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Between July 18-21, the 2019 World Cyber Games (WCG) was reborn in the Chinese city of Xi’an, after a six-year hiatus. The event featured six games as official esports titles: Clash Royale, Dota 2, CrossFire, Warcraft III, Hearthstone, and Honor of Kings. The event featured an Olympic-inspired system, with China taking home the most gold medals (four), and the United States and Hungary each winning a gold medal apiece for Clash Royale and Hearthstone, respectively. In addition, a WCG esports conference and a TED Talk were held alongside the main event—the first time ever that a TED Talk was hosted in China.
The WCG began in 2000, and ran annually until 2013. For a time, it was the largest tournament of its kind in esports, and holds a significant place in history, especially in China. After Li “Sky” Xiaofeng won the WCG Warcraft III championship in 2005 and 2006, China came to regard him as a symbol of its national esports community.
Before its hiatus, the WCG brand was owned by Samsung, and held three events in China: one in Chengdu in 2009, and two in Kunshan in 2012 and 2013. Even though Samsung sold the WCG brand to Korean game publisher Smilegate in 2017, the company has returned as an external sponsor for the 2019 WCG event. James Park, business development director of WCG Inc. told The Esports Observer that Samsung closed its esports division after 2013, and the Samsung department which sponsored 2019 WCG is a different division.
The 2019 WCG Xi’an was co-hosted by the Xi’an Qujiang New District (the local government branch of the region), and WCG Inc., an esports division of Smilegate, who is also the game developer of the first-person shooter (FPS) title CrossFire (which was featured in this year’s event). Park said the Xi’an government provided a lot of support for the event, including players visas, hotels, public marketing, and support for the venue itself.
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Xi’an is a city with over 5,000 years of history, having once been the center of political, economic, and culture in 13 Chinese dynasties. Outside of the WCG, the Xi’an government has displayed great interest in developing its local esports industry, helping esports organization Team WE to build its home venue in the city, as well as hosting the League of Legends Demacia Cup 2018 and 2019 Honor of Kings’ King Pro League Spring Split Final.
Aside from the main partners, Samsung and the Xi’an Qujiang District government, the 2019 WCG was also supported by multiple Chinese esports companies and brands. Esports production company Banana Culture took care of technical logistics, and the event was exclusively streamed on Chinese livestreaming platform Penguin Esports. Penguin Esports is fully owned by Tencent Games, and this marked the first time that Dota 2 (a game developed by competitor Valve) was streamed on a Tencent-branded platform.
Rita Su, Sr. director of operations for Tencent Penguin Esports, stated during the WCG esports conference that his company will be looking to purchase more media rights from other game publishers. Sources close to Penguin Esports told The Esports Observer that the company has already signed a deal with Blizzard Entertainment for the streaming rights to Hearthstone, Overwatch, Warcraft III, Starcraft II, and World of Warcraft in China. At the time of writing, those game titles are all officially listed by Penguin Esports, but there are no Valve-related game titles listed.
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The 2019 WCG conference included a two-day esports conference and a half-day TED Talk. Multiple esports leaders took part in the conference, including Taewon Yun, general manager of Super Evil Megacorp (the developer of mobile game Vainglory); and Allan Phang, who leads the esports activities of Air Asia. Some of the topics discussed at the conference included raising the profile of mobile esports in Asia, and sharing potential insights from VR Championship: Final Assault and Robot Fighting, two demonstration games at WCG built around emerging technologies. The TED Talk was not deeply focused on esports in the traditional sense but bought forward several insights on how new technology derived from gaming, could change lives.
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Michael Daubert, the CEO of Phaser Lock Interactive, which developed VR Championship: Final Assault, told The Esports Observer that the VR esports titles could increase the level of physical movement during esports competitions, and bring esports closer to traditional sports.
Credit: Youjiu Esports
Esports audiences and fans could not only watch the competitions featuring these experimental titles, but experience them themselves. VR Championship: Final Assault was available to try for free behind the WCG New Horizons stage, as was AI Masters, a game in which players develop algorithms for AI robot soccer players. In addition, LEGO also had its own stage for kids. One of the fans told The Esports Observer: “I’m 38 years old and a Warcraft III fan. This event is a very positive place to bring my son with me to experience esports, new technology, and also he can have fun playing LEGO.”
Pictured: Warcraft III casters from left to right – Qiao lin, Yoan “ToD” Merlo, Xue “SnowKiss” Yan, Kevin “RotterdaM” van der Kooi, Li “SKY” Xiaofeng. Credit: Xue “SnowKiss” Yan
Warcraft III remains one of the oldest esports titles still played today, and for China and the WCG, the game has a significant connection. During the event, Warcraft III was the only esports title which was demonstrated by four professional players, including Li “Sky” Xiaofeng and South Korean player Jang “Moon” Jae-ho at the opening ceremony, and was also the last esports title to be played before the closing ceremony. Xiaofeng, one of the board members of Team WE and the CEO of hardware company Taidu, told The Esports Observer that competing in and winning the WCG is still considered the highest honor for Warcraft III players.
Credit: Youjiu Esports
From an audience perspective, the WCG has added Warcraft III as a medal event since 2003—over a decade’s worth of competitions. Many of the original and returning audience members have started their own families. For them, the WCG is not just a place to express their love for their favorite hobby, players, or team, but also a place to educate their children on what esports is, and to find their own interest in esports games.
For sponsors, it’s worth noting that the audience for most WCG titles are no longer considered young people, have grown up, and now have significantly more purchasing power. They have a good understanding of esports, and would like to spend their time and money on their children. In the background of a multi-game, Olympic-style tournament like WCG, there is a chance to make esports a sport for all-ages.
