On October 8, the 2022 League of Legends World Championship S12 officially kicked off. On the first day of the competition, JDG and RNG from the LPL Division in China defeated EG from the LCS Division in North America and GEN from the LCK Division in South Korea respectively to win the club's opening in this competition. EDG lost 0:1 to T1 from South Korea's LCK Division.
Since its inception in 2011, the S has become League of Legends' most influential tournament of the year. Well-known domestic clubs such as iG, FPX and EDG have won the tournament. The four teams in the LPL division will also represent the China division to launch an attack on the fourth "overall champion".
Beijing News shell financial reporter learned that the event was held from September 30 to November 6 in Mexico, the United States, Canada and other 3 countries. In addition to the CIS LCL division not being able to participate for some reason, 16 top teams from 6 divisions around the world will gather here to compete fiercely for the championship.
Four LPL teams hit the S12 championship
Since November 2021, the producer of "League of Legends", announced that the global finals S12 will be held in three North American countries, the topic of this event has been concerned by e-sports practitioners and players.
Shell financial reporter learned that since 2018, the LPL team has won three of the global finals in four years, and now it has become the first division of the current "League of Legends", which naturally makes domestic players have great expectations and enthusiasm for S12.
A total of 4 teams from the LPL Division traveled to North America to compete. Among them, JDG, TES and EDG directly entered the group stage, and RNG also finished second in the group with a total score of 4:1 in the finals, and successfully qualified in the knockout round with a 3:1 victory over Japan's DFM team.
As the most important event of League of Legends in 2022, the Global Finals have attracted countless fans to watch online since the beginning of the tournament. On the first day of the group stage on October 8, the reporter logged on to the B station, Huya and other websites and found that about tens of millions of fans watched many games through different platforms.
The competition in which the LPL team participates has attracted the attention of netizens. Li Ke, a fan of "League of Legends" for many years, told reporters that he had been in front of the computer as early as early in the morning and watched many games in one breath, "especially the two matches of the showdown between China and South Korea, which was very enjoyable." Especially when RNG defeated GEN, he couldn't help but roar. ”
In fact, as the highlight of the day's game, EDG vs T1 and RNG vs. GEN.G were naturally concerned by countless netizens at home and abroad. As early as before the competition, the topics of "S12 Group Stage Match" and "China-South Korea Showdown" were talked about by e-sports fans on platforms such as Tieba and Weibo. As the competition progressed, topics such as "JDG Victory over EG" and "GEN vs. RNG" also appeared on the hot search list.
"The China-South Korea showdown is undoubtedly of great significance to the LPL. RNG's victory over strong opponents in the group stage and even in the later stages not only allowed the team to obtain crucial points, but also greatly improved the morale of the LPL division and preempted the opportunity for the subsequent group stage to qualify. Ma Jing, an observer of the e-sports industry, told reporters.
The global finals may promote the continuous outbreak of the e-sports industry
Since its birth in 2009, League of Legends has been running for almost 13 years. Although the game has experienced a period of decline in the global market. But now it is still the most popular MOBA terminal tour in China.
According to data previously released by Fist Games, in 2021, the total number of monthly active players of several games launched by it, such as "League of Legends", "League of Legends Mobile Games", "Legends of Runeterra", "Genting Game" and authorized games "Battle of the Golden Shovel", reached 180 million.
"It's hard to see a game still having such a lot of life 10 years from now. Although there have been popular games such as Overwatch and PUBG during this period, it still cannot shake its throne. Ma Jing analyzed, "And various market trends show that the producer is not satisfied with the IP only staying in the game field, but also hopes to 'break the circle' into the animation culture market." ”
The reporter learned that Fist Game planned to build the "League of Legends universe" many years ago. Today, in addition to continuing to make efforts in the game market, it has also launched licensed novels, virtual girl groups, and the official animated series "Battle of Two Cities" created by the game world view.
"The holding of this S12 event is bound to continue to set off a 'League of Legends trend' in China." Affected by this, the domestic e-sports market may be further developed. A staff member of a domestic e-sports club said.
In fact, after years of development, the e-sports industry has now become an emerging sports industry recognized at the social level.
According to the 2022 Asian Esports Industry Development Report, the global esports audience will increase to 532 million in 2022. Among them, the core esports enthusiasts will reach 261 million, and the occasional non-core audience will be 271 million. By 2025, this figure will continue to grow to 640 million at a compound annual growth rate of 8.1%. Also according to Newzoo data, Asian esports audiences will increase to 301 million in 2022, compared with 279 million in 2021, with an annual growth rate of 8.0%.
"Nowadays, e-sports is gradually replacing traditional events such as football and basketball, and has become the most influential event in the hearts of young people in the Z era." Ma Jing analyzed, "The e-sports event represented by "League of Legends" has its strong commercial value also valued by capital. ”
According to the above-mentioned staff, most of the sponsors of e-sports events before were from computer hardware peripheral brands such as graphics cards and keyboards, and now with the outbreak of the market, more and more traditional industry brands have begun to cooperate across borders. According to public information, the 2022 League of Legends Summer Event partners have a total of 14 brands from different industries. With the addition of the club's sponsors, the total number of brands has reached 72. The sponsor category also involves automotive, catering, apparel, e-commerce and other fields.
"The attention caused by the global finals in the world not only proves that "League of Legends" is still the well-deserved first IP of e-sports, but also once again confirms the popularity of e-sports, and I believe that more capital and brands can see the commercial value contained in it, and it is bound to get further outbreaks in the future." Ma Jing said.
Beijing News shell financial reporter Qin Che
Edited by Yuting Song
Proofreading by Lin Zhao