简体中文
03:19
This year marks the ninth anniversary of the game League of Legends, which had 800 million registered players worldwide last year.
And from September 25 to October 31, the focus of millions of League of Legends fans and players will be on the finals of the Worlds 2020, with all matches held at the Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai.
But this year's finals may be the quietest one ever, with no audience at the venue – a precaution against the virus.
To make this happen under strict health measures, organizers have gone out of their way to prepare visas for participants from all over the world and to ensure everyone involved follows strict health precautions.
"It's always very difficult to communicate with foreign players about all the process you need to follow in China. But in the past few months, we set up connection and conversation with each of the foreign regions, to talk with them transparently what you need to do in China in order to be a part of Worlds 2020 one by one," said Leo Lin, co-CEO at TJSports.
The Worlds 2020 will begin September 25 and conclude October 31, with all matches at the Pudong Football Stadium. /CGTN
Han Shuai, secretary general of Shanghai Online Game Association, estimates the games' commercial value is now up to 50 billion yuan (about seven billion U.S. dollars), whether the fans are watching in person or not.
"Although the ticket revenue is an important part, it's not the largest," Han said, adding that it probably won't affect the major part of the games' revenues.
According to Han, sponsorship is one of the largest income sources for e-sports tournaments, as well as the sales of online broadcast rights. Official data show that the spring League of Legends competition saw a year-on-year increase of 27 percent in daily online viewership. For the finals, the figure was up by 42 percent.
And Lin noted that China's competition has gained increasing popularity overseas, with the viewership jumping 140 percent outside the Chinese mainland.
The foreign audiences watched for twice as long as they did last year. "We have been growing from a sub-category on the game, now become a fast growing independent industry, which include a very long value chain, a lot of partners in the entire value chain," Lin said.
