China’s e-sports industry: analysis of an-ever ascending business and the economic dynamics behind the world’s largest market

Abstract

China has long since entered a new economic phase, centered on large investments in technological innovation, digital entertainment and the IT market. E-sports industry is surely one of the central cores driving the national growth of the digital economy, which led China to eventually become the world’s largest e-sports market and the global leader. The main goal of this research is to outline such an emerging market by providing an in-depth insight of all the dynamics and actors moving the business rationale and, more notably, the several channels China has developed to fuel the e-sports industry. To serve these purposes, the paper firstly submits the data and illustrate statistical forecasting to immediately visualize the magnitude of e-sports industry and the ever-growing importance China is acquiring in this respect at the international level. Following a brief overview of the evolution of e-sports in China, the focus then shifts on the key factors fostering the development of market, ranging from the economic and industrial plans implemented for this purpose, to the progressive standardization of the China’s e-sports industry. The second section concentrates on the analysis of the business models adopted by the main stakeholders of the whole Chinese value chain, such as game developers, e-sports clubs, and live streaming platforms; the marketing strategies implemented as well as the key partners to collaborate with, along with the diversification of the revenue streams having regard to the rapid evolution of the phenomenon and to the Covid-19 impact. The conclusion is based on a parallel between e-sports and digital economy, trying to figure out if the former represents a mere projection of the latter or something completely new.