Hearthstone removed from Asian Games 2023 esports events

Blizzard Entertainment's digital collectible card game Hearthstone has been dropped from the list of titles set to debut as an esports medal event at Asian Games 2023, organizers announced.

Here's the tweet by the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 Official:

The fifth Coordination Committee meeting for the 19th Asian Games held on Mar 16 announces that "Hearthstone" is cancelled as the Games' officially listed Esports medal events which is now reduced to 7 in number.

In a separate statement, the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) said it jointly proposed the removal of the game with the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC) after "efforts were made to resolve the issue."

Hearthstone was one of the eight esports events set to be contested at the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, later this year. However, the game was excluded after Blizzard and NetEase failed to reach an agreement on publishing rights and partnership.

With the removal of Hearthstone, the esports titles in the Asian Games 2023 are as follows:

1. Arena of Valor - Asian Games Version

2. Dota 2

3. Dream Three Kingdoms 2

4. FIFA

5. League of Legends

6. PUBG Mobile - Asian Games Version

7. Street Fighter V

The Hangzhou Asian Games includes esports as one of the 42 sports that will be played in the continental multi-sport event, marking the first time in history that esports has been included as an official medal event.

Esports was previously featured as a demo sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

The Asian Games 2023 is scheduled to take place from September 23 to October 8. It was supposed be held in 2022 but was postponed due to COVID-19.