On National Day, a record gold medal, Peace Elite didn't just win in the arena
On the evening of October 1, the Hangzhou E-sports Center played the "March of the Volunteers" again, and in the final of the peaceful elite Asian Games version of the Hangzhou Asian Games that ended that night, the Chinese team crossed the line in all four games and won the gold medal in the event with an Asian record of 44 minutes 36.943 seconds, showing "Chinese speed". Winning the gold on National Day gives this gold medal a more special meaning. After the Asian Games, whether it is commercial value or social value, the peaceful elite has stood at a new starting point at a higher level.
A new record in Asia, a new possibility for esports
When the peaceful elite Asian Games version landed in the Asian Games for the first time as an official competition event, becoming a competitive event that can be included in the international multi-sports like traditional sports events, the significance of a gold medal is self-evident. Therefore, from the secondary venue to the main stage, under the cheers of the entire audience, the athletes of the Peace Elite Asian Games version of the Chinese team performed even better, and they showed a huge advantage in the four maps of the final. As athlete Zhu Bocheng said after the game, the first battle on the main stage is the decisive battle, and the decisive battle wins the gold medal. On October 1, National Day, this record-breaking gold medal has become the best tribute to the motherland for all participants in the project.
According to the "2023 Global E-sports Industry Development Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), according to Newzoo's forecast data, the global e-sports audience will increase to 574 million in 2023, while in China, the year-on-year growth rate of e-sports users has been stable at about 6% in the past two years, and it is expected that China's e-sports users will reach 478 million in 2023. In this context, entering Asia can promote e-sports to further "break the circle". From leagues to Asian Games, athletes from the peaceful elite have undoubtedly stood on a bigger stage and received more attention. In such a scenario, a lot of details are magnified. Fortunately, real gold is not afraid of fire, and under the spotlight of the Asian Games, the participants of the peaceful elite have shown a more dynamic and positive image than traditional sports. For example, in the semifinals, the Hong Kong team insisted on running to the finish line on foot when they could not use the vehicle, and practiced the competitive spirit of never giving up with actions. For example, when the camera swept over, Liu Yunyu, a fancy Chinese team athlete, and Huang Can, who simulated driving actions, generously showed the youthful vitality of e-sports athletes, which made many pan-sports fans who had not touched or even understood the peaceful elite products also become interested in it.
In order to better embrace the Asian Games, the Hangzhou Asian Games uses a peaceful elite Asian Games version that is different from the league. Combining skydiving, driving and target shooting, the Asian Games version blends spectacle and competition so that even new spectators can understand the game. Therefore, in the Hangzhou E-sports Center, even at nine o'clock in the morning, the attendance rate is very high, and many spectators are already sitting in the stadium just after eight o'clock. In the mixed mining area after the competition, the athletes of the Chinese team are also very "sought-after". Not only did many Chinese journalists wait for interviews, but many foreign journalists also asked in English if they could stop and take two photos. On the night of the finals, many media at home and abroad also published articles to congratulate them.
Image source: AESF Asian Electronic Sports Federation.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Peace Elite Asian Games version was given a new concept of "digital shooting", a sports competition, because of its innovative content that integrates elements of traditional competitive sports. If the development of international events such as the Peace Elite Global Finals proves Peace Elite's leading position in the global mobile esports field, then the breakthrough of the concept of "digital shooting" at the Hangzhou Asian Games led by the dynamic image of the champion Chinese team and players from all over the world has undoubtedly verified its multiple values in the arena of large-scale multi-sports competitions.
The digital sports boom that has taken the world by storm
In addition to the gold medal, the Chinese team also received applause and flowers outside the arena. On the night of the championship on October 1, #Peace Project won the gold medal#, #Peace Project Chinese Team is far ahead# and other entries appeared on Weibo and Douyin hot search lists, with a total of more than 500 million views, of which the topic phrase #China Team Final Not Hidden #once ranked second on the hot search list, becoming one of the most concerned e-sports projects among young people in China during the Asian Games.
