Esports are exciting fun for fans, big money-spinners for merchandisers
Fans flock to Shanghai's Oriental Sports Center for the final matches of "Honor of Kings" on Sunday.
Tencent's "Honor of Kings" mobile video game took center stage at the Esports Asian Champions League A tournament on Sunday, with a victory set against a spectacle of flashing lights and deafening cheers at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.
The 2025 Hero Esports Asian Champions League grand finals, Asia's premier international multi-title esports tournament, ran for three days in Shanghai, reinforcing the city's stature as a global esports hub and demonstrating the growth of the multimillion-dollar industry in mobile video games and competitions.
Sixteen esports clubs representing different league genres participated in the weekend tournament hosted by Hero Esports Asian Champions League and spread across venues at the Oriental Sports Center, the Jing'an Sports Center and the National Exhibition and Convention Center. Organizers projected over 10,000 onsite fans daily and more than 40 million online viewers.
The weekend audiences were filled with fans from abroad and many Chinese newcomers. Among the latter was Xiao Qing, a 10th-grade student, who came with her boyfriend. They each spent 580 yuan (US$81) on tickets.
"I am excited to see my favorite idol QingQing," she said, referring to a player on the team Guangzhou TTG in the "Honor of Kings" league.
She said she has spent about 5,000 yuan on character "skins" and other in-game items for "Honor of Kings." Skins are cosmetic items fans can apply to favorite characters or their weapons.
Her purchases highlight how gaming is becoming a significant driver of younger-generation spending in China.
Club TTG wins the final champion of Honor of Kings in ACL, making it qualified to go global to attend EWC.
Game revenue growth
China's game market revenue in the first quarter surged by 18 percent from a year earlier to 85.7 billion yuan, according to industry researcher GameLook.
This growth is mirrored in the financial performance of Tencent, China's multinational technology giant, which beat analysts' forecasts with a 13 percent jump in first-quarter revenue to 180 billion yuan. The company attributed its fastest quarterly growth in nearly four years to the popularity of titles like "Honor of Kings" and "DnF Mobile."
Esports, encompassing competitive matches of popular game titles such as "Honor of Kings," "Counter-Strike 2," "Valorant" and "Crossfire," has evolved like traditional sports leagues, with ecosystems spanning club management, regular leagues, merchandising, livestreaming, dedicated venues and, of course, millions of dedicated fans.
"With a total prize pool of up to US$2 million and thousands of participants, the Asian Champions League (ACL) not only fills the gap for multi-title international esports events in Asia but also creates a vibrant gaming carnival for domestic audiences," said Jonny Wang, ACL chief executive.
"She power" in esports
Notably, more than half of the audience at the Oriental Sports Center last weekend were women. Dressed in themed attire and holding posters of their idol players, the ladies were among the most vocal supporters.
Female fans, dressed in themed attire and holding posters of their idol players, are new-comers to esports events.
Xiao Li, a well-dressed, first-time esports attendee, said she came to "see how professionals compete with each other."
She also expressed a desire to soak in the atmosphere and meet new friends. A cosplay aficionado, she said she would try to embody the dress of game characters in the future.
Xiao Li and Xiao Wang, postgraduate students majoring in electronics engineering, said they felt their attendance at the event "relived the glory" of "Crossfire," a game released over a decade ago. The "Crossfire" final, part of ACL events, was held on Saturday. While this online, "first-person shooter" game has passed its peak in popularity, it retains millions of veteran players like Li and Wang.
Beyond prizes and prestige, the clubs participating in finals were vying for spots in the Esports World Cup, the world's largest multi-title tournament, held annually in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Totally 16 clubs, as ACL tournament champions in genres like "Honor of Kings" and "Crossfire," won qualification.
Tourism benefits
Gaming competitions are big business for tourism and merchandisers.
Frank Feng, a salesman of ACL merchandise, reported brisk onsite sales of franchised game and esports products. On the first match day alone, at a "Counter-Strike 2" match, 10,000 items were sold, with best-selling T-shirts priced around 300 yuan.
Feng works at a newly opened "Honor of Kings" esports-themed store on Jumen Road in downtown Shanghai, which has daily sales exceeding 10,000 yuan during the game's playoff season.
An ACL logo shines in a shopping mall in Xujiahui, as gaming competitions are big business for tourism and merchandisers.
At the Oriental Sports Center, a booth distributed free coupons for drinks, food and apparel for nearby shopping malls. Esports fans were encouraged to scan codes to redeem the coupons, which are valid for several months.
The initiative aimed to stimulate consumer spending at nearby businesses, a marketing official at the sports center told Shanghai Daily.
Shanghai plans to solidify its prominence as a global esports hub by further integrating esports with the tourism sector to attract more international visitors.
In 2024, Shanghai hosted 2,300 esports events, drawing 2.3 million onsite visitors and generating 1.12 billion yuan in esports-related income, accounting for 47 percent of the national industry total, according to GameLook.
