Watching the e-sports competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games was dubbed "an immersive experience in a starship" by netizens.
On August 14, 2023, tickets for the Hangzhou Asian Games went on sale. The first batch of tickets to go on sale included 21 sports such as football, boxing, jiu-jitsu, judo, etc., with a total of 252 games, of which the most difficult to find tickets was Dangtui e-sports (hereinafter referred to as "e-sports").
According to the "Hangzhou Asian Games E-sports Ticket Sales Announcement" issued by the Hangzhou Asian Organizing Committee, e-sports is the only competition that takes the form of a registration lottery - the registration lottery, the so-called lottery, the minimum ticket is 200 yuan, the maximum is 1,000 yuan.
This is the first time that an esports project has "entered Asia". At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, esports made its debut at the Asian Games as a performance rather than an informal event, which attracted widespread attention. The Chinese team won 2 golds and 1 silver in three competitions: League of Legends, Honor of Kings (International Version) and Clash Royale.
At the 39th General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia held in 2020, e-sports was approved to be included in the competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games, which is an intellectual event. E-sports players from all over the world will compete as competitors, and the medals they receive will be recorded in the medal table of the Asian Games in their countries, which is a milestone in the history of the Asian Games.
It is understood that in the first round of pre-registration for the Hangzhou Asian Games, e-sports attracted nearly 1,000 athletes from 45 Olympic Council of Asia member countries to sign up for the competition, and more than 400 media signed up to watch the competition, which is one of the most popular events of this Asian Games.
Behind the "e-sports into Asia", Hangzhou has a more long-term consideration - to build an "e-sports capital".
From "Joining Asia" to "Joining the Olympic Games"
Many people have a puzzle: what is the difference between esports and gaming?
To put it simply, playing games is an individual playing electronic entertainment games, which is the communication and interaction between people and machines or between people. E-sports, on the other hand, is an intellectual sport that emphasizes the principles of competitive confrontation and fairness, and competes with thinking ability and team spirit.
Video game players and esports players are also two different groups. Marseille, manager of LGD Esports Club in Hangzhou, told Oriental Weekly that the vast majority of video game players are not suitable for professional e-sports players.
LGD Club has a professional test that tests people's reflexes, instantaneous memory, and hand-eye-brain coordination through computer and equipment. "Generally speaking, people who are suitable for professional esports players will be very prominent in at least one of these sports, 90% of the ability of professional esports players comes from talent, 10% from professional training, and there are very few people who can become professional players." Marseille said.
In essence, e-sports is an evolution of human sports behavior in the information age, which is a competitive sports activity that uses video game content as a carrier and uses technology to realize competitive competition between people.
In 2003, the General Administration of Sports of China incorporated e-sports into its official sports program. According to the "2023 Global E-sports Industry Development Report" directed by the China E-sports Industry Research Institute, among the nine key countries and regions, China's "E-sports Industry Regional Development Index" ranks first, followed by the United States and South Korea, and China, the United States and South Korea are in a leading position in the comprehensive strength of global e-sports development.
At the same time, esports is also a kind of "cultural going to sea".
China's e-sports industry is developing rapidly, and the model has changed from the earliest introduction to independent research and development and independent innovation. "Honor of Kings", "Endless Showdown", "Eternal Calamity", "PUBG Mobile" and other featured domestic e-sports games and corresponding e-sports events "went to sea one after another".
One of the competitions of the Hangzhou Asian Games, "Dream Three Kingdoms 2", is a traditional Chinese e-sports game developed in Hangzhou.
According to the "Report on China's E-sports Industry from January to June 2023" released by the China Audio-Visual and Digital Publishing Association in July 2023, China's e-sports industry continued to expand overseas markets from January to June 2023, and the influence of events held in Southeast Asia and other regions expanded year by year, and some events have become one of the most popular local e-sports events in Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries, and the peak number of spectators of the head event even exceeded 4.2 million. Domestic e-sports products have also been successfully selected as official competitions in the Southeast Asian Games.
In recent years, e-sports, as an emerging sport, have gained more and more international recognition and frequently landed in international comprehensive sports events. After "entering Asia", whether e-sports can "enter the Olympic Games" next has also become a hot topic.
IOC President Bach has made it clear: "The mission of the Olympic Games is to keep the connection with the younger generation, esports has hundreds of millions of players around the world, and it is only a matter of time before esports is included in the competition." ”
Immersive experiences
Watching the e-sports competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games was dubbed "an immersive experience in a starship" by netizens.
Located in Gongshu District, Hangzhou, Hangzhou E-sports Center is the first professional e-sports venue in China with the standard of Asian Games events in China, which is designed with the concept of "interstellar vortex", which looks like a "starship battleship" when viewed from the air, and is the first professional e-sports venue with the standard of Asian Games in China.
Li Hui, director of news and publicity of Hangzhou E-sports Center, told Oriental Weekly that in order to achieve the effect of international e-sports competitions, "Interstellar Vortex" adopts ultra-high standards in acousto-optoelectronic equipment.
Unlike traditional sports events, almost all of the content of esports competitions is presented through the screen, so the requirements for the screen are extremely high.
The reporter of "Oriental Weekly" saw in the Hangzhou E-sports Center that there is a huge liftable four-sided bucket screen hanging in the center of the competition hall, consisting of 4 large screens and 4 small screens, with a total area of 203 square meters, a weight of nearly 20 tons, and can rise to 22 meters high, which is the largest bucket screen in China, which can meet the viewing needs of spectators in different seating positions in the venue.
