E-sports, or e-sports for short, refers to sports competitions conducted through electronic devices. Today, it has become one of the most popular and influential emerging cultural activities in the world, with its market size, user scale, number of spectators, event prize money and other indicators showing explosive growth.

E-sports not only provides a stage for gamers to showcase their skills and talents, but also brings huge commercial value and social benefits to related industries such as the game industry, media industry, cultural industry, and hardware industry.

The 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8, 2023. Among them, the e-sports event, which was set up for the first time, is undoubtedly the most eye-catching for young people.

This year, e-sports was officially included in the Asian Games for the first time at the West Lake. There are seven e-sports events in Hangzhou, including League of Legends, Honor of Kings, Game for Peace, Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Street Fighter 5 and FIFA Online.

In 7 e-sports events, the Chinese team achieved excellent results of 4 golds and 1 bronze, ranking first in the e-sports medal list.

In addition to the significance of the gold medal itself, for China, winning the championship honor by playing games and bringing glory to the country is undoubtedly a historic event.

Although China is a traditional powerhouse in e-sports and has won numerous awards in many competitions, games as a special form of entertainment have always been "hateful" in mainstream Chinese thinking. Game players are often labeled as "not doing their job" and "losing their ambition due to playthings". Some games are even regarded as a "disaster" that can lead children astray because of their descriptions of violence and bloody scenes.

However, the official appearance of e-sports on the Asian Games stage has undoubtedly vindicated the gaming form. The athletes won gold medals and brought glory to the country, which means that the love of generations of gamers has been recognized.

On the other hand, if e-sports can gain more widespread recognition and dissemination with the help of the Asian Games, it will also be a major boon to China's gaming industry, media industry, cultural industry, and hardware industry, helping to further stimulate consumption and promote economic development.

This is especially true for China's television industry, which has been sluggish in recent years. E-sports related content can effectively solve the problem of aging large-screen TV users and allow young people to return to the living room. The further development of TV games is also an important content track for the development of smart TVs. At the same time, TV game players' high requirements for TV audio and video performance also conform to the current trend of high-end television, which is particularly critical at the moment when the TV industry is shifting from an incremental market to a stock market.

Entering the Asian Games, e-sports development ushers in new opportunities

The "2022 Asian Esports Industry Development Report" jointly released by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF), Tencent Esports and Penguin Esports shows that in 2022, the global esports event revenue reached US$1.384 billion. By 2025, this figure will exceed US$1.8 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.4%.

In terms of user scale and revenue contribution, China occupies a core position in the global e-sports market, contributing about one-third of the global e-sports event market revenue. It is the world's largest e-sports market, with more than 1 billion game users and more than 430 million e-sports viewers.

The holding of the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports event can make more people realize that games are not only a form of entertainment, but also a sport, a cultural expression, and a career choice. Games can cultivate people's thinking ability, collaboration ability, creativity, competitive consciousness and other qualities, and can also create economic and cultural value for society. Games should be understood, respected and supported, rather than excluded, suppressed and discriminated against.

The 2022 Asian E-sports Industry Development Report shows that about 20% of netizens have undergone a fundamental change in their attitudes towards e-sports from "disapproval" to "approval" after learning that e-sports will be included in the official competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games. The recognition of e-sports in emerging industries and the pride of participating in the Asian Games has been significantly promoted, which in turn has led to an increase in the willingness to understand e-sports and the recognition of the development of e-sports careers.

Correspondingly, in recent years, more and more local governments have issued policies to promote the development of the e-sports industry. The "14th Five-Year Plan" development plans of Guangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and many other places have mentioned the e-sports industry.

The gold medals won by e-sports in the Hangzhou Asian Games are undoubtedly a huge historical opportunity for the television content industry.

Television media is the representative of traditional media. It has a wide coverage and influence, and also carries important social responsibilities and cultural missions.

However, in the Internet era, television media is also facing some difficulties and crises, such as user loss, poor content, single format, lack of innovation, etc. Especially for young groups, television media has lost a large part of its appeal and affinity.

