Is E-Sport a Game of Rich Guys?

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Wang Sicong， son of China’s richest man Wang Jianlin， and other young rich men are now actively engaged in the e-sport industry. Could they bring this industry to its big time？

In mid-September， the ads World Cyber Arena （WCA） were displayed in the golden hour of CCTV-1. The move from “sports channel” to “comprehensive channel” is a signal to show that the commercial pattern of e-sport， which has been through a lot of hardships， has seen the dawn light.

WCA was established in 2014. It is a world-level e-sports event sponsored by the government of Yinchuan， Gansu and Yinchuan Shengdi International Gaming Investment Co.， Ltd. Yinhcuan is chosen as the permanent site of the event.

In February 2014， the organizer of WCG （World Cyber games） announced that WCG would stop any events， including the WCG annual final in 2014 in consideration of the world trend and the commercial factors. This announcement marked the end of the previous world’s No. 1 e-sports event WCG， as well as the ascension and succession of WCA in the e-sports sector.

On September 14， WCA announced in a high profile in launching the ads of WCA 2014 in CCTV-1. The ad is cast by Li Xiaofeng （Sky）， who is the leading figure in China’s e-sports field， and Liu Yan， a TV star and the celebrity for WCA. It is broadcasta at CCTV1 10 minutes before 7：00. This ad slot used to belong to the famous brands. The appearance of the ad of an e-sport event shows the change of attitude of the mainstream culture and media towards the e-sport.

The Retirement of Players Born in the 1990’s

When the WCA threw a stone in the advertising market and created a historical record in the e-sport industry， the first batch of top e-sport players that were born in the 1990’s began to retire from the frontline.

On August 29， Wei Handong welcomed the first day of“indulgence” in his 23 years of life. He and his two close friends went to a KTV in Shanghai， drank bear and spoke with each other about the past， with nothing touching the computer games.

Like most boys at his age in China， Wei Handong began to play computer games when he was in his first year in the primary school. The Frozen Throne was the game that brought him to the world of e-sport. “At that time I knew Sky has won a lot of world champions. I admired him very much and hoped that one day I could stand the podium for champions.”

As a member of IPL5， the first world champion of China in League of Legends， Wei and his teammates won ten golden medals in 2012 and thus became a figure as legendary as Sky in the e-sports sector. On August 29， he announced his retirement from the e-sport through his Microblog. His IPL5 teammates made the same choice as well.

“Truth to be told， it is hard and painful to leave. Though most fans are still there encouraging and support us， we are‘old’ in that industry，” says Wei Handong， who was born in 1991.

When the e-sport life stopped abruptly， Wei Handong found it hard to get used to the new life there. He used to spend 16 hours training. “It seems that we are able to do nothing but play video games.”

When asked if he wanted to go back to universities for academic study， Wei said no squarely. “I was not a man into study in the past. Now I am still not.”

“It is a pity that Wei Handong retired so early. In the light of the current market development trend， they might have better outlook in this sector. However， there have been great bubbles in the e-sport industry，” says an investor in an e-sport club.

The Raging Time of E-Sport

Like Wei Handong， Zou Xuan is also a “genius” in the computer game. She could easily understands and get used to the complicated maneuvers of computer games which are thought impossible for others. Thus， she quickly earned a nickname as “Lord of Games”.

Ion 2005， Zou Xuan led a team of girls called Swan5 and defeated all opponents in the CS race in Spain. This team was the first team of China to win the world champion in the game of Counter-Strike.

Speaking of her glorious past， this beautiful young woman was still as excited as a girl in her early adolescence.

In 2000， the e-sport welcomed its first big time in China. The fast spread of Internet cafes， video games， e-sport races， QQ and Internet in this land was connecting many people who had no bonds at all before closely to each other.

“Everyone was shocked by the charm and the social impact of the s-sports games. Quite a few people could understand what it was or where it came from， but they all knew this did matter，” says Zhou Hao， the founder of WE E-Sport Club.

Behind the boom the contributions of South Korea could not be forgotten.

After the 1998 Asian financial crisis， the South Korean government tried hard to change its industrial structure. The industries TV series， movies， video games and cartoons got the unlimited support from the government. The e-sports industry， which was then established as a new pillar for the national economy， was greeted with great development opportunities.

