Mobile e-sports has become a blue ocean, and the future market size is expected to exceed 50 billion

With the growth of smartphone users, the number of mobile game users has also expanded by leaps and bounds. In 2013, the number of mobile game users was about 300 million. According to iResearch's 2015 China e-sports market research report, the number of mobile game users reached 408 million in 2014. The number of mobile game users is already large enough, far exceeding the 158 million users of PC games in the same year.

From a global perspective, e-sports is a blue ocean that is on the rise, and e-sports on mobile devices is a new trend and direction in this blue ocean.

WCG (World Cyber ​​Games), MLG (Major League Gaming) and ESWC (Esports World Cup, originated in France, formerly the traditional European esports event "Lan Arena") were once known as the three major esports events.

In South Korea, where the e-sports industry is relatively mature, e-sports is known as the "national sport" and is one of South Korea's three major sports competitions. There are tens of thousands of professional e-sports players, and there are professional e-sports leagues every week, with generous prize money.

In China, e-sports has been considered a "unproductive job" for many years. "Professional players used to be under a lot of pressure and were not recognized by society. Moreover, even if they won world championships, such as e-sports stars such as Sky and Ruofeng, although they are more popular, their income is very average." The CEO of a professional e-sports club once told a reporter from the "First Financial Daily" that a survey in 2012 showed that there were only more than a thousand professional e-sports players in China.

This situation began to change in 2014. In August 2014, Amazon announced the acquisition of Twitch, a game video live streaming service provider, for $970 million, which caused a stir in the industry. This not only meant that Amazon had entered a new field, but also that the e-sports derivative market had been noticed by capital, and the e-sports industry had new development opportunities and more monetization possibilities.

Rapid development

Around the world, the e-sports industry is most famous for MOBA (multiplayer online tactical battle arena) games represented by "Dota 2", "League of Legends", and "Heroes of the Storm", FPS (first-person shooter) games represented by "Counter-Strike" and "Call of Duty", RTS (real-time strategy) games represented by "Warcraft 3" and "Starcraft" series, and TCG (collectible card) games represented by "Hearthstone".

The revenue of e-sports is not just the consumption of e-sports game users within the game, but the entire industry chain. It includes the revenue generated by e-sports events, including user payments such as event tickets, peripherals, crowdfunding, and sponsorship, advertising, and other corporate revenue generated around the events; it also includes e-sports derivative income generated by the core links of the industry chain outside the events, such as e-sports clubs and players, live broadcast platforms, and anchors.

In addition, innovative e-sports derivative products such as game controllers, VR (virtual reality) equipment, and gambling-style e-sports club simulation management websites (such as Vulcun) have provided new imagination space for the industry in terms of capital.

With the rise of the two major e-sports categories, League of Legends and Dota 2, the total prize money of global e-sports has grown rapidly. The 2015 China E-sports Industry Research Report released by iResearch in July 2015 shows that the total prize money of League of Legends, Dota 2, StarCraft 2, Warcraft 3, StarCraft, and CS: GO increased by 1083% from 2010 to 2014. Among them, the champion prize money of Dota 2 exceeded the champion prize money of Wimbledon. The increase in prize money also reflects the rapid development of the overall e-sports market.

Entering China

In China's e-sports market, Tencent, which operates the Chinese region of "League of Legends", has made an indelible contribution.

Another name for League of Legends in China is "LOL", the English abbreviation of League of Legends. Chinese players often call it "Lulu". It officially landed in China in 2010. In 2011, Tencent spent $231 million to acquire Riot Games, the American developer of the game, and was responsible for the operation and promotion of the game in China.

Relying on various competitions led by Tencent and developers, this game has also gained huge influence. Today, LOL is a popular game in China with 67 million monthly active users and has a wide range of attention in China. In the 2014 League of Legends S4 World Finals, China's highest single-day live broadcast traffic reached 40 million.

Tencent's success has made other players in the gaming industry want to get a piece of the pie, and the suspension of WCG has made many participants see the possibility. In February 2014, WCG, founded in 2000, announced its suspension. Then, in March 2014, China Mobile Games Group took over from Samsung and tried to introduce WECG (World Esports Competition) to China as a continuation. It also added its own product "Civil Wars" to the project as the world's first esports mobile game.

Although, a year later, WECG disappeared again due to the withdrawal of Chinese mobile games sponsorship, however, looking at it optimistically, the decline of WCG did not leave only regrets. The e-sports market has been cultivated, and Chinese game manufacturers will take this as an opportunity to continue the brand influence in China.

In June 2014, the Yinchuan Municipal Government announced that the WCA will be held in October and will be jointly operated by Yinchuan Shengdi International Game Investment Co., Ltd. According to official statements, the purpose of holding the WCA is to inherit and carry forward the competitive sports spirit of the WCG World E-sports Competition. The event also introduced the "national team" China Investment Industry Fund and stated that the goal is to list on the New Third Board or the Growth Enterprise Market, which also promoted the development of China's e-sports industry.

The E-sports Investment Report released by Huachuang Securities shows that the e-sports industry is in the early stages of exponential development. The industry currently has a market size of about 10 billion yuan, and the user base will reach 100 million in the future, with a potential market space of 80 billion yuan. According to a report by Super Data Research and Newzoo in 2014, the number of global online competitive game viewers has increased eightfold in the past four years. Among them, China has attracted much attention from investors due to its good mass base and amazing performance.

According to iResearch, the overall market size of China's e-sports industry reached RMB 22.63 billion in 2014, with revenue mainly coming from e-sports games, and nearly RMB 130 million from e-sports events; and RMB 870 million from clubs and live broadcast platforms. However, with the increased investment of sponsors in 2015, the further prominence of the fan economy, and the accelerated commercialization of the overall market in e-commerce and advertising, the revenue from these two areas will more than double. iResearch believes that the overall market size of the e-sports industry is expected to exceed RMB 50 billion in the future.

New Trends in Mobile E-sports

PC e-sports began in 2000, and it took 15 years to form such a complete industrial chain today, while mobile e-sports took only one year from concept to prototype.

In the past two years, the shipment volume of smart phones has gradually increased, and the popularity of smart phones has become very wide. With the growth of smart phone users, the number of mobile game users has also achieved a leapfrog expansion. In 2013, the number of mobile game users was about 300 million. The "2015 China E-sports Industry Research Report" released by iResearch Consulting shows that the number of mobile game users has reached 408 million in 2014. The number of mobile game users is already large enough, far exceeding the 158 million users of terminal games in the same year.

According to the iResearch report, among the 408 million mobile game users in China, the user participation and viewing intentions are almost equally divided; while the number of competitive mobile games is very small compared to popular mobile game types, MOBA (multiplayer online tactical competitive games) and shooting games, and the single product exposure index is high. iResearch believes that with the improvement of mobile device performance and the increase in user gaming experience, the existing market space for heavy competitive games will form a blue ocean.

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.