The SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai — one of the three host venues of the inaugural ACL Grand Finals.

Shanghai has been ramping up efforts to become a global esports hub. Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, president of the Saudi Esports Federation, believes it already is, with a strong esports community, sound infrastructure and demonstrated success at hosting top-level global events.

"There are no other cities in China where we can hold such an international (and multi-title) esports tournament," says Jonny Wang, chief executive officer of the Hero Esports Asian Champions League (ACL).

Wang noted that seven arenas across the city were put into use for this year's inaugural tournament, making Shanghai irreplaceable, especially in terms of "hardware" and infrastructure.

Also, as the league drew thousands of players and fans from across the globe, Shanghai stood out for its ability to host a high volume of foreign visitors, many of whom were on their very first trip to China. A wide range of coupons and discounts — including on accommodation, shopping and sightseeing tours — were offered along with the ACL tickets, enabling visitors to enjoy a comprehensive tourist experience in and around the city.

Solid government support of policies and resources in Shanghai was another driving factor for the event being hosted in the East China metropolis, said Wang. Last July, the city unveiled a three-year action plan (2024-26) to support the healthy development of the esports and gaming industry.

It aims to maintain Shanghai's leadership position in the nation in terms of the registration of high-level esports clubs and the number of major esports events held in the city, expecting revenues directly related to those events to exceed 8 billion yuan ($1.11 billion) by 2026. It also encourages the building of esports-centric industrial parks, as well as the cultivation of local esports IPs, brands and tournaments in Shanghai.

It exactly echoes Wang's expectation: "China now has a very mature esports ecosystem, and Shanghai is home to the industry's top game makers, esports clubs, and upstream and downstream companies. The only puzzle piece missing was an esports tournament IP of its own, a tentpole event, strongly bonded to the city and regularly taking place here each year."

He pointed out that, although Shanghai has held many of the world's top esports tournaments, such as the International DotA2 Championships 2019, also known as TI9, the 2020 League of Legends World Championship (S10) and the 2024 Shanghai Counter-Strike Major, it is hard to expect them to return on a regular basis.

Positioning the ACL as a festive event for all esports and gaming enthusiasts, Wang said he would like to be more grounded, while at the same time keeping a high standard of professional competition.

"We are looking to build a standardized ecosystem. We offer a lot of chances for both top-tier players and the next generation. We care about the grassroots gaming enthusiasts — teenagers and university students — all of whom are super important in the ecosystem and the whole community. We want to offer them good matches, and want them to simply have fun together," Wang adds.

Wang Hanzhe, nicknamed "Chinese boy" and boasting more than 10 million followers on Chinese social media platform Bilibili, was one of those esports fans having fun at this year's ACL.

"It is lively, fresh, exciting and full of surprises. No other event has offered such rich and diverse gaming experiences. Such a gala is valuable for gaming enthusiasts and esports fans, and I have seen everyone is well prepared here. Shanghai is always doing a fantastic job in embracing the new and building on it," he said.