In 1998， U.S.-based Blizzard launched Starcraft. This groundbreaking RTS game that young men were very fond of not only helped achieve the success of e-sport industry in South Korea， but also greatly increased the number of Chinese players， teams and leaguers. Just like Kung-Fu styles and organizations in the Chinese knight novels， there were many organizations of Starcraft emerging in China at that time.

In that exciting period， Zou Xuan founded her own team and served as the team leader. “We did not have organized tactics at that time， and the environment was terrible. The Internet was not quite fast and people’s income was quite low compared with today’s situation， making computers and Internet more like luxury things. But it was really a happy period for us to strive for one goal，” she says.

The Turning Point of E-Sport

“The initial e-sports market of China was like the Warring-State Period featuring regional dominance without a nationwide guideline. A great turning point appeared in 2003，”says a senior investor.

In 2003， the General Administration of Sports of China officially established the e-sport as the 99th athletic item in China. At that time， many people considered this event as the mark for the spring of e-sport， which could finally end the guerilla life and come to the surface.”

“At the beginning， the investors still found difficulties in the operation. If the ads of games or clubs proved to be unpopular， there will be no sponsors. So far as I know， the ownership of some clubs changed multiple times and some of them could have dozens of bosses in one year，” says the aforementioned investor.

Just like the football and basketball games， the broadcast of e-sports races or events by TV stations is very appealing for investors. “After all， the traditional media was still the major propagation mode at that time，” Zhou Hao says.

In 2004， the first China E-Sports Games （CEG） unrolled its curtain. In the same year the State Administration of Radio， Film and Television （SARFT） issued the ban over the TV programs concerning the video games.

Against that backdrop， sponsored the CEG from 2004 to 2007.

was founded by the Chinese Olympic Committee， All-China Sports Federation and Hong Kong-based CITIC Pacific in November 2003. This company was appointed to run the digital business like ， the website of Chinese Olympic Committee and so on. One of its most famous products is the CEG. After the birth of CEG， the organizing committee decided to work with Tecent and appointed QQ Game as the only platform for the casual games.

Even though there were doubts about “having sport yield to commerce”， the CEG still attracted 1.21 million players into the race. The number is still the highest among all sports games in China at this moment.

In 2005， Zou Xuan， who had become the world champion， chose to retire as well. “I could not be said to be dispirited but I was really disappointed then，” she says.

The disappointment came from the fact that the e-sport has been tainted， or even controlled by the businessmen， leaving the fans and players vulnerable to the business benefits. The aforementioned investors frankly say the game operators were the biggest winners in that period.

The Game of rich People

In 2011， Wang Sicong， who was 23 then， acquired the tobe-disbanded CCM team. Then， Wang Sicong founded IG ESports Club based on the CCM. Meanwhile he initiated the“ACE Alliance”， an official and registered e-sports organization. The goal of establishing ACE is to formulate the gaming rules of the e-sports industry and to standardize the operation of clubs.

“Tecent is still a partner of us， but undeniably， Wang is the one to have brought many sons or grandsons of Chinese tycoons into the world of e-sport，” an insider of the alliance says.

This insider says that these young rich men have the heart of competing with each other. “You have a partner in playing video games. I want one too. You have an esports club. I want one too.” “Now， most of the e-sports clubs are related to him. So far as I know， apart from Wang Sicong， there are several regional richest men’s children having owned the e-sports club.”

The e-sport is more like leisure than real business for these young rich men. “We communicate with each other more through phones or instant messages. We rarely meet face to face. They have a lot of other investment projects，”the ACE insider says.

Several e-sports club directors believe that the involvement of Wang Sicong and other young rich men could not change the fate of e-sport， however， the massive flow of capital into this industry has triggered the tremendous changes of the e-sports industry.

“First of all， the cost of operating clubs is increasing. Nowadays， the monthly salary of the top players could reach 10-20 thousand players while the non-top players could earn 7-8 thousand per month. Now， the annual investment into a club has amounted to millions of yuan or even tens of million yuan. Like football clubs， there are transfers of players among clubs whose fees depend on the skills of the players. There are also some sponsors， who can provide capital that is enough for the operation of clubs，” an investor says.

“These people are not simply doing it for fun； they have some strategic mind into this，” says the ACE insider. “They are not fools. Then， it is unknown whether the strategic mind comes for the development the e-sport industry and the other things.”