Photo courtesy of Zheng Dao
After graduating from Peking University in 2012 with a degree in software engineering, Zheng quit his job as a consultant to join the esports industry. It was once said that he was the most educated practitioner of an esports operating company.
Since 2012, he has been asked why he joined the e-sports industry after graduating from Peking University.
He feels that e-sports has made him experience the transformation from "other people's children" to "questioned objects", which made him understand empathy and feel the value of recognition. Now, standing out from traditional education, he wants to inject special vitality into this emerging industry and let the public understand e-sports more objectively.
Today, he is not only the co-founder of Hero Sports VSPO, but also a visiting professor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts of Communication University of China. He is combining the practicalization and theorization of esports to explore the bright future of this emerging industry.
Glory of Kings broadcast photo courtesy of interviewee
E-sports industry with Chinese characteristics
Zheng Dao has been a "child of someone else's family" since he was a child. After graduating from Peking University with a degree in software engineering, he became a consultant. In 2012, amid much skepticism, he quit his job and joined the then-unpromising esports industry.
I recall that I was interested in esports because "boys like to play games, although they don't play well". Over time, he came up with the idea of starting an esports event operator, "Any emerging field is questionable, especially when it comes to technology. For example, when we first appeared in the car, people also questioned the safety of this vehicle. Esports is also such an emerging field, so it is full of opportunities and challenges. ”
E-sports equipment "Shanghai Jing'an" WeChat public account picture
In 2016, Zheng co-founded Hero Sports VSPN (renamed Hero Sports VSPO in February 2023, later known as VSPO), and is now a leading esports event operator in Asia, deeply cooperating with mainstream esports events. He has led and participated in KPL (Honor of Kings Pro League), CFPL (CrossFire Pro League), LPL (League of Legends Pro League) and other leading e-sports events.
Zheng wants to do e-sports broadcasting with Chinese characteristics, rather than directly copying the broadcast process in Europe and the United States.
The on-site event at the opening of the 2020 King Glory World Champions Cup Finals, organized by Hero Sports VSPO, with the theme of "Autumn Colors in Kawahara, Evening Wind in the Reeds", made the world feel the connotation of Chinese poetry. At the same time, it also allows young people to appreciate the breadth and depth of Chinese culture in addition to paying attention to the finals.
The live event at the opening of the 2020 King of Glory World Champions Cup Finals was themed "Kawahara Autumn Colors Quiet, Reeds Evening Breeze". Photo courtesy of interviewee
Zheng believes that the spectators of the competition hosted by each country have most of the national audience, and correspondingly, the audience can feel the spirit and culture represented by the event operator. He hopes that in the future, people around the world can feel the spirit and culture of China when watching the events hosted by Hero Sports VSPO, and also make Chinese audiences proud.
In addition to cultural transmission, technological innovation is also particularly important.
Taking advantage of his professional background, Zheng introduced scientific management methods into the e-sports industry, combined IT technology with traditional broadcast technology, and organized and invented more than ten e-sports broadcasting patents such as e-sports 4K broadcast system, game OB equipment integration architecture, subtitle automation system, and dual-signal live streaming system.
"When a new thing is born and its definition is not uniform, it is prone to a lot of controversy and problems." Therefore, he also cooperated with Communication University of China as a visiting professor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts of China Transmission, and wrote the book "Introduction to E-sports" for e-sports-related courses. At present, Zheng is communicating with Macau University of Science and Technology, hoping to promote the e-sports industry with Chinese characteristics from two aspects: improving broadcast technology and strengthening e-sports promotion.
Party support book of e-sports enterprises with "attitude"
Hero Sports VSPO is located in the "Cosmic E-sports Center" on Lingshi Road, Daning Road, Jing'an District, and is a new e-sports enterprise with more than 1,000 employees as the main force of the "post-95 generation".
However, there are still misunderstandings in society's understanding of e-sports, believing that e-sports is addicted to games, and if you play well, you can participate in e-sports competitions.
In November 2003, the State General Administration of Sports officially approved e-sports as the 99th official sports competition. "Esports is already a new sport in the circle of young people. It is the product of the combination of the Internet and sports, and it is a new flashpoint in this special era. E-sports is such a combination of sports competition and information, and he hopes to popularize some basic e-sports knowledge in China.
"I want more people to recognize esports, and universal recognition can avoid a lot of uncertainty in life, so that everyone will have a clear position – am I right for esports? When you make the right choice, it will benefit the reputation of the esports industry. Zheng said. In his 11 years in the industry, Zheng Dao has seen too many pity geniuses and players who entered the esports industry with their passion. Due to the inability to correctly understand e-sports, many families have also developed fierce conflicts.
"We need to be an esports company with an 'attitude' to be worthy of young people." Zheng said. Founded in 2018, the Hero Sports VSPO Party Branch is the first party branch in the esports industry.
Hero Sports VSPO Party Branch Interviewee Courtesy photo
Hero Sports VSPO makes full use of the advantages of the party branch, combines the characteristics of enterprises and cooperates with Daning Road Street to provide ethnic minority college students with service projects such as enterprise visits, HR face-to-face, and entrepreneurial small classes. Through the "four-dimensional interaction" between the practice base and the cooperation point, and the combination of "concentrated internship" and "group action", a new practice base including party spirit education, volunteer service, community practice, innovation and entrepreneurship is created, providing a broader social stage for ethnic minority college students.
E-sports companies with "attitude" party branch secretary Interviewee photo
In order to break the inherent cognition of practitioners in the e-sports industry, Zheng Dao, secretary of the party branch of Hero Sports, and the party members of the party branch launched actions, including going to the community, going to schools, and various large-scale events to carry out various popularization lectures on the e-sports industry, and emphasized that e-sports is also a sport, leading the new generation to spread positive energy in the continuous development, helping more young people to understand themselves, face themselves, devote themselves to practice, and have healthy entertainment.