Last week, the Chinese esports industry saw a number of key developments related to upcoming Dota Auto Chess tournaments, an annual esports event announed dates, and a professional esports team lost its spot for cheating.
Among the top stories: Valve officially announced the dates of The International 2019 Shanghai; WCG signed an exclusive media rights deal with Penguin Esports; Team Liquid set up its own Auto Chess pro squad; Newbee partnered with Li-Ning to host its first Dota Auto Chess tournament; Dota Auto Chess was selected as the first game title by OGN for its OGN Super League (OSL); and four RW Shark players received an 18 month ban for cheating during the League of Legends Development League (LDL), and the team lost its spot in LDL Spring Season.
Every week The Esports Observer presents the biggest esports business news in China, including investments, acquisitions, sponsorships, and other major news from the region.
The International Shanghai Dates Announced
Credit: PGL
On April 26, Dota 2 
developer Valve officially announced that Dota 2 The International Shanghai 2019 will be hosted August 20-25 at the Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Arena. In addition, Valve revealed that ticket sales for the event will begin in “a couple of weeks.” According to the official website for the Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Arena, the venue has 18,000 seats.
This is the first time the event has come to China. In the eight-year history of The International, Chinese teams have won three championships and five second place finishes.
Four Players Confirms Cheating, RW Shark Loses Spot in LDL Spring Season
Credit: LDL
On April 29, the League of Legends professional tournament discipline management team confirmed that four players from Rogue Warriors Shark (RWS) cheated during the League of Legends Development League (LDL) Spring Season. RWS is the developmental division of esports organization RW, which own a regular spot in China’s top League of Legends Pro League.
According to the announcement, all four players (Ren “RWSCaocao” Jie, Liao “RWSZhaozhao” Kangjian, Liu “RWSFengXian” Zhanhong, and Xie “RWXiaoYao”) would be banned for 18 months. The team coach and manager also received an official warning.
In addition, due to RWS only having four registered players and the LDL player registration period being closed, the team automatically lost its spot in the rest of the LDL Spring Season matches.
In our last China recap, The Esports Observer reported that esports organization Dragon Gate Team received a ban from the League of Legends Master Series (LMS) for life due to cheating.
WCG Signs exclusive media right with Penguin Esports
Credit: Smilegate
On April 24, World Electronic Games (WCG) signed an exclusive media rights deal with Chinese livestreaming platform Penguin Esports for its 2019 WCG Xi’an event. Penguin Esports is fully owned by Tencent .
Korean game publisher Smilegate has owned the WCG brand since it purchased it from Samsung in 2017. In addition, Smilegate’s game, Crossfire, is confirmed as one of the official game titles of the event. Tencent is the distributor of the game.
It should also be noted that Dota 2 is one of the official game titles of the event, but Penguin Esports does not have a Dota 2 streaming channel. The Esports Observer reached out to WCG and Penguin Esports, who both declined to comment at the time of writing.
Other Esports Business News
Credit: Team Secret
- On April 24, Korean esports production company OGN announced its 2019 plans for the OGN Super League (OSL). Dota Auto Chess is the first game title to be added in the OSL tournament system, and will be streamed on Twitch beginning May 29, with a seven-week duration. LG UltraGear has been named as title sponsor for OSL and Sony Interactive Entertainment will provide PlayStation equipment to the tournament as a platform partner.
- On April 27, Chinese esports organization Newbee and Chinese apparel brand Li-Ning announced that they will jointly host their first Dota Auto Chess grassroots tournament. Li-Ning will serve as a sponsor, providing prizes.
