Honor of Kings at the 2026 Asian Games

20th Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya 2026

Honor of Kings was one of eleven esports disciplines at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Ten nations and regions competed over two days, 27 and 28 September 2026, and China took gold after beating Malaysia 4–0 in the final. Japan did not enter a team.

Results and key facts

Gold: China
Silver: Malaysia
Bronze: Hong Kong and the Philippines (no third-place match; both losing semifinalists receive bronze)
Final: Mon 28 Sept, 14:00 JST: China 4–0 Malaysia (best of seven)
Schedule: Sun 27 Sept: group stage and quarterfinals / Mon 28 Sept: semifinals and final
Venue: Aichi Sky Expo. Semifinals and final in Exhibition Hall D
Teams: 10 nations and regions (58 athletes). Japan did not compete
Status: One of 11 esports disciplines (13 titles), a medal event

Quarterfinals to the final

All four quarterfinals started together at 17:00 on 27 September. South Korea, winners of Group C, lost 0–2 to the Philippines, second in Group B; the other three group winners went through.

On 28 September the event moved to Exhibition Hall D for the semifinals and final. Malaysia and China both won their semifinals 2–0, and China then took all four games of the best-of-seven final against Malaysia.

Quarterfinals: Hong Kong 2–0 LaosMalaysia 2–0 MyanmarThe Philippines 2–0 South KoreaChina 2–0 Indonesia
Semifinals: Malaysia 2–0 Hong KongChina 2–0 the Philippines
Final: China 4–0 Malaysia

Group stage (27 September)

Each group played a round robin, and the top two went through to the quarterfinals. Of the 15 matches in the whole event, the only one in which the losing team took a game was Malaysia v the Philippines in Group B (2–1).

Group A: 1st Hong Kong (2 wins)2nd Indonesia (1 win, 1 loss)3rd Thailand (2 losses)
Group B: 1st Malaysia (2 wins)2nd the Philippines (1 win, 1 loss)3rd Kazakhstan (2 losses)
Group C: 1st South Korea, 2nd Myanmar (South Korea won 2–0)
Group D: 1st China, 2nd Laos (China won 2–0)

Format

Group matches were best of three. Groups C and D had only two teams, so both advanced whatever happened, and their one match decided first and second place.

The quarterfinals paired A1 v D2, B1 v C2, C1 v B2 and D1 v A2. Quarterfinals and semifinals were best of three, and only the gold medal match was best of seven. There was no third-place match: both losing semifinalists received bronze.

Teams played a dedicated Asian Games version based on Season 13, with the hero pool cut to 85. The official announcement showed the pool only as icons, and this page has not checked which 85 heroes they were. The official rules do not state the ban and pick format either (the qualifiers used Standard Ban & Pick).

Qualifiers

China, Malaysia and Thailand, the medallists in this event at Hangzhou 2022, were exempt from qualifying. Everyone else played the qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 13 to 21 June.

Twenty teams entered the qualifiers and nine went through: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam. Nepal and Vietnam did not compete in the main event, and no official reason has been found.

Japan had no team. The Japan esports Union (JESU) selected national teams for seven disciplines across nine titles, and Honor of Kings was not one of them.