A few weeks ago, it had been announced by the Olympic Council of Asia that a partnership had been made between them and Alisports of China to market and make eSports an official Olympic medal sports at the 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou, China.

Leading up to the 2022 Asian Games, eSports will first be introduced as a demonstration sport at various events, including but not limited to:

• 2017's 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG)
• 2018's 18th Asian Games

Throughout the noughts the World Cyber Games had been the premier annual eSports event which attracted gamers worldwide and had been the showcase of sorts for gamers to be able to show off their skills at the international platform.

However it has to be acknowledged that in the recent years, with the final WCG taking place in 2013 and the popularity of MOBA's such as Dota 2 and League of Legends causing eSports to enter the mainstream consciousness, eSports now has achieved critical mass to be something widespread but yet it faces a lack of an international platform of which to efficiently use that popularity.

Thus this announcement of having eSports at the Asian Games could signify a testbed to eventually and possibly include it in the Summer Olympics in the future, should this pilot be marketed and carried out well enough.

What do you think? Does eSports and gaming in general being enrolled into the halls of the Olympics sports something which causes it to lose its exclusivity to gamers? Or is it something that could be seen as a defining moment in gaming history? Do tell us your thoughts below!