IDC: China’s E-sports Industry Entering Golden Age

China’s e-sports games revenues are expected to exceed US$7.3 billion for 2016, up more than 50% from 2015 thanks to the increasing popularity of tournaments as more organizers and players jump on the bandwagon, according to IDC 2016 China E-sports Industry Review and Outlook.

China’s e-sports industry became much more professional in 2016 and its deeper integration with the film and other entertainment industries accelerated as fast-growing e-sports in the country embraced the concept of “pan entertainment“. “In 2016, e-sports in China matured and diversified,“ said Johnny Zhou, an analyst with IDC China. “In 2017, China’s e-sports industry is expected to usher in an era of glory. However, competition is also set to intensify.“ China’s e-sports industry featured the following highlights in 2016, according to the IDC report.

E-sports tournaments in full swing

IDC 2016 China E-sports Industry Review and Outlook expects total prize bonus offered in global e-sports tournaments to reach around US$81.3 million in 2016, with 36.3 million coming from open competitions held in China, making China one of the world’s top organizers of e-sports tournaments. The report also shows that China currently has more than 500 professional e-sports teams in competing in tournaments, with well over 10,000 amateur teams registering for online tournaments.

E-sports go professional

In 2016, e-sports tournaments become more professional. There are now nearly 2,000 professional e-sports tournament planning and organizing institutions in China, including government agencies such as the Information Center of the General Administration of Sport, the local government of Yinchuan in northwest China’s Ningxia, and Yiwu in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province.

Meanwhile, e-sports clubs have also become more professional and standardized in their operations and player management. In 2016, professional Chinese e-sports clubs continued to learn from their South Korean peers by drawing upon the traditional sports club model to develop operational models that better suit the e-sports industry environment in China.

Nine clubs formed the China CS:GO Alliance in 2016, thus laid a solid foundation for the future development of e-sports games in China. At the 2016 season of the China DOTA2 Professional League held in May, a player registration system was introduced for the first time. The establishment of a registration management system along with a system to track tournament points has further standardized and guided the development of e-sports tournaments in China, preventing excessive commercialization of e-sports games while protecting e-sports fan’s right to participation.

In a bid to train more professionals for the emerging e-sports industry, China’s Ministry of Education announced that it would add 13 new college curriculums such as e-sports games and management in 2017.

Mobile e-sports a new trend

2016 has been billed as the year mobile e-sports gained traction in China. Mobile e-sports revenue is expected to hit US$2.6 billion in 2016, almost tripling from last year’s US$870 million in 2015. Enthusiastically promoted by game vendors including Tencent and Hero Entertainment, as well as mobile phone makers such as Huawei, mobile e-sports games can now be found in all leading e-sports tournaments in China. Industry concerns about the poor operability and short lifespan of mobile e-sports games also eased over the year. All leading e-sports clubs have started to establish mobile e-sports teams and take part in tournaments.

Chinese companies have also stepped up their inroads in the mobile gaming industry and were on a shopping spree in 2016. Notable deals include Tencent’s acquisition of Finnish mobile game developer Supercell, the maker of the popular Clash of Clans game, and Chinese mobile ad platform Mobvista’s purchase of US-based NativeX, a startup that makes advertising for mobile games and apps. Mobile gaming revenue in China reached around US$11.9 billion in 2016, up from last year’s 7.5 billion and accounting for nearly half of the total gaming revenue of 24.0 billion,according to 2016 IDC Worldwide Gaming report.

E-sports “pan entertainment“ well under way

2016 saw even more entertainment celebrities entering the e-sports industry. Ties between the e-sports industry and traditional entertainment programs have also strengthened. In November, a Chinese live video streaming platform invited a number of popular Korean stars to take part in the China-South Korea Superstar Tournament. In addition to attracting an audience of 11 million, the event offered a new perspective one-sports pan entertainment. E-sports involvement in pan entertainment is expected to deepen in the foreseeable future.

Live game broadcasting supervision gets stricter

China’s fast-growing live broadcasting industry is serving as a catalyst to the booming e-sports industry. However, irregularities exist in China’s live broadcasting platforms. As a result, Chinese government has tightened supervisions on live broadcasting content as part of its efforts to standardize the commercialization activities in the live broadcasting industry.