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Last week was one of the most significant periods of the year for the China esports industry. During the Tencent Global Esports Summit, the esports industry in China witnessed a number of new partnerships and developments between Tencent and esports organizations, but also a signal from the government and society that esports has the potential to become a central part of Chinese culture and innovation.
“It is the best time and opportunity for Chinese esports to develop,” said Ren Yuxin, COO of Tencent Group, at the event.
Among the top stories: the Chinese island province Hainan announced it would commit ¥1B ($145.6M USD) to local esports development; TJ Sports opened League of Legends Pro League (LPL) franchise slot bids for 2020 and partnered with Riot Games to co-host the 2020 League of Legends World Championship; Team Liquid signed a steaming partnership deal with Chinese livestreaming company Huya; Tencent Esports signed partnership deals with Manchester City Football Club and Juss Sports; Tencent will add a franchise system to CrossFire; and the Tencent Esports Tech-Union was established at the summit—members include Intel, Razer, Nvidia, and Qualcomm.
Every week The Esports Observer presents the biggest esports business news in China, including investments, acquisitions, sponsorships, and other major news from the region.
Tencent Esports Partners with Manchester City Football Club and Juss Sports
Credit: Tencent
On June 20 at the Tencent Global Esports Summit, Tencent 
Esports announced two partnership deals: one with British soccer club Manchester City Football Club (F.C.) and another with Chinese company Juss Sports.
The agreement between Manchester City F.C. and Tencent Esports will mainly focus on Tencent’s top mobile esports title – Honor of Kings. The goal of the deal is to connect esports and traditional sports, and also create cultural cross-border exchanges between the U.K. and China.
“We want to use our products to let people outside of China feel the beauty of Chinese culture,” said Li Min, producer of Honor of Kings. “This is also the future development direction of Honor of Kings.”
Juss Sports and Tencent Esports will collaborate on stadium and sports resources. One of Juss Sports’ own stadiums, the Oriental Sports Center, has become the first official esports stadium for use by Tencent. According to Fan Jianlin, vice president of Juss Group and chairman of Juss Sports, more esports relevant tournaments and events will be located at the venue, including high-level League of Legends and Honor of Kings tournaments, along with an esports museum.
This is not the first time that Juss Sports signed a deal in the esports industry. On April 3, Juss Intellisports, a subsidiary of Juss Sports, signed a partnership deal with Formula 1 (F1). In this deal, the F1 Esports Series will first take place in China in 2019, and Juss Intellisports will be the exclusive franchisor in the country.
Tencent Establishes a Tencent Esports Technology Union
Credit: Tencent
During the summit, Tencent Esports announced an esports-dedicated technology union. The new group includes Intel , Qualcomm, Nvidia, China Union, Tencent Cloud, Razer , and Yesee Tech.
The partnership will be led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China. It will establish esports exclusive standards for Chinese esports technology, mainly focusing on internet, hardware, and broadcasting technologies.
According to an announcement posted by Tencent posted on Chinese social blogging site Weibo, China Union will provide 5G technology to improve the internet experience in Tencent games.
Tencent Esports Adds Franchise system in CrossFire, Ten Esports Organizations to Join
Credit: Tencent
At the summit, Zhu Zhengrong, general manager of Tencent’s interactive entertainment marketing department, announced the future esports plan of FPS esports title CrossFire. Tencent will add a franchise system in both the CrossFire Pro-League (CFPL) and CrossFire Mobile League (CFML). Zhu also announced that ten top prominent esports organizations have entered the new CFPL and CFML.
The CFPL was founded in 2012, and was actually the first esports professional tournament by Tencent, according to Zhu. Following the success of the LPL franchise system, Tencent wanted to replicate the model in a first-person shooter (FPS) title. At the time of writing, the price of each franchise slot for CrossFire has not been disclosed, nor has the name of any of the ten esports organizations slated to compete.
Other Esports Business News:
Credit: RNG
- At the Tencent Global Esports Summit, Liao Kai, marketing director of Tencent’s WeGame department, announced that Peacekeeper Elite has broken 50M daily active users (DAU), following the game’s release on May 7. Peacekeeper Elite is strikingly similar to PUBG Mobile – for more insights and views about Peacekeeper Elite, read this report.
- On June 24 (Also the International Olympic Day), Tencent Games released 16 esports symbols to reflect Olympic sports spirit. Symbols include League of Legends, Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, and CrossFire, among others.
- On June 22, North American esports organization Evil Geniuses (EG) signed an exclusive sponsorship deal with betting company FVBet (趣赢电竞), with financial terms undisclosed. The website link has been posted alongside players’ in-game nicknames as part of the sponsorship deal. (For example, EG. Cr1t-.FVBet.com) EG won the 2015 Dota 2 The International.
- On June 20, TJ Sports announced that it will open bids for one-to-two new franchise spots for the 2020 League of Legends Pro League season, with sources saying the bid price of a spot would be a minimum of ¥80M RMB ($11.63M).
- On June 20, TJ Sports announced it partnered with Riot Games to create the 2020 League of Legends World Championship Committee to co-host the game’s largest annual tournament in China. Partnership requirements for the 2020 LoL Worlds Championship will start on July 1.
- On June 20, the Chinese island province of Hainan announced that its government plans to commit ¥1B ($145.6M) to local esports development. The development fund will be used to support Hainan-located esports companies and tournaments, with a maximum $10M ($1.46M) for top-level international competitions.
