More than 40,000 spectators, giant screens, players glued to their keyboards and more than US$1 million prize money for the winners: Welcome to the world of electronic sports (e-sports) in China, a nation that has become a leader in competitive video-game playing.
The final of the World Championships for League of Legends, one of the most-played video games on the planet, took place on Saturday in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, the national stadium built for the 2008 Olympic Games.
“The atmosphere is great! It’s better than at home, no?” said Yu Yating, a 23-year-old customer service manager dressed in a long green wig, white minidress and holding a plastic golden scepter.
Photo: AFP
“I’ve been playing League of Legends since 2013, because I love the monster fights — it relaxes me,” she said, as screams broke out in the stands when the competitors arrived.
One of the players slaughtered a virtual dragon, prompting howls of excitement.
“Oh, huge,” said 19-year-old student Qian Feng, one of the spectators following the multi-player game on three giant screens that were practically the height of the stadium.
Two-thirds of the audience were males between 15 to 35 years old. Some, like Qian, had traveled hundreds of kilometers to watch the final in person.
“E-sports have taken off in China because all young people have a computer now,” he said. “When I have school, I play League of Legends with my friends an hour a day, otherwise we play all afternoon.”
Tickets for the event cost 280 yuan to 1,280 yuan (US$42.24 to US$193) and sold out in minutes, with touts hawking them on the black market for up to 13,000 yuan.
The size of the audience for the League of Legends final, a game owned by Chinese internet giant Tencent, matched that of this year’s Europa League final between Manchester United and Ajax — without including the tens of thousands of fans streaming the match live.
The packed event showcased China’s ambition to become the world leader for e-sports.
There are 191 million e-sports fans around the world, and numbers are projected to increase by 20 percent by 2020, according to video game specialist Newzoo.
“I also play traditional sports, badminton, but China is very populous, it is sometimes difficult and expensive to reserve a court, whereas I can practice e-sports with my roommates where and when I want. A computer is enough,” 22-year-old student Li Hangtian said.
Enthusiasm shows no sign of slowing down. Global turnover from e-sports is US$696 million, with Newzoo saying it will climb to US$1.5 billion in the next three years.
Asia could be its future, with China accounting for “around 15 to 20 percent of global e-sports revenue,” said Ignat Bobrovich, chief executive of TwogNation, an international e-sports management agency.
“North America is the biggest market for now, at 35 to 40 percent, but in two years’ time, Asia, which is home to half the world’s e-sports fans, will easily outstrip this,” he added.
Saturday’s face-off featured two South Korean teams, with Samsung Galaxy vanquishing SK Telecom T1 3-0 and pocketing about US$1.7 million in winnings.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS