An announcement was made at the ChinaJoy exposition, with the district of Jinshan slated to host the event following discussions between the AESF, local authorities and event organisers Duo Sport Group.

"Without having to wait for regional sporting events like the Asian Games or the SEA [Southeast Asian] Games to witness the best each country has to offer to compete against one another, the AESF University Championship acts as a platform to showcase talent, and hopefully, a stepping stone for something bigger - on a more global scale - in the near future," AESF director general Sebastian Lau said.

"To achieve this, the AESF alongside the Organising Committee will form a streamlined competition structure which includes national, regional and continental levels. 

"As additional support, we will be working closely with video game publishers and licensors directly to ensure smooth organisation and professional-level execution of the tournament on all levels of competition."

AESF President Kenneth Fok and the University Championship Organising Committee (UCOC) will lead preparations for the event. 

Hideki Okamura chairs the UCOC.

Okamura is also chairman of the Japan Esports Union.

The venue, date, tournament structure and game titles for the event are yet to be decided.

The AESF hopes that this will signal its first act in creating a "development ecosystem at every level", with tournaments for high-school students and semi-professional gamers potentially following.