The past two weeks have brought a steady run of commercial developments across China’s gaming and esports market.
Luxury fashion is moving further into gaming, esports partnerships are getting closer to retail, and platforms are finding new ways to turn player attention into content, community and spending.
Here are some of the stories worth catching up on.
VALORANT teams up with Balenciaga around Champions Shanghai
VALORANT has revealed a collaboration with fashion brand Balenciaga around the 2026 VALORANT Champions event in Shanghai, bringing together esports, fashion and an offline gaming space in the city.
A limited-time VALORANT concept gaming café will run from September 24 to October 18, alongside the Champions Shanghai tournament period. The activation will also feature an early release of the BALENCIAGA NEO FOCUS blue-light gaming glasses, while VALORANT agent Viper has been introduced as Balenciaga’s first digital brand friend.
The partnership is part of a wider city takeover around Champions, with VALORANT also working with brands including restaurant chain Haidilao and expanding into retail, food and lifestyle locations across Shanghai.
Luxury fashion and gaming have crossed paths before, but this collaboration stands out for putting the product, the game and the physical fan experience in the same place.
Watch the collab’s trailer below:
KPL opens up its commercial ecosystem
The King Pro League (KPL, the main Honor of Kings circuit in China) held its first KPL Open Day in Shanghai on September 16, bringing together more than 200 representatives from brands, media and the wider esports industry.
Organised by Hero Esports, the event gave KPL a platform to present its wider commercial ecosystem as the league moves into its second decade. Areas highlighted included digital viewing, offline experiences, player and team storytelling, international expansion and a greater focus on commercial co-creation.
KPL also showcased assets including player cards, merchandise, collaborations and other extensions of the league’s IP.
For a mature competition like KPL, the commercial proposition is increasingly extends beyond broadcast inventory and towards a wider mix of players, products, fandom and offline experiences.
AIMA takes Delta Force esports into its retail stores
Chinese electric two-wheeler brand AIMA is taking a more direct approach to its partnership with Delta Force esports.
AIMA’s Black Wing series has been running watch parties across Chengdu, Chongqing, Bengbu and Suzhou, combining tournament screenings, gaming challenges and in-store promotions. The brand has also developed an e-sports customised version of the AIMA Black Wing S360 model as part of the collaboration.
What makes the campaign interesting is where it takes place. Rather than using esports purely as a media channel, AIMA is bringing gaming audiences into its retail network and placing the experience alongside the product itself — a partnership facilitated by Hero Esports.
Xiaohongshu makes a bigger play for gaming content
Gaming featured more prominently during social platform Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote)’s LINK creator event in September.
Figures shared by one of the event’s gaming-sector partners put the platform’s gaming audience at more than 120 million users, with gaming-related searches exceeding 100 million a month and more than 100,000 gaming and ACG creators active on the platform.
For games companies, the platform offers something slightly different from short-form video. Searchable guides, cosplay, character culture, gaming setups, event experiences and gaming lifestyle content all tend to have a longer shelf life.
Disclaimer: This article was produced in partnership with Hero Esports.
