China’s E-sports Market Is Undergoing Rapid Development

By Joe Zhang

According to the Research Report on Chinas E-Sports Industry released by iiMedia Research， in 2020， Chinas e-sports market maintained rapid growth， with the total market scale surpassing RMB 145 billion. This growth was mainly contributed to by the rapid development of the mobile e-sports and e-sports ecology market. The evident growth in the online entertainment market has led to a 36.8% growth in the mobile e-sports business and a 45.2% growth in the e-sports ecology market in 2020. It is estimated that in 2021， the scale of the e-sports market will surpass RMB 180 billion.

The report also pointed out that there are two factors contributing to the rapid growth of Chinas e-sports market. On the one hand， since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic， Internet users have had more time to play online games， and e-sports games have become the main type of entertainment for families； on the other hand， many traditional sports games were canceled during the pandemic. Global e-sports games were arranged on the Internet， which increased the user base for e-sports games.

E-sports game players are becoming younger

According to the report， male users account for nearly 70% of Chinas e-sports players； generally speaking， the users are also becoming younger， with 54.1% of e-sports players being aged between 19 and 24. According to survey data about e-sports users， the proportion of people with a monthly income of between RMB 5，000 and RMB 8，000 is the highest， accounting for 28.6%. In addition， approximately 61.6% of people spend between RMB 1，001 and RMB 5，000 on e-sports games each month.

Regarding the hobbies of e-sports users， games， short videos and livestreaming are the hobbies of greatest interest， with more than 80% of surveyed users having these kinds of hobbies. Regarding the activities related to e-sports， watching live games， playing electronic games and watching e-sport games are the most common activities， and approximately 83% of e-sports users have often experienced such activities. Meanwhile， movies， entertainment shows， animations and net literature associated with e-sports also have a fan base among these users.

From the perspective of game preferences of e-sports users， MOBA and tactical sports/shooting are still the most popular game types. These two types of games rank among the top in terms of proportions when it comes to e-sports games， and live games or competitions.

Due to the impact of the pandemic， users have been spending more time on online entertainment， which has also increased the time spent playing e-sports games. In 2021， Chinas e-sports users playing for 11-20 hours a week took up the largest proportion， accounting for a total of 34.5%. Users watching live games for 6-10 hours a week took up the largest proportion， accounting for 27.0%. In terms of watching e-sports games， approximately 64.7% of users watch game competitions for more than 10 hours each month.

The most important reason why e-sports users choose to watch the derivative content of e-sports is that they are playing e-sports games. Approximately 46.5% of people fall into this category. In terms of content satisfaction， approximately 86.5% of e-sports users think that the current e-sports derivative content is worth watching， and generally speaking， the users recognition of e-sports derivative content is high.

Local governments enhance policy support for e-sports

E-sports has become an official part of the program of the Hangzhou Asian Games. The International Olympic Committee has organized the first Olympic virtual series competition. Local governments in many places have accordingly enhanced their policy support for e-sports， and many new e-sports games have been launched online. These factors are all driving forces behind the continuous growth of e-sports.

As e-sports has become an official part of the program of the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2022， many places have promoted policies to support the development of e-sports. For example， Beijing issued the E-sports Game Industry Policy of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in December， 2020； Shanghai issued the “Shanghai 14th Five-year Plan” in January 2021； and Guangdong issued the Guangzhou Tianhe District E-sports Industry Development Plan（2020-2030） in December 2020.

The e-sports industry first achieved development in first-tier cities such as Beijing， Shanghai and Guangzhou. Taking Shanghai for example， many core competition events such as the League of Legends World Championship and TI are held frequently； TJ sports， Hero Sports， BiliBili， Bixin and other industrial chain enterprises have established offices in Shanghai； and EDG， RNG and other e-sports games are headquartered here to build Shanghai into a world hub for e-sports. At present， e-sports have spread from a few central cities to other places， such as Shenzhen， Chengdu， Chongqing and Wuhan， where e-sports games and users are also active. In the future， there will be more cities which are famous for e-sports across China.

With the rising influence of e-sports， the commercial value of e-sports IPs continues to increase. The users sense of identity and belonging with regard to e-sports will also extend to e-sports cooperation products. Therefore， the cross-sector integration of e-sports and more scenarios will breed more “e-sports +” business models， and will connect e-sports and users personal lives more closely. The Tencent V-station Experience Hall has been established in Shanghai to create a wonderful place to experience e-sports cultural trends. The Guizhou Cultural and Tourism Bureau worked with QQ Speed Mobile Games to develop the first e-sports tourism route in Guizhou. IKEA have also worked with ROG （Republic of Gamers） to launch e-sports series products for global game players.

