Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. is thrilled to announce that its soccer game, "eFootball™," has been selected as the official esports competition title for the 20th Asian Games, which is set to take place in Nagoya in September 2026.
The Asian Games, organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), is the largest sports festival in Asia, which is held every four years, with 45 Asian countries and regions participating. In Japan, the Asian Games were previously held in Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. Moving forward, the 20th Asian Games, which will open in Nagoya next September, will mark the third time in 32 years that the festival has been held in Japan.
The 20th Asian Games will feature a record number of esports events, with 13 titles spanning 11 genres. As stated earlier, "eFootball™" will be used in the soccer game genre, and a new mobile division will be added to this year's competition in addition to the console division, bringing the total to two divisions.
"eFootball™" was also the only competition title from a Japanese developer to be featured at the 18th Asian Games (2018), where esports was demonstrated to be a legitimate sporting event for the first time. In the finals, eight countries and regions that had passed the national and regional qualifiers competed for the championship, with Japanese representatives SOFIA and Leva taking home the first gold medal in esports at the Asian Games.
The 18th Asian Games
The award ceremony
The finals
The moment Leva scored a goal
SOFIA and Leva celebrate after winning the finals
In the field of esports, which views video game competition as a sport, we has been a pioneer in providing new ways to enjoy and engage with sports through games. Since 2019, "eFootball™" has been used as a competition title in the World Esports Championship, organized by the International Esports Federation (IeSF), for seven consecutive tournaments, and in 2024, we signed a contract with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to collaborate in esports and host the FIFAe World Cup™ as part of our esports initiatives. In addition, a mobile division has been newly added to this year's tournament, creating an environment where more players can participate, and as a leading company in this field, we will continue to generate excitement at the 20th Asian Games.
More details about the player selection schedule and entry procedure for the 20th Asian Games will be announced as soon as they are determined. Be sure to stay tuned for updates!
Konami Digital Entertainment will continue to bring the fun and excitement of esports to fans everywhere through its esports initiatives.
[About KONAMI’s esports initiatives]
The eFootball™ series of soccer games has been loved and supported by fans around the world since its launch in 1995 as the console Winning Eleven series. The eFootball™ series continues to attract attention as competition titles both in Japan and overseas, being featured in exhibition matches at the 18th Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang, the Inter-Prefectural Esports Championship held as part of the National Sports Festival Culture Program (for seven consecutive years starting in Ibaraki in 2019). In 2024, we signed a contract with FIFA to collaborate in esports and co-hosted the FIFAe World Cup 2024™, which used eFootball™ as the competition title and had more than 14 million players participating worldwide. We are also expanding our efforts to combine esports and real sports by holding the eFootball™ Championship 2024 Club Event with our European club partners and co-hosting eJ.League eFootball™ with the Japan Professional Football League (J.League), which featured all 40 J1 and J2 clubs.
About eFootball™
eFootball™ has been loved by football fans around the world since its launch in 1995 as "Winning Eleven," and the total number of sales and downloads now exceeds 900 million. In "Dream Team" mode, players can acquire and train players who have excelled in real matches, players from notable leagues, and legendary players who have made their mark in football history to create your own original team and enjoy competitive matches with their original team. Additionally, in “Co-op,” users can experience the excitement of cooperative play with up to 3 vs 3 online.
The game has also been used as a competitive title in various esports tournaments in Japan and overseas, spreading the joy of football through digital platform around the world.
eFootball™ Official website: https://www.konami.com/efootball/ja/
Official X account: @we_konami