Standing on the outlet of the Asian Games, what information does this e-sports event convey?
2022-07-30 09:48:31Source: Xinhua News Agency
In recent years, the e-sports industry has developed rapidly around the world. After the Hangzhou Asian Games included e-sports as an official competition event, e-sports further entered the public eye. However, even so, it seems that the discussion on whether e-sports is a sports or not is still inconclusive at the moment.
On July 27, the 2022 Global Esports Leaders Summit ended in Hangzhou. With the theme of “Competition in Asia”, the conference aims to explore the new future and new opportunities for the development of e-sports as an emerging sports industry. What information has this high-profile e-sports event brought us?
The positive value of e-sports is affirmed
In the industrial achievement exhibition hall at the summit site, the booth with the e-sports talent test was crowded. Last summer, the evaluation of e-sports talents became very popular. The training aimed at preparing talents for e-sports has unexpectedly produced the effect of “dissuading them to quit”. , the concept that playing games does not equal e-sports is also more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
While e-sports was included in the official competition items of the Asian Games, the International Olympic Committee has also discussed and tried many times about e-sports. To “encourage the development of virtual sports and further engagement with the video game community”.
The “2022 Asia E-sports Industry Development Report” released at this summit shows that more than half of the netizens from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and India who have a certain understanding of e-sports agree that e-sports is a sport.
According to Zheng Duo, a visiting professor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts at Communication University of China, the Hangzhou Asian Games provides an opportunity for e-sports to explain itself to the society. “Any new thing has to be explained to the society. Break dancing is also the first time to enter the Asian Games, but it is very similar to traditional sports, and e-sports is different.”
Lang Ping, the former head coach of the Chinese women’s volleyball team, became Tencent’s e-sports sports communication officer last year. She said that although e-sports does not require high physical confrontation and physical fitness like traditional sports such as volleyball, the training of hand-eye coordination and game concentration is also very important. Hardships, e-sports competitions can also convey to young people the spirit of not being afraid of hardship, not being afraid of fatigue, and perseverance.
E-sports professionals are facing a gap
The “2022 Asian E-sports Industry Development Report” also shows that China has become the world‘s largest e-sports market. In the expectation that the global event revenue will reach US$1.384 billion in 2022, China will provide about 30% of the global e-sports market. one percent of the income.
However, under the background of the complex and changeable situation of the new crown epidemic and the multiple pressures on the macro economy, China’s e-sports industry has also encountered an unprecedented impact. According to the report of the first half of the 2022 China e-sports industry report released by the China Audiovisual and Digital Publishing Association (hereinafter referred to as the China Audio-Visual and Digital Publishing Association), the revenue of my country’s e-sports industry was 76.497 billion yuan from January to June this year. A year-on-year decrease of 10.12%; the number of users was 487 million, which also decreased by 0.41%. This is the first time that the two main data have declined in tandem since the statistics were published.
Zhang Yijun, the first vice chairman of the China Music and Digital Association, suggested that in addition to insisting on content construction and ecological construction, we should also insist on talent construction to cope with the decline. “At present, there is still a big gap in e-sports professionals, and a multi-level talent training system needs to be established to make up for it.”
Asian Games e-sports highlights Hangzhou elements
Tang Jiajun, deputy secretary-general of the China Music and Digital Association, said that e-sports has important cultural attributes, which can be well integrated with cities, and can also spread Chinese culture and Chinese stories through e-sports.
How to show the cultural attributes of e-sports in the Asian Games? Zhang Yijia, general manager of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Tianmei E-sports Center and general manager of King of Glory e-sports, said that King of Glory (Asian Games Edition) will incorporate elements of Hangzhou’s famous attractions, landmarks, and urban culture into its design. “I hope that through e-sports, audiences in Asia and even the world can see the charm of our Chinese cities.”
Before the official start of the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports competition, the “Asian Games Journey” event co-sponsored by the Asian Olympic Council and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation will be the first to start. At that time, teams from all over Asia will compete with the Hangzhou Asian Games e-sports competition. Exactly the same project, through this event, e-sports fans are expected to experience the Asian Games atmosphere full of cultural elements in advance.
“In the ‘Asian Games Journey’ competition, in addition to presenting Chinese elements, we also plan to restore the landmarks of various Asian countries and regions through digital engines, such as Mount Fuji in Japan and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, so that the audience can experience the local customs and customs at close range. Even interact with it,” said Hou Miao, general manager of Tencent E-sports.
E-sports and traditional sports may be “harmonious but different”
After the Hangzhou Asian Games, is entering the Olympic Games the ultimate goal of e-sports? According to Wei Jizhong, vice-chairman of the International E-Sports Federation, the future of e-sports may be “harmonious but different” from traditional sports, and it will walk out of its own way of emerging sports industry.
Wei Jizhong introduced that this year’s Commonwealth eSports Championship will be held concurrently with the Commonwealth Games as an independent event. The International Olympic Committee, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Organizing Committee and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games Organizing Committee, as well as the organizers of regional games including Africa, South America and Pan America, will send representatives to inspect the Commonwealth eSports Championship.
Wei Jizhong said that the two models adopted by the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games are explorations of the combination of e-sports and traditional games, “E-sports and traditional games are like two circles, and the two can have a joint to achieve ‘harmony and yet’. Different’, it doesn’t necessarily have to be who fits into who.”
(According to Xinhua News Agency Wang Meng Xia Liang)