The past three weeks have brought a varied mix of commercial activity across China’s gaming and esports market, from niche approaches to player merchandise to hardware launches and investment in esports infrastructure.
Here are some of the developments worth catching up on:
Beijing E-Town invests in the infrastructure behind esports
At the Future Gaming and Esports Technology Conference on October 23, Beijing E-Town, a an economic development agency of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, announced four new industry projects with partners including Huya, Zhizi Qiyuan, the Hong Kong Game Development Alliance and Tianjing Huayu. Rather than focusing on tickets, merchandise or sponsorship, Beijing E-Town is investing in the services that sit behind esports production, broadcasting and game development.
The projects include an esports broadcasting centre, an AI game creation platform, an esports production services platform and an AI-game OPC (One-Person Company) community. The district also launched a gaming and esports season running from October through December.
By investing in production, development tools, and creator networks rather than short-term tournament subsidies, Beijing E-Town aims to build long-term local industry value beyond esports events.
T1 turns its players into Zanmang Loopy characters for Shanghai
T1’s collaboration with Korean character IP Zanmang Loopy took a different approach to the usual esports merchandise drop.
The organisation’s League of Legends players were each reimagined as Loopy characters, with the collection spanning blind-box figures and other licensed merchandise. In China, the collaboration also took over a temporary space at Bailian ZX Creative Centre in Shanghai, where a pop-up store ran from September 12 through October 11 with exclusive products, displays and photo spots.
T1 already has strong followings around its individual players, including esports superstar Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, while Loopy brings an established character identity and collectable format. Putting the two together creates merchandise that works beyond the team logo itself.
Luckin packages ten years of KPL history into collectables
Luckin Coffee announced a KPL (King Pro League, the main Honor of Kings circuit in China) tenth-anniversary collaboration on October 21, with the first release landing on October 26.
Rather than building the campaign around one current team, the partnership looks back across the league’s history. Ten players were selected to represent key moments from KPL’s ten-year history.
The range includes player-themed cups, cards, badges, stickers and other collectables, released in two waves, with the second landing on November 2.
The nostalgia angle gives the collaboration more depth than a standard player endorsement. KPL has a decade of personalities and memorable moments to draw on, and the collaboration turns that history into something fans can collect.
A jar of pickles becomes part of the game
One of the more unexpected gaming collaborations of the month came from Tencent’s Yulong Zaitian, a historical fantasy MMORPG focused on large-scale national warfare, and Chinese zhacai (pickled mustard tuber) brand Wujiang.
Announced on October 13, the partnership combines a physical “Emperor Pickles” product with an in-game activity built around the process of making traditional preserved mustard. The campaign also involves Zhao Ping, an inheritor of the nationally recognised traditional Fuling zhacai-making craft.
The collaboration sits within a broader project connecting Yulong Zaitian with the local culture of Fuling, a district of Chongqing where the brand originates from. The game becomes a way of explaining the product’s origin and craft, while the physical product gives players something tangible to take away from the IP.
Author: Zoé Han, Social Media and PR Communications at Hero Esports.
Disclaimer: This article was produced in partnership with Hero Esports. See the last round-up at this link.