They prefer to use mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and computers to obtain information and entertainment, and prefer to use online applications such as video websites, live broadcast platforms, and social software to watch and participate in e-sports events. Their needs and expectations for television media have changed greatly.

Therefore, the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports project has given television media a rare opportunity to attract young people back to the TV screen. If television media can seize this opportunity and make some changes and innovations, it is possible to win the favor and support of young people again, and it is also possible to find a new path for its own development and transformation.

Out of the doldrums, games help TVs become high-end

The hosting of the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports event not only boosts the domestic gaming industry, but also promotes and encourages the high-end development of the television industry. The high-end development of the television industry is an inevitable trend and important direction for the development of the television industry, and it is also an effective way for the television industry to cope with market competition and transformation and upgrading.

In the first half of 2023, the total sales volume of China's color TV market was 14.67 million units, with sales of 48.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 12.2%. The TV industry has officially entered the stock market from the incremental market.

But at the same time, the existing demand, mainly for replacement of mobile phones, has further promoted the development of the TV industry towards high-end, becoming the core growth point of the TV industry.

According to data from Aowei Cloud Network, in the first half of this year, the shipment of ultra-large TVs of 80 inches and above increased by 50% year-on-year, and the annual shipment is expected to reach 2.7 million units. At the same time, innovative display technology products led by OLED, QLED, QD-OLED and laser TV are accelerating to seize the market, especially Mini LED TVs, which have made breakthrough progress in picture quality and achieved a doubling growth in the first half of the year.

Behind the television industry's firm pace of moving towards high-end, game players have also made an indelible contribution. Due to their ultimate pursuit of game expressiveness and immersion, they are less sensitive to price and have used their money to help the transformation and upgrading of China's television industry.

Data from AVC also proves this point - high-refresh gaming TVs are becoming one of the most important subcategories of high-end products. In 2022, the sales volume of gaming TVs with screen refresh rates above 120Hz reached 5.58 million units, a year-on-year increase of 153.6%. It should be noted that 60Hz video content is still not popular today, and most people buy 120Hz TVs to meet gaming needs.

It can be predicted that after e-sports "endorses" games at this Hangzhou Asian Games, the domestic gaming population is expected to expand further, and the pace of high-end television will become more steady.

In short, the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports project is a promotion and incentive for the high-end development of the TV industry, and also a stimulus and guidance for the replacement demand of the color TV market. If the TV industry can seize this opportunity and make some efforts and innovations, it is possible to improve its own technical level and product quality, and it is also possible to find a new path for its own market development and user services.

The e-sports event of the Hangzhou Asian Games was a historic breakthrough and innovation. It moved e-sports from cyberspace to the international stage and made e-sports a formal sport and cultural phenomenon.

For the Chinese television industry, the e-sports event of the Hangzhou Asian Games brings not only simple opportunities, but far-reaching impacts. It can benefit and develop the Chinese television industry in many aspects. For example, official competitions can change negative views and prejudices about games, attract more young people to return to the TV screen, and promote the research and development and innovation of more high-end products and services. It can also stimulate more demand for replacement of color TV market and consumption upgrades for the Chinese television industry, and improve the technical level and market share of TV products.

Of course, the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports project has also brought some challenges and pressures to the Chinese television industry, such as how to once again promote the attention and professionalism of relevant departments to e-sports projects, how to strengthen the understanding and communication of the society with young groups, how to improve the adaptability and compatibility of games for e-sports projects, and how to activate the added value and differentiation of operators in e-sports projects, etc. These problems require the industry to continuously explore and solve them in practice, and also require cooperation and coordination between e-sports, games, media, television and other industries.

The gold medal is brilliant. The successful conclusion of the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports event has brought huge benefits to the development of China's television industry. It has also formed an important opportunity for the transformation of China's television industry. Here, we hope that China's e-sports industry can take this opportunity to enter the fast lane of development. We also look forward to the Chinese television industry taking advantage of this opportunity to achieve a new leap forward and let more young people return to the TV.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.