Games are the starting point of entertainment, while e-sports elevates this form of entertainment to a sports competition with unified rules, a fair environment, and a professional system. In simple terms, all e-sports are games, but not all games can become e-sports.

The Chinese e-sports industry has completed a remarkable transformation from an edge-level subculture to a mainstream sports event:

Scale growth: In 2025, the revenue of China's e-sports industry reached 29.331 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 6.40%, and the user base exceeded 495 million people. Among them, the revenue from live streaming accounted for the highest proportion, reaching 80.81%.

Official Recognition: As early as 2003, e-sports was recognized as a national official sport. In 2020, it became an official event of the Hangzhou Asian Games. In 2025, the first Olympic Electronic Sports Games will also be held in Saudi Arabia, marking the solid international status of this sport. Geographical Distribution: Offline events are highly concentrated in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Chongqing. These three cities have hosted nearly 40% of the e-sports events. As for clubs, Shanghai has an absolute advantage and ranks first, while Shenzhen, Beijing, and Guangzhou also have more than 10 clubs, forming a distinct cluster effect.