The 2020 League of Legends World Championship (S10), the largest and most popular international e-sport event of the year, was held in Shanghai from September 25 to October 31.

At a time when many conventional sports competitions have been suspended due to the COVID-19 epidemic, e-sport has shown remarkable vitality and gained in popularity.

"E-sport brings new perspectives and opportunities for the revival and innovation of the sports sector," said Cheng Wu, Vice President of the International E-sport Federation. In recent years, China has been steadily increasing investment and formulating policies to support the continued development of the sector.

World capital of e-sport

Shanghai native Jin Yibo is delighted that the S10 was able to go ahead as promised. According to him, it is a great honor for Shanghai to host it, as the Chinese e-sport sector is developing at an astronomical speed, especially in this megapolis.

"I started getting involved in this field in 1999. At that time, there were already several events and activities in Shanghai because the city is always receptive to new things," he told The Paper.

As the city with the longest history of e-sports development in China, Shanghai has worked hard to become the "e-sport capital of the world." The municipality has issued many policies, bringing together most of the national companies, clubs and tournaments. This has greatly increased consumption in terms of culture, entertainment and dining, and has boosted the city's economic vitality.

How did the e-sport sector take root in Shanghai? Liu Yang, an industry insider, said that from the very beginning, Shanghai was very open to this new sector by hosting related events, and after 2010, the support of the municipal government went even further, laying the foundations for its explosive growth.

This support is already evident in the preparation for S10. While most major international e-sport events cannot take place as planned this year, S10 was able to bring together 22 teams from 11 regions on four continents. According to Lin Song, head of Riot Games China, the tournament organizing committee has been working closely with the Shanghai authorities for the past six months. From the choice of the stadium for the tournament to the visa formalities for team members, their support has been crucial.

"Shanghai is on the verge of becoming the "e-sport capital of the world," and we can think of no better place to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the League of Legends than Shanghai," said Nicolo Lauren, CEO of Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends.

Growing industry

In recent years, Chinese players have often distinguished themselves in international e-sports competitions and have won championships in the S8 and S9 League of Legends. This sport is now regarded as an actual profession.

According to The iResearch Institute, China's e-sport market reached 117.53 billion yuan ($17.51 billion) in 2019, making it the world's largest market. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, this proportion will maintain a steady upward trend in 2020. Tencent eSports predicts that the cumulative number of Chinese users will exceed 400 million this year.

As the sector continues to develop, the government has released a series of policies to better supervise and promote it. The General Administration of Sport of China officially approved e-sport as a sports competition program in 2008.

In 2019, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recognized 13 new professions, including e-sport operators and players. Standards regarding professional skills are expected to be promulgated by the end of the year.

Major cities in China, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Shenzhen and Chengdu, have implemented policies to support the sector. At the same time, more and more companies have started to invest heavily in e-sport. NetEase, a Chinese Internet company, will invest more than 5 billion yuan ($745 million) on the construction of an e-sport facility in the Qingpu district of Shanghai.

According to the China Gaming Industry Report, in the first half of this year, revenue from video games in China amounted to 71.93 billion yuan ($10.72 billion), an increase of 54.69 percent over the same period last year. However, this rapid development highlighted the problem of the shortage of knowledgeable and skilled professionals in the sector.

As a result, many educational institutions such as China Communication University and Shanghai Sports Institute have created special study programs in e-sport.

E-sport is becoming the most promising and dynamic emerging sport in the world. "It is a fashionable sport popular with young people and a new language that transcends borders and nationalities," said Ren Yuxin, Tencent's Chief Operating Officer, at the 2020 Global E-sport Leadership Summit held on August 24 in Bo'ao of Hainan Province in south China.

In the future, thanks to the application of new technologies such as 5G and AI, e-sport will see even greater development in terms of content, form and user experience. 

(Print Edition Title: Gaming Upsurge)   

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