On December 25, with the fiery Christmas Eve atmosphere, "Showdown! The 2021 OPL Autumn Tournament also came to a successful final. The LF team has won a staggering 12 consecutive wins this season, becoming the only "five champions" in the league's history, and the live broadcast of the finals has also attracted tens of millions of players to watch online.
From the birth of a new star from 0 to 1 in 2019 to the pioneering growth in 2020, OPL has always adhered to the small but loving soul, bringing professional and wonderful competitive events to players, and also cultivating a unique "play with players" event atmosphere.
And 2021, for OPL is undoubtedly a challenging year - league of legends mobile games turned out, popular MOBA competitors not only squeezed the market space, but also caused a lot of impact on professional events. At present, we can see how OPL has broken through innovation and linkage, while gradually consolidating its own ecology, and presenting a satisfactory answer sheet for players on the third anniversary of the event.
First, the cross-border linkage of the event, the double kitchen ecstasy word of mouth out of the circle
Nowadays, the commercial linkage between e-sports events and brands is not a new thing. OPL has also made great attempts at the cross-border linkage level this year, but the difference is that it does not blindly pursue the influence or commercial value of the linkage object, but from the perspective of player users, to do what they like to hear, and to create a circle event through good word-of-mouth "tap water".
The original theme song of the autumn tournament launched by OPL not long ago, "There is a Dream Burning", is an excellent linkage case based on the consideration of the player level.
As the first theme song of the league, at the important node of the third anniversary, OPL did not choose to cooperate with the popular star singer, but chose KBShinya, the veteran up master of the music district of station B.
From the player's point of view, it is not difficult to understand OPL's choice this time: KBShinya is closer to them than the unreachable traffic stars, and the inspirational experience of the latter is also in line with the theme of the song to realize the dream, further triggering the emotional resonance of users.
This choice proved to be wise. Although it is the first cooperation between the two sides, based on the accurate positioning of the user's two-dimensional attributes, the theme song quickly triggered heated discussion among players as soon as it was launched, and a large number of "double kitchen ecstasy" comments emerged. At present, the MV has played nearly 280,000 on the B station, more than 190,000 Weibo broadcasts, and nearly a thousand users have left their own appreciation and blessings in the comment area, almost achieving zero bad reviews, and even players spontaneously draw lottery to celebrate "dream linkage".
On the other hand, the theme song fits the brand proposition of OPL", through reviewing the classic game clips of the field in the past three years, it evokes the deepest memories and feelings about OPL in the hearts of players, and the song is catchy and has excellent quality, which has triggered many players to create two cover songs.
In addition to creating theme songs for players, one of OPL's major innovations this year is to try to integrate "e-sports" with mainstream culture, which is embodied in the deep linkage of "fashion" and "intangible cultural heritage".
The first is cooperation in the fashion industry. Four teenagers from OPL officially appeared in Ruili magazine for the first time as "e-sports players", showing the spirit of e-sports to the society.
In addition to enhancing the brand image of OPL events, more importantly, it provides a channel for the general public to understand e-sports players, so that more people can recognize the positive value of "e-sports". And this recognition of mainstream culture has also promoted the development of OPL towards a more popular circle.
Secondly, the linkage between OPL and intangible cultural heritage has made me see the possibility of two-way empowerment of "e-sports" and "culture".
Back in early 2021, Showdown! "Ping An Kyo" has tried to link up with the intangible cultural heritage "Light and Shadow Drama" and launched the "Light and Shadow Drama Dream" theme fashion. That linkage not only brought a wave of flow peaks to the game, but also won the praise of players inside and outside the circle. In the autumn competition, OPL linked up with the four intangible cultural heritages of "bamboo carving", "Yue opera", "Su embroidery" and "guqin", combining the charm of intangible cultural heritage with the spirit of e-sports of "having dreams and burning", and deeply excavating the role and value of e-sports events in cultural inheritance.
This linkage does not stop at a simple naming. OPL players personally follow the intangible cultural masters to learn, personally feel the spiritual value behind the intangible cultural heritage, and the traditional artists do not forget the original intention.
The sensitivity, concentration, composure and perseverance required by traditional intangible cultural heritage art... These qualities are also reflected in the sport of e-sports, and the combination of the two themes has given the general public a deeper understanding of e-sports events - e-sports players are also "craftsmen" who love to stick to them.
