By Martin Quin Pollard
HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - China won the first gold esports medal in Asian Games history in the Eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Tuesday by beating Malaysia in the smartphone multiplayer battle game “Arena of Valor”, to delight fans in the world’s biggest esports market.
Esports, which refers to video games played competitively and whose players can make millions in prize-money, is making its debut as a medal event in this edition of the Asian Games, as the gaming sector pushes its case for Olympic inclusion.
Teams and individuals are battling for a total of seven gold medals across a range of titles in the city hosting the Games, including online soccer and multi-player battle arena games.
Inside the recently built Esports venue, organisers used lights, ear-splitting loud music and live commentary to create something akin to a gameshow scene in a movie set in a dystopian future world.
Then the arena’s several thousand fans, many of whom waved multi-coloured light sticks, screamed their support when the stadium announcer introduced the Chinese team.
"China must win!" the Chinese players shouted in a huddle on the stage just before the match began, triggering another loud cheer from spectators, before taking their seats for the "Arena of Valor" final.
In the Asian Games version of "Arena of Valor", a smartphone game developed by a subsidiary of Chinese tech giant Tencent , teams of five players first pick characters, called "heroes", to operate in the virtual world of the game before working with team mates to destroy their opponent's base.
A destroyed base equates to a set won and two sets means a victory in the best-of-three contest.
Tapping furiously on their phones, and watched by millions of fans at home, the players communicated via headsets as their "heroes" exchanged fierce and noisy blows on large screens above the stage - an image that may seem bizarre to sports purists.
After a fairly tight opening, China dominated the match before clinching a 2-0 win and sending fans into a frenzy.
Thailand earlier claimed the Games' first esports medal by beating Vietnam for the bronze.
"I feel excited and happy," said Chines player Jiang Tao after the medal ceremony. "I feel we all performed really well."
"I feel so happy and excited," added a beaming and bespectacled Xu Bicheng.
MIXED MESSAGES
Whilst some social media users complained about esports being included in the Games and getting air time on TV, many were delighted.
"I am so touched and very proud, especially when I see the e-sports project being recognised on such a stage," said final spectator Yvonne Yu who has played the game for about seven years.
“I stopped working and to watch CCTV's e-sport broadcast, almost bursting into tears,” one user wrote on Weibo, referring to coverage of the match by the state broadcaster which, though not live, was history-making given authorities' recent nervousness about gaming.
China's cyberspace regulator said last month that children under 18 should be limited to a maximum of two hours a day on their smartphones, sending shares in tech companies tumbling.
But, at the same time, other departments have offered support to esports.
For example, the state run China Media Group established a National E-sports Development Research Institute earlier this year, highlighting esports' potential to contribute to the country's "digital economy", a project championed by President Xi Jinping.
Elsewhere, authorities in Hangzhou ploughed in 4.586 billion yuan ($627.50 million) to build the esports venue according to official data.
"The position of the Chinese government on gaming is ambiguous," said Serkan Toto, founder of consultancy Kantan Games.
"The government seems to be torn between regulating and restricting mobile and PC gaming on the one side and supporting events like esports tournaments on the other side.
"It looks like the focus is on limiting play time and spend on actual gaming while being more lenient on esports, a more passive way of enjoying games."
China has the world's largest esports market by revenue and fans. The market generated $445 million in 2022 or 64.8% of the Asian esports market and China boasts 400 million esports fans, also the highest number globally, according to data from leading Asian video game market analysts Niko Partners.
OLYMPIC DREAM
The next step for esports will be a much tougher ask - to get Olympic recognition. Several players and managers on Tuesday made the case.
“Even skateboarding, breakdancing, rock climbing is in the Olympics, so why not esports?" said Wong Kang Woon, Team Manager of Malaysia's esports team.
"Esports players are not just sitting on the chair. They even sweat. You can check on their heartbeat. There is sports science involved.
"We cannot be putting esports into a negative mindset. We need to move into a positive way. Every sport, even football, starts from gaming, start from fun and then onto high performance sport. Esports in future will be towards that.”
($1 = 7.3084 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard; additional reporting by Xihao Jiang and Ian Ransom; Editing by Ken Ferris)