After winning the gold on National Day, the personal social platforms of the five players representing China were also "captured" by fans who came to congratulate them. Zhang Yufei, the "6 gold king" in the swimming event, also interacted with Zhu Bocheng in the Weibo comment area after the competition and "asked for an autograph" to show congratulations. From this point of view, the influence and popularity of the peaceful elite players in society is growing, and it also shows their increasing social recognition as athletes in a competitive sport.
The report also mentioned that at present, e-sports audiences "watching at home" is still their main way to watch the game, accounting for 60.5%. In this context, during the Hangzhou Asian Games, e-sports projects including the peaceful elite Asian Games version still proved their "worth". As the only competitive sport that needs to be purchased by lot, its ticket sales are still more popular than expected.
At the commercial level, athletes from the peaceful elite also ushered in a wave of explosions catalyzed by the Asian Games, showing their value in sports marketing to the outside world. Taking Zhu Bocheng, captain of the Chinese team, as an example, on the eve of the Asian Games, 361°, the official sponsor of the Hangzhou Asian Games, officially announced that he was the ambassador of brand e-sports. After winning the championship, not only 361°, but also a number of well-known big brand partners such as OnePlus, McDonald's, McLaren, and JD.com sent him support and congratulations. Up to now, as the top popular star player in peace e-sports, he has held the business cooperation of 11 well-known big brands. According to the attention and positive image of Peace Elite in the Asian Games, it is believed that it is enough to attract more brands that want to make efforts in sports marketing to pay attention to Peace Elite, which will provide some new development opportunities and resources for players.
From the launch of the product public test in 2019, to the opening of the league and the continuous improvement of the ecology, Peace Elite has only developed for more than 4 years, but whether it is horizontal comparison or vertical observation, it has the style of a mobile e-sports explorer, and has become an e-sports brand with considerable development prospects and commercial potential in the mobile e-sports industry. According to data from Esports Charts, in terms of viewing time for individual international tournaments in 2022, the Peace Elite Global Finals ranked at the forefront of the category, occupying the top spot in the mobile esports field, and the total number of viewers of the 2022 Peace Elite Global Finals exceeded the 800 million mark. So far, Peace Elite has 21 global divisions and 213 professional teams, ranking first among all esports events.
In addition, Peace Elite has also maintained continuous cooperation with brands in various fields such as pan-entertainment, fashion and traditional culture, and the success of many business cases such as McDonald's and Lehu born under the commercialization ecology of competition linkage is enough to prove the creativity and influence of Peace Elite event brands. Whether in terms of the impact of the event or its industry development prospects, Peace Esports has lived up to the name of "Global Mobile Esports Pioneer".
Taking advantage of the spring breeze of the Asian Games, peace e-sports is expected to usher in a new wave of "acceleration". According to the "2022 China E-sports Industry Report" released by the Sound and Mathematics Association, the revenue of China's e-sports industry reached 144.503 billion yuan in 2022, of which the revenue of e-sports games reached 117.802 billion yuan, and its huge revenue scale shows the prosperity and growth potential of the e-sports game industry. At the same time, based on the huge industrial chain, the demand for talents in e-sports is extremely large, according to data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the demand for e-sports talents in China is expected to reach nearly 3.5 million in the next five years. It is believed that judging from the gold medal questionnaire handed over at the Hangzhou Asian Games in the peaceful elite Asian Games version of the event, there will be more room for development of peaceful e-sports under the background of the overall improvement of the e-sports industry.
For peaceful esports, the end of the Asian Games is more like setting a new starting line. While the number of followers has skyrocketed and more business partners have been favored, how to hit the next "acceleration target" at the right time has become a difficult problem for peaceful e-sports. How to solve it, the upcoming Peace Elite Global Finals, we may see the answer given by Peace Elite.
Proofreader Wu Xingfa