RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Indonesian Esports Association (ESI) has set a target of winning a minimum of five medals at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, where the country will participate in nine esports events out of 11 contested.

“We will have nine competition events to participate at the Asian Games. We hope that from these nine events, at least five can bring us achievements and medals to take back to our country,” ESI Chairman Bambang Sunarwibawa said in Jakarta on Thursday, April 16, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

Indonesia will compete in Gran Turismo 7, eFootball, PUBG Mobile, martial arts titles (Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and The King of Fighters XV), Pokémon Unite, Identity V, Honor of Kings, Naraka, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. It will not participate in League of Legends (PC) and Puyo Puyo Champions (PC).

Head coach of the Indonesian esports national team, Richard Permana, said several titles show strong medal potential based on early analysis.

“On paper, we have favorite events. For example Mobile Legends, we are quite confident we can reach the podium. Then there is PUBG Mobile, Naraka, eFootball, and possibly Gran Turismo. Hopefully we can finish on the podium,” he said.

However, he cautioned that competition in Asia remains intense, with powerhouse countries such as Japan, China, and South Korea expected to dominate several titles. He also noted that uncertainty over participating countries in each event adds another layer of challenge in predicting medal chances.

“We don’t yet know which countries will enter each event, which is usually the case in multi-sport events,” he added.

ESI is currently strengthening preparations through a national training camp program to optimize athlete performance ahead of the Games.

“We hope we can support the athletes through the National Training Camp, as we have a development system that we believe can help them achieve peak performance in Aichi-Nagoya in September,” Richard said.

Most athlete selection processes have been completed, with only Identity V and Clash Royale still in the final stages. The offline selection rounds for these titles will be held in Jakarta soon.

Indonesia must also go through qualification stages in several titles, including Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends, Naraka, and Identity V, to secure spots in the main event. Indonesia’s esports team returned without a medal from the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. ***