The Jing'an Sports Center hosted the 2023 eSports Shanghai Masters earlier this month.
Over five days, around 100 players from 16 elite teams from across the world competed in four competition games: League of Legends, Honor of Kings, DOTA2 and Identity V, as well as an exhibition game, Street Fighter 6.
This year's Asian Games featured four competition games for the first time.
Chinese teams won four events, with EDG (EDward Gaming) winning League of Legends, iG (Invictus Gaming) winning DOTA2, DYG winning Honor of Kings, and Gr (Glory) winning Identity V.
Zeng Zhuojun, also known as Kid, defeated Ding Yuhan, or DCQ, in the Street Fighter 6 final to win the tournament's first trophy. They are known in China as the best Street Fighter 6 players.
The Guangdong Province native was competing in the eSports Shanghai Masters for the first time. He considers Shanghai to be his second home. "It's a great honor to compete at such a high level," Zeng said.
Many players praised the eSports Shanghai Masters for providing a pleasant gaming experience.
The GEN.G squad from South Korea, which competed in League of Legends, recorded moments from the competition on social media, which drew a lot of attention. CEO Arnold Hur said that he couldn't think of any reason not to participate in the eSports Shanghai Masters.
According to Xu Bin, director of the Shanghai Sports Bureau, influential games are an essential aspect of Shanghai's development as a global eSports hub.
Appeal to industrial players
Jing'an is known as the cradle of Shanghai's eSports industry. eSports Shanghai Masters was launched in the district in 2019. The billion-dollar sector is concentrated in the Daning neighborhood, specifically on Lingshi Road, a small road that connects to the traffic artery of Gonghexin Road.
When the neighborhood began to transition from smokestack industries to a modern metropolis about 20 years ago, young eSports players discovered abandoned factories ideal for pursuing their goals. Gradually, an industrial network developed throughout the region.
The year 2019 is critical to the district's eSports strategy. Aside from the establishment of eSports Shanghai Masters, the district also launched the development of the Lingshi Road as the core of China's eSports, followed by the release of a series of favorable policies and programs.
Jing'an currently houses almost 100 eSports businesses, including game developers, operators and broadcasters. Many of them are leading players, including China's premier eSports club, EDG, Shanghai-based VSPO, Asia's biggest eSports event operator, and Activision Blizzard, the developer of "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft."
Notably, the China eSports Industry Research Institute, co-built by Jing'an and the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, was inaugurated in the district in April.
"Jing'an has earned the advantage of being the first to market, but it must expand its services to retain its appeal to industrial players," said Zhu Qinqin, secretary-general of Shanghai eSports Association. "Jing'an is an unusual example of a comprehensive industrial chain. Only a few places in the world have such a comprehensive eSports industrial chain."
The district owns more than 10 eSports venues, including Jing'an Sports Center and M-HUB. This year, about 210,000 square meters of space surrounding Lingshi Road will be made available to eSports enterprises.
Jing'an also offers 24-hour customized services to better serve eSports companies, as well as salons and other events on a regular basis to foster closer collaboration. (Source: Shanghai Daily)
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