The same popular e-sports will also bring more attention to the intangible cultural heritage, in a popular way, so that the young people of the Z generation can recognize the charm of the intangible cultural heritage and feel the power of perseverance.
The sublimation of the event is meaningful, the cross-border linkage is not utilitarian, and the OPL caters to the mainstream trend of cultural self-confidence, and has once again won the unanimous recognition of players.
Whether in the fashion industry or in the cultural circle, OPL is always doing what players love. As e-sports is gradually recognized by mainstream culture, players will also have a stronger sense of identity and honor for OPL, pushing the influence of the event to a higher level.
Second, build a rich and benign event ecology to inject new vitality into OPL
The three-year-old OPL has become an endogenous and upward esports event. With the expansion of the user base, their demand for event experience is also increasing, how to create a rich and benign event ecological environment, has become a problem that OPL needs to think about and solve.
In terms of enriching the ecology of the event, OPL this year united with well-known domestic universities, such as Shangju, Zhejiang Chuan, Zhongchuan, etc., with the theme of "Extraordinary Heavenly Sound, Competition and Radiance", and launched the first OPL Event Commentary Host Recruitment Plan.
OPL filmed several documentaries about the 15-day recruitment program, the most impressive of which was the "love" of the participants. They come from all over the world, from all walks of life, and their personalities are very different, or cheerful, or calm, but they all have a common characteristic, that is, the decisive battle! Heian Kyo" and the love of esports events.
The commentary recruitment plan gives this "love" a new way to express, so that players and users have another opportunity to participate in OPL events in addition to "professional players", mobilizing their enthusiasm and enthusiasm.
At the same time, with the help of formal and professional training mechanisms, the recruitment plan can further enhance the professional ability of event commentators, bring players a better viewing experience, and promote the development of OPL to a more formal and professional event.
OPL also exerts simultaneous efforts from the upstream and downstream of the event, and strives to build a benign ecological environment.
On the upstream side, OPL has long recognized the importance of players. From the establishment of the OPL Club Alliance in 2019 to the professional institutionalization of the player team, to the cooperation with Li Ning this year, the linkage of the Olympic professional rehabilitation team, the care for the health of the players, and the promotion of the idea of "scientific training and healthy e-sports", OPL is sparing no effort to protect the interests of e-sports players.
The former lays a solid foundation for the sustainability of OPL, while the latter allows players to meet the game in the best condition, play a higher level of competition, and make the event more watchable.
Downstream, OPL also pays attention to the cultivation of fresh blood, at present, OPL youth training has been successfully done for two seasons, the third season is also in full swing, and combined with online and offline youth training selection for all-round exposure.
This multi-dimensional form not only improves the upward passage and selection mechanism of the team and players, so that ordinary players can also participate in e-sports competitions, thereby tapping more potential players, but also enriching the content ecology of OPL and providing players with more entertainment content outside the game.
The upstream foundation, the midstream expansion dimension, and the downstream branches and leaves together build a rich and benign event ecology of OPL, further expand the coverage area and influence of the event, and inject new vitality into the development of OPL.
Third, the upcoming fourth year, where should OPL go next?
Finally, back to the beginning, after three years of hard work, OPL has successfully rooted in the hearts of players and has become one of the benchmark events in the field of domestic mobile MOBA e-sports.
Horizontally, compared to other esports events on the market, OPL has its own unique style, that is, the determination to stand with players, so that they can participate in the event widely and deeply. For example, in the official event column, you can often see the player's interaction link, and the weekly event TOP1 is directly voted by the player, which greatly enhances the player's sense of participation and immersion in the event.
In this way, OPL has gradually formed an event style temperament of "playing with players", "happy" and "loving", helping it to stand out from many events and continuously expand its influence. Players often see OPL as their own child, growing up with it, full of feelings and memories of the game.
Vertically, for the development of netease e-sports, OPL as the first e-sports league has great significance and value. Its differentiated style temperament and innovative development in the event not only marks an important step taken by NetEase in the field of e-sports events, but also plays a reference role in the development of other products in e-sports.
With the New Year's bells ringing, OPL is about to usher in its fourth year. No matter what the future holds, OPL is always pushing its limit in a positive way, constantly moving forward, and as the theme song says, "Jump forward, the road ahead is unstoppable." ”