Into the esports arena

Officially launched for public testing in November 2015, the game has attracted more than 200 million users across its domestic and international servers.

Li's parents now come to watch his matches. The excitement is hard to resist.

"I feel that my journey in the esports field will be a long one," Li said. "There are still many goals I have not achieved yet."

Before winning the Esports World Cup title, Li, also known by fans as the "strongest jungler", was named Most Valuable Player in the 2022 KPL Summer Finals and the 2024 KPL Spring Finals.

"In the future, I will continue to pursue better results, win more championships and strive for higher achievements," he said.

Like Li — and partly because of him — a growing number of young people across the country have developed an interest in esports. Some have entered the professional ranks, as esports has emerged as a global digital phenomenon.

Many Chinese cities have introduced supportive policies to cultivate and elevate esports into a thriving industry. Recognition of esports events has risen in recent years, as evidenced by the spectacular showcasing of esports as an official event at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, where it drew around 370 million viewers via new media platforms.

According to the China Esports Industry Report for January to June this year, which was released in July in Shanghai, the number of esports users in China was approximately 490 million, a 0.52 percent year-on-year growth.

Youth is a key characteristic of the esports community, with individuals aged 30 and below accounting for 80.2 percent of participants, the report said.

During the same period, esports revenues in China reached above 12 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) for a growth rate of 4.43 percent year-on-year. That reversed the previous two-year trend of declining revenues, the report said.

The recognition has gone global: Before the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the International Olympic Committee announced that the first Olympic Esports Games would be held in Saudi Arabia in 2025, indicating that gaming as an official Olympic sport had come of age.