Game companies are continuing to develop new e-sports games

The sustainable development of the e-sports market would be impossible without the support of hit e-sport games. Since 2020， a number of high-quality electronic games have been or will soon be launched on Chinas game market. There are two main sources of these games： one is the mobile operation or upgrading of classic e-sports games， such as mobile versions of League of Legends， Call of Duty and Crossfire high-definition competition regions； the second is the emergence of new e-sports games， such as Valorant， Naraka Bladepoint and Brawl Stars. The development and marketization of events relating to these games will inject new growth potential into the e-sports market.

The mobile operation of e-sports games and events has led to the explosive growth in Chinese e-sports users and the market scale. Among the top five most popular live game contents in 2020， there were two mobile electronic games： Glory of Kings and Game for Peace. According to information released by Youtube， among the top five games in 2020， there were also two mobile e-sports games， namely， Garena Free Fire and PUBG Mobile. The mobile e-sports games have set off a new wave of e-sports around the world.

From the perspective of e-sports categories， MOBA and tactical/shooting games have led the development of the e-sports industry， and more types of e-sports competitions are now developing rapidly. In addition， e-sports events have garnered wide attention since 2020. Taking FIFA e-sports competitions as an example， besides the FSL professional league and the CEFL super league， the development of international competition has forced the Chinese Football Association to recruit a national e-sports team. Chinas national e-sports team and a Shanghai e-sports training team have been established， symbolizing the normalization of national and local e-sports teams. In addition， the CF competition first launched a virtual studio during the period of pandemic， achieving digitization of e-sports contents and largely improving playersexperience of watching games.

Derivative contents have become an important way for e-sports to build connections with other sectors. Film and television， variety show and animation contents are integrated to create e-sports IPs. The e-sports report points out that in addition to e-sports games and competitions， top e-sports IPs， such as League of Legends and Glory of Kings， have begun to build their own derivative content eco-system. In terms of audience recognition， the improvement in the quality of e-sports derivative contents has also been recognized by more and more users. Taking the newly launched e-sports derivative drama“Crossfire” of 2020 as an example， through the integration of online plots and offline competition， the drama is well connected with e-sports games， which has enhanced the influence of the IP brand.

Technological innovation empowers e-sports development

The report shows that in the future， e-sports will encompass more and more sports and become more technologyoriented， and will be integrated with urban cultural construction. On the other hand， it will become increasingly popular and more closely connected with peoples daily lives.

The report points out that as a new model for digital sports， e-sports has become an official part of the program of the Asian Games， and the International Olympic Committee has been discussing e-sports and the holding of virtual e-sports competition. All these factors indicate that e-sports is growing into a new sports industry. Despite this， as with traditional sports， e-sports needs the recognition and reception of the social public. The rising popularity of mobile e-sports， e-sports on campus and e-sports for women is enabling the promotion of e-sports in society. In addition， technological innovation provides new impetus for the development of the e-sports industry. The integration of 5G， AI， VR， AR， MR and other technologies with e-sports will bring about new developmental opportunities. The contents， business model and user experiences of e-sports will embrace a new round of comprehensive upgrading.

In March 2021， the worlds leading e-sports company ESL announced the launch of a global mobile e-sports event. The new event aims to introduce more popular mobile games， a new contest system and a wider competition area to provide a contest platform for global mobile game players. The wave of mobile e-sports will be initiated in China and gradually spread across the world.

The investment heat of the e-sports capital market has been picking up since 2020. The top e-sports event operators， e-sports content enterprises and e-sports clubs are the main investment targets. Moreover， the top e-sports platforms have increased their business strength through mergers and acquisitions. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic， e-sports became the first type of sport games to resume matches （online） and to hold global competitions. This has grabbed the market attention and attracted more investment into the industry. E-sports event operators and e-sports clubs are the main investment targets since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The report also points out that although the e-sports industry has developed rapidly， the lack of e-sports talent is still an issue for the industry. In terms of cultivating quality e-sports talent， universities and the market constitute two cultivation systems， which is a result of industrial forces. Both systems are able to find and develop talent for the e-sports market. The development of e-sports education and the focus on health management have also developed and retained more talent for the e-sports market. Furthermore， the platforms such as game live broadcasts and e-sports accompanied training have provided job opportunities and career development channels for talent with e-sports skills. In terms of prolonging the professional careers of e-sports talent， the top e-sports competition leagues such as the LPL and CF leagues have launched player health care programs and organized self-discipline activities for the industry， in order to help more e-sports players relax and reduce the psychological and physical impacts on their professional careers.