1 battles, and can teleport across the map.

Jungler: Roams the jungle, gathering gold and XP, and ganks to create 2v1 situations.

Mid: Holds the central lane, favours powerful champions like Aatrox, and deals heavy damage.

ADC: Ranged, consistent damage dealers, they grow in power and can become key players.

Support: A utility role that roams, using crowd control to disrupt enemies and empower allies.

Players who win gold on the map can use it to buy items from a shop located at the fountain. Items include everything from armour to magic resistance, attack damage to speed, and ability power. Players can carry six items at a time.

Format: The group stage games will be conducted in the best-of-one (BO1) format while the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final will be played in the best-of-three (BO3) format

Team India: Akshaj Shenoy (captain), Samarth Arvind Trivedi, Mihir Ranjan, Aditya Selvaraj, Aakash Shandilya, and Sanindhya Malik are part of the squad. A total of five players will play in the tournament with one substitute.

Street Fighter V: Champion Edition

Street Fighter V is a one-on-one fighting game where players choose a unique character with special moves and abilities. They face off against each other in exciting battles, much like a martial arts tournament.

Players can select any character they like out of the 40 available, each of which has its own abilities. They have to build combos and strategies to master attack and defence in order to defeat their opponents.

Street Fighter V is a one-on-one fighting game where players choose a unique character with special moves and abilities. | Photo Credit: Screengrab/www.streetfighter.com

A Street Fighter V match usually lasts between 1-2 minutes and comes to an end when one of the players defeats their opponents in two rounds.

Format: All games including the final will be played in the best-of-three (BO3) format

Team India: Mayank Prajapati, Ayan Biswas

DOTA 2

DOTA 2, which stands for Defense of the Ancients 2, is another team-based strategy game. There are two teams of five players each who are tasked with destroying the enemy’s Ancient, which is the central structure in their base, and protecting their own.

Players in the game take control of a hero — each with their own unique set of attributes, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses — and must team up to get strong enough to take down their Ancient. An average DOTA 2 match lasts between 30-40 minutes.

Vici Gaming team in action in a DOTA 2 match at the 2019 World Championships in Shanghai, China. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

A Lane is one of three paths connecting the two Ancients and there are three lanes: Top lane, which runs along the left and top edges of the map, Middle or mid lane, where the lane creeps clash in the river and Bottom or bot, which runs along the bottom and right edges of the map.

There are five main roles in Dota 2 as follows:

Carry: Responsible for dealing as much damage to enemy heroes and structures as possible, carrying their team to victory in the process.

Midlane: Controlling the middle lane and expected to move around to help other lanes where needed

Offlane: Staying alive in the offlane and farming as much gold and experience as possible, the toughest role

Soft Support: Pressuring the enemy Carry in the planning phase and focus on harassing, poking, and being a nuisance.

Hard Support: Assisting their Carry and protecting them at all costs

Format: The group stage games will be conducted in the best-of-one (BO1) format while the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final will be played in the best-of-three (BO3) format

Team India: Darshan Bata (captain), Krish Gupta, Abhishek Yadav, Ketan Goyal, and Shubham Goli. Five players will play for the team.