The last week has seen a number of interesting developments in the Chinese esports industry including a discussion of issues in competitive gaming live on state-run national television, and a brand new game being introduced into the country’s largest national tournament.
Among the top stories: a program on China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 2 discussed the shortage of talent in the country’s esports industry; Mars Media partnered with Douyu to host its first-ever Apex Legends esports tournament; Tencent revealed plans to produce a tie-in novel for its top Honor of Kings esports league; and NEST confirmedDota Auto Chess as an official game title, with $16.8K USD total prize pool.
Every week The Esports Observer presents the biggest esports business news in China, including investments, acquisitions, sponsorships, and other major news from the region.
CCTV to Discuss Talent Shortage Issue in Esports industry
Credit: CCTV
On March 17, a segment on CCTV Channel 2’s Daily Evening News program, discussed the shortage of esports talent in China. According to CCTV’s report, the current esports talent labor pool in China has reached 50K, but the talent labor gap is close to 260K, and will be 500K in 2020. In addition, CCTV, which is the country’s main state-run television broadcaster, pointed out that the esports industry needs to develop further educational content around sector, and develop more service-oriented talent, especially when it comes to tournament organizing.
On Jan. 25, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (CMHRSS) announced that “esports professional” and “esports operator” would be officially recognized as two new professions in the country.
Mars Media Partners With Douyu to Host its First Apex Legends Tournament
Credit: EA
On March 22, esports tournament organizer Mars Media announced that it had partnered with livestreaming platform Douyu, to host its first-ever Apex Legends professional esports tournament—the “Mars Apex Challenge,” from March 28-31, and April 4-7.
The total prize pool money of this tournament will be ¥200K RMB ($29.7K), featuring 24 Chinese professional esports teams, including OMG, LGD Gaming, and Tyloo, etc. The tournament will be exclusively streamed on Douyu. Hardware brand ZOTAC and Network accelerator brand Xunyou will be the sponsors of the tournament.
NEST Adds Dota Auto Chess as an Official Game Title
Credit: NEST
On March 25, China’s National Electronic Sports Tournament (NEST) confirmed Dota Auto Chess will become one of its official game titles, alongside League of Legends, Honor of Kings, CrossFire, and Hearthstone. NEST also announced that the Dota Auto Chess tournament will invite 32 professional players, from April 4-14, with ¥113K ($16.8K) as the total prize pool.
NEST is a governmental esports tournament series in China, and has a history spanning seven years. It is hosted by The Sports Information Center of The General Administration of Sport of China, in conjunction with Hua Ao Esports. The 2019 NEST will be exclusively streamed on livestreaming platform Huya.
Other Business News
Credit: KPL
- Tencent has produced an esports novel based around its top Honor of Kings tournament, the King Pro League (KPL), titled“Kings’ Time.” The book was written by Chinese novelist “Hudie Lan,” and follows a normal HoK player on his path to become a KPL professional. The novel has begun to sell at offline bookstores and e-commerce platforms JingDong and Dangdang.
- On March 26, Chinese esports organization Vici Gaming (VG) signed a sponsorship deal with LeiHuo Esports. Details of the sponsorship were not disclosed. The sponsorship was first announced after VG won the champion title of DreamHack’s DreamLeague Season 11 Dota 2 Major on March 24. Due to this victory, VG has earned enough Dota Pro Circuit points to become the first Chinese Dota 2 team to earn a direct invite to the 2019’s The International in Shanghai.
- On March 21, Chinese esports organization Team Aster signed a deal with the Xi’an government, relocating the organization to Jinghe New City of Xixian New Area, Xi’an. Team Aster was founded in 2018 and competes in Dota 2 and CS:GO.
- On March 26, Tencent Esports announced that its Tencent Games Arena (TGA) tournament series will be rebranded as “TGA Tencent Esports Games,” featuring eight professional esports competitions, covering more than 30 game titles. In addition, Tencent’s international version of Honor of Kings—Arena of Valor—will be an official game title of the 2019 Southeast Asia Games in the Philippines.
