China's eSports Market Size Surpasses 20 Trillion Won for the First Time

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Sunmi Park] The size of China's e-sports market has surpassed 20 trillion won for the first time.

On the 6th, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing statistics from Chinese market research firm iResearch, that the size of China's e-sports market reached 117.5 billion yuan (approximately 20.23 trillion won) in 2019, with an annual growth rate of 25%. This is the first time that China's e-sports market size has exceeded 100 billion yuan. iResearch predicted that if the current pace continues, China's e-sports market size will exceed 165.1 billion yuan by 2021.

There are 470 million e-sports consumers in China, 76% of whom are male. Most of the revenue is generated by the e-sports games themselves. Mobile games and PC games accounted for 47.2% and 24.7% of the total e-sports market revenue, respectively. Additional business revenues, including related advertising and merchandise sales, make up the remaining 24.7%, and the industry expects this share to rise to around 33% in 2021.

iResearch stated, "E-sports players in China have become a professional field recognized by the government," adding, "With Chinese teams winning the 2019 'League of Legends (LoL) World Championship,' the government, investors, and brands are showing more interest and enthusiasm."

However, the Chinese government's strengthening of game approval procedures and restrictions on gaming time and spending limits for underage gamers have become obstacles to the growth of the e-sports market.

According to new laws passed last year, youths under 18 in China are not allowed to play games for more than 90 minutes per day. Even on holidays, gaming time is limited to 3 hours. Minors are prohibited from gaming before 8 a.m. and after 10 p.m. Additionally, children under 8 years old cannot make game-related expenditures, while those aged 8 to 16 have a monthly spending limit of 200 yuan, and those aged 16 to 18 have a limit of 400 yuan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.