In addition, six end screens have been installed at the top of the venue, supplemented by a ring screen at the front of the stand. These high-standard screens allow viewers to immerse themselves in the game world and experience a feast for the senses.
Compared with traditional sports competitions, e-sports competitions pay more attention to the creation of atmosphere, and the requirements for lighting effects are also very high.
The reporter of "Oriental Weekly" saw that a multi-level ring atmosphere spotlight was installed on the top of the competition hall, and the red and blue lights could be used to distinguish the opponents and the audience during the game, and the effect of multi-point spotlights was used to achieve concert-like lighting effects.
Li Hui introduced that the creation of sound effects also uses "black technology". The walls of the stadium are equipped with a large number of GRG perforated plates and UHPC boards, similar in shape to honeycombs. These perforated "honeycomb" siding not only has a sci-fi feel, but also effectively reduces the reflection of sound waves, improves the reproduction and clarity of sound, and provides the best viewing experience for the audience.
On the outskirts of Hangzhou E-sports Center is the first eco-cultural park featuring e-sports in China - Beijing Garden Ecological Park. There are many sports facilities set up in the park, and the historical relics of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal such as the ancient Tongji Bridge and the Peach Blossom Water System have been completely preserved, reflecting the sci-fi e-sports atmosphere.
Accelerating the journey to the "capital of esports"
Chen Weiqiang, Executive Secretary-General of Hangzhou Asian Organizing Committee and Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, said in an exclusive interview with Oriental Weekly that the first consideration for e-sports to "enter Asia" is to keep pace with the times, because e-sports is a popular intellectual competition among young friends.
According to market research firm iResearch, in 2023, 44.7% of Chinese esports users will be under the age of 25, and 78.7% will be aged 30 and under. Being young is one of the most important characteristics of esports users.
Chen Weiqiang said frankly that the more long-term consideration of e-sports "entering Asia" lies in the industry - through e-sports "entering Asia", driving the development of Hangzhou and the entire Chinese e-sports industry.
Gongshu District, Hangzhou, where the Hangzhou E-sports Center is located, began to actively deploy the e-sports industry as early as 2017, when the Olympic Council of Asia added e-sports to the Ashgabat Indoor and Martial Arts Games.
The Hangzhou Grand Canal Digital City Management Committee, which is responsible for the digital industry planning of Gongshu District, told Oriental Weekly that they organized research on the e-sports industry around the concept of "digital innovation highland and international cultural and entertainment center", and conducted in-depth analysis and judgment from multiple perspectives such as the current situation of the industry, development resources and future trends. In June 2017, Gongshu District planned 3.1 square kilometers of land within the scope of Shiqiao Street as an area for the e-sports industry.
In 2018, Xiacheng District (now Gongshu District) researched and issued the first e-sports industry support policy in Zhejiang Province - the Implementation Opinions of the People's Government of Hangzhou Xiacheng District on Building an E-sports Digital Entertainment Town to Promote the Development of Industrial Agglomeration (also known as the "16 E-sports Articles"), which provides support to enterprises from various aspects such as office space, hosting events, innovative research and development, enterprise listing and talent apartments.
With the support of this policy, Gongshu District introduced LGD Club, a leading e-sports enterprise. The club is one of the top professional e-sports clubs in China, and currently has multiple branches of Dota 2, League of Legends, CrossFire, Peace Elite, Honor of Kings and other popular e-sports games at home and abroad, with significant brand value and industry influence.
In order to "seize the opportunity of e-sports to enter Asia", in 2022, Gongshu District issued the "Gongshu District Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Development of E-sports Industry (2022-2024)", which clearly stated that by the end of 2024, the total output value of the e-sports industry will be more than 10 billion yuan, and the core added value of the e-sports industry will increase by more than 25% per year.
As the leading e-sports leader in Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou has successfully introduced a number of world-class e-sports events. In addition to the Asian Games, the 2021 NEST National E-sports Competition and the 2022 Global E-sports Leaders Summit were held in Hangzhou. Professional e-sports clubs such as LPL's LGD Club and CS:GO's Tianlu Club have also taken root in Hangzhou.
Driven by the "E-sports into Asia", Hangzhou is accelerating its journey towards the "E-sports Capital".
According to the "China E-sports Industry Report from January to June 2023", the scale of e-sports users in China has reached 487 million in 2022, and in the first half of 2023 (January to June), the overall revenue of China's e-sports industry has reached 75.993 billion yuan, an increase of 11.74% month-on-month, and the upward momentum is obvious.
As of June this year, there were 191 esports clubs available in China, of which the three megacities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou each had more than 10 clubs, while Shanghai was far ahead with 52.
In terms of actual development, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are also the leading cities in the development of e-sports in China, and most of the country's large-scale events, clubs and e-sports companies are located in these cities.
With the rapid popularization of mobility, China's e-sports industry has shown a more stable, mature, standardized and professional development trend, and China's e-sports industry is shifting from a high growth rate to a new stage of high-quality development.
According to a research report released by CICC in August 2023, the biggest significance of "e-sports entering Asia" is to guide China's e-sports events towards sports and standardization.
At the same time, when the government, sports organizations and copyright owners form a relatively complete cooperative relationship through the Asian Games, more high-level intercontinental and world-class comprehensive events are expected to appear, which can better promote the international development of China's e-sports industry.