Birmingham, UK - Competitive online gaming is still growing, and 2022 looks like it may be a breakthrough year, as Esports get a test run at two of the biggest international sporting events in the world.

As reported by the BBC and PC Gamer, this year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games will include Esports in their lineup, alongside more traditional disciplines.

"I am delighted that we are announcing the first Commonwealth Esports Championships to take place in Birmingham this summer," Commonwealth Games Federation president Dame Louise Martin said.

The Commonwealth Games will include medals in three as yet unknown titles.

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The three online games are probably going to include the Esports with the most prize money, such as battle arena game Dota 2, First-Person Shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or a virtual soccer game like FIFA 2022.

The Asian Games will feature medal events in eight titles, including Dota 2 and League of Legends.

Organizers hope that including online gaming will draw a younger audience, now that streaming games has become hugely popular, especially on Twitch.tv.

Look up Twitch usage over the past two years and you'll find that an average of almost three million people were online at any given time to stream their favorite content, and together, they watched a total of 18.6 billion hours in 2021, or over two million years of content.

"Esports is continuing to grow dramatically in terms of popularity and participation, particularly amongst young people, and we are continuing to look at ways to explore how it can align with the Commonwealth Sports Movement."

Some still dispute the "sports" part of Esports, but no one can deny the competitive aspect, and a good old competition is what everyone tunes in for.