Esports made its major multi-sport event debut here today at Jakarta Palembang 2018 ©Getty Images

Esports made its major multi-sport event debut here today at Jakarta Palembang 2018 with the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) saying it is proud to organise the "historical" demonstration.

AESF President Kenneth Fok opened the competition by saying it was the first step towards inclusion on the Olympic Games programme.

China defeated Chinese Taipei to win the title of champions in Arena of Valor - a multiplayer online battle arena developed and published by Tencent Games - at the BritAma Arena in North Jakarta.

Vietnam finished second after inflicting China’s only defeat of the event.

Esports is due to become an official medal event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China, but Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) director general Husain Al Musallam said last week that it needs a single International Federation before it can be included as a medal sport.

"Esports is not finally decided to be officially in the programme," he told reporters after an OCA Executive Board meeting.

"There needs to be one International Federation.

"Now there are so many International Federations for esports.

"They have to get together to decide one governing body.

"To be official in the programme and not demonstration, it has to be one international sport."

The AESF, the solely recognised federation for esports by the OCA, also announced today that a number of platforms will be broadcasting the esports event in their specific country or region.

Among them is Astro - Egg Network in Malaysia, ELTA TV in Chinese Taipei, AIS + WORKPOINT in Thailand, and SBS, KBS and afreeca TV in South Korea.

esports is due to become a full medal event at the 2022 Asian Games, but it is by no means certain ©Getty Images
esports is due to become a full medal event at the 2022 Asian Games, but it is by no means certain ©Getty Images

Vietnam Digital Television is another platform along with TBS Japan, Mediacorp in Singapore, KJSM WSTV in Canada and the United States, and EMTEK in Indonesia.

Additionally, fans are also able to watch the competition through the official YouTube channel of the Indonesian Asian Games Organising Committee in four regions; Europe, Latin America, North America and Africa.

"The AESF is working hard to ensure that fans can enjoy the esports competitions held in Jakarta," a statement from the continental governing body reads.

"However, the final decision to broadcast the content solely lies on the rights holder of each specific country or region.

"As such, the AESF does not hold the final say when it comes to broadcast schedules in individual countries due to rights restrictions."

Reuters reports that more than 10,000 fans tuned in to watch the live-stream of today's competition.

The 2018 Asian Games will feature six titles whereby the offline final rounds of competition will run through to Saturday (September 1).

The five other titles are Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, League of Legends, Clash Royale, StarCraft 2 and Hearthstone.

Last month, esports took another step on the path towards possible Olympic inclusion in the future after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) agreed to establish a liaison group.

The decision was taken following the esports forum jointly hosted by the IOC and GAISF in Lausanne.

The exact composition of the group, which will include IOC and International Federation representatives, has not been confirmed but they will be given the chance to present at the Olympism in Action Forum in Buenos Aires in Argentina on October 5 and 6.

Further discussions will then take place at the IF Forum in Lausanne in November, while IOC President Thomas Bach revealed the topic will also be on the agenda at December's Olympic Summit.