Tencent Esports and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have announced a landmark ten-year strategic partnership spanning 2025 to 2035, positioning Tencent Esports as the Official Esports Technology Partner of the OCA. This milestone marks a major evolution in their collaboration—from providing event support to a new era of “system co-construction” focused on technology, standards, and ecosystem development, aimed at propelling esports and traditional sports into a closer, more integrated future across Asia.
The partnership builds on years of trust and proven collaboration. Tencent Esports has been a key technical partner in esports’ journey at the Asian Games, from its debut as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, to the strategic partnership upgrade in 2022, and finally to esports’ successful inclusion as an official medal event at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou. The long-term strategic cooperation was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed during the OCA Executive Board meeting in Bahrain in October 2025. As part of the institutionalization of this partnership, Yati Zhang, Director of Tencent Esports, has been appointed OCA Esports Manager, overseeing the co-construction of the Asian esports event system and ecosystem.
Dr. Husain Al-Musallam, Director General of the OCA, highlighted the significance of this collaboration:
“Based on the trust and collaboration built over the past decade, Tencent Esports has demonstrated excellence in driving industry development. This partnership is not merely a title upgrade—it is a unification of responsibility. It signals that Asian esports has moved from an era of ‘participation’ to an era of ‘system co-construction.’ We look forward to working with Tencent Esports to set a sustainable standard for the healthy development of esports in Asia and worldwide.”
Building on the technical success at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, Tencent Esports is enhancing its capabilities through the Tencent Esports Competition System (ECS). Drawing on experience from multiple top-tier tournaments, ECS will provide end-to-end, high-availability technical support for future Asian Games and other major multi-sport events, ensuring competitions operate under fair, stable, and efficient standards. Leveraging its expertise in product development and ecosystem operations, Tencent Esports will continue providing technical solutions and standardized frameworks to support the digital transformation of major Asian tournaments, boosting the credibility, efficiency, and quality of esports competitions across the continent.
Hou Miao, Vice President of Tencent Games and General Manager of Tencent Esports, outlined the vision for the partnership through the “Tri-Pillar Drive” model, designed to guide the sustainable growth of esports in Asia and globally:
“For esports to truly integrate into the global mainstream sports ecosystem, we need a sustainable and replicable framework. The future will be driven by a tripartite synergy: the ‘Publisher Tech Ecosystem’ as the engine of innovation, ‘Continental/Global Sports Organizations like the OCA’ as the authoritative platform, and ‘National/Regional Esports Strategies’ as the fulcrum for implementation. This next decade with the OCA is about putting this model into practice in Asia, paving a robust ‘Asian Path’ for esports and making it a recognized, integral part of global sports.”
Through this decade-long collaboration, Tencent Esports and the OCA aim to shape a new standard for Asian esports, fostering innovation, operational excellence, and global recognition, while advancing esports’ integration into mainstream sports.
