On October 2nd in Taipei, a Taiwanese esports team clinched the bronze medal in a modified variant of the video game PUBG Mobile at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China.
The event involved four-person teams participating in four rounds of the newly-introduced “off-road racing” mode of the game. In the competition, players have to race and cross various checkpoints, where they get an opportunity to shoot at targets for bonus points.
The tournament abstained from “battle royale” mode of the game due to the belief that players attacking each other contradicted “Olympic values”, as per the reports from several esports media outlets.
In the final round held on Sunday, Taiwan managed to secure a spot in the top three with a four-round time of 51 minutes and 4 seconds, lagging slightly behind South Korea in second place with a time of 50 minutes and 25 seconds.
The event was dominated by China, who finished a staggering 6 minutes ahead of South Korea with a total time of 44 minutes and 36 seconds. Indonesia, on the other hand, placed fourth but unfortunately didn’t win any medals.
In a statement following the final, the Taiwanese player Wang Chin-hong, aged 23, expressed great pride for the team who had been tirelessly training for the Asian Games for over a year.
Despite initial unfamiliarity with the modified PUBG Mobile version created for the Asian Games, Wang and his teammates were able to hone some basic skills to help compensate for their inexperience.
“We gave our all. It’s the first time any of us participated in the Asian Games and we’re thrilled to have won a medal,” shared Wang.
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, featured esports competitions for the first time this year. The roster included other esports categories such as League of Legends, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, and EA Sports FC Online.