The WASD Series: Discussing the Future of Esports with Hongyu Chen

You’ve had 13 years of experience in esports. How did you first get involved, and how did your passion become profession?

I have been a fan of esports from a very young age. Back then, there was a Shanghai Media Group TV channel called Gamefy, which often broadcasted esports live. Later, I got to know the Gamefy announcer and host from that time. In my third year of middle school, I came to Shanghai alone and went to the competition site, where I got to experience esports competitions in person. Later, I also participated in some of their competitions as a volunteer. I’ve been more fortunate than many other people who work in esports, because I’ve been exposed to real esports from a very early age.

Choosing this industry as a career was something I considered for some time when I was in graduate school. At that time, I realized that I wasn’t passionate in my undergraduate studies (communication engineering), and after careful consideration, I thought that I had a competitive advantage in terms of my domestic and overseas exports connections. In addition, I have had a deeper understanding of the exports industry since I was a child, so with exports becoming increasingly popular, I chose to enter the esports industry after graduating and returning to China.

你已经有13年的电竞经验。当初，你是怎么开始参与的，你是如何将热情转化为职业的？

我最早的时候是一个热爱电竞比赛的观众，那个时候有一个上海文广电视台旗下的付费电视频道叫做游戏风云，那上面经常直播一些电竞比赛。到后面我认识了当时的解说和主持人，并在初三的时候一个人来到上海，来到了他们办赛的地方，亲身体验了他们是怎么做电竞比赛的。到后面我也作为志愿者参与了他们举办的一些比赛。所以我相比于很多电竞从业者都幸运，因为我从很早就开始接触真正的电竞比赛了。

选择这个行业作为职业算是我在读研究生时期的一段时间考量。那个时候我发现自己的passion并不在我本科学习的方向（通讯工程），考虑再三之后，我认为自己在国内以及国外的电竞人脉上有着自己的竞争优势。再加上我从小就对电竞行业有着较深的理解，而且电竞在未来可以是一个趋势，所以我选择毕业回国之后进入电竞行业

How does competitive esports culture compare in China and the West?

Actually, both Chinese and Western esports cultures aspire to ultimate victory. There are only some ideological differences between China and the West. In China, for example, esports was recognized as a sport by the State Sport General Administration of China as early as 2003; however, in the West today, there are still many countries, such as Britain, France and Germany, that do not recognize esports as a sport. Traditional sports are more based on competition between countries. Therefore, you will find that Chinese esports are more cohesive and often feature the national flag waving on the playing field. On the other hand, in the West, esports are more club-oriented and we see many players of different nationalities on the same team.

竞技电竞文化在中国和西方的比较如何？

其实无论是中国的电竞文化或者西方的电竞文化，都是渴望最终胜利的。中西方只是在对待电竞的意识形态上有着一些区别。例如中国早在2003年时，就已经由国家体育总局认定电竞是一项体育项目了；但如今的西方，还是有很多国家，像英法德并不认可电竞是一种体育。传统体育的背后实际上是一种国家与国家之间的对抗。因此你会发现，中国的电竞凝聚力会更强一些，经常会看到国旗挥舞在比赛场地上。反而西方的电竞则会更强调俱乐部属性，会看到很多不同国籍的选手在同一个队伍。

How is the Chinese industry creating a more equitable space for female players to succeed at the same level as male players?

First of all, we need to admit that in traditional sports, men and women compete separately. This is because men’s bodies are scientifically proven to be physically higher performing than women’s bodies. But this argument is not supported in esports because esports do not rely on physical confrontation. So in theory, men and women can compete on the same stage. The situation is very complicated. Generally speaking, there are still less women players than men, but the number of female players has been increasing in recent years. Therefore, the appearance of more and more female professional players will be an inevitable trend, and our industry should be ready to welcome more and more female professional players to join. In addition to increasing diversity in the industry, people outside the industry should eliminate their stereotypes that esports mainly consists of fat, young Otaku men aged 16-25.

中国产业如何为女性玩家创造更公平的空间，让她们与男性玩家达到一样成功的水准？

首先我们需要承认在传统体育中，男女是分开竞技的。这是由于在科学的论证下，男性的身体是要比女性的身体在物理上更占优势。但这一观点在电竞上却没有得到论证，因为电竞并不依赖于身体对抗。因此理论上来说男女是可以同台竞技的。而社会是很复杂的，整体上来说在玩家群体中，女性依然少于男性，但近几年女性玩家的数量是越来越多。因此越来越多的女性职业选手的出现会是一种必然趋势，而我们行业也应该做好准备，欢迎越来越多的女性职业选手加入。在增加行业多样性的同时，也可以消除行业外的人对电竞的刻板印象（16-25岁的年轻肥宅形象）。

What do you expect will be the immediate impacts of the addition of esports to the 2024 Olympics to the global esports industry and worldwide conception of esports?

In previous years, people were interested in esports entering the Olympic Games because it needed to be recognized by the mainstream. But actually in my opinion, at least in China, esports are already mainstream now. Whether esports will enter the Olympic Games or not is now more like a competition between the old school of competitive thinking and the new school of competitive thinking. If esports does make it to the Olympics, it will be a good thing for the global esports industry, but if it doesn’t work out, I don’t think you have to be too upset. After all, every year the industry grows by leaps and bounds, and I’m excited to see how big it will be in 4 years.

你预计2024年奥运会增加电竞项目，对全球电竞产业和世界范围内的电竞观念会产生哪些直接影响？

早年大家对电竞入奥的话题感兴趣，是因为当时的电竞需要被主流所认可。但实际上现在在我的理解里，起码在中国，电竞已经是主流了。电竞是否入奥如今更像是旧派的竞技思想与新派的竞技思想之间的竞争。如果电竞真的入奥，那对于全球电竞行业来说当然是一件好事；不过如果没有成功，在我看来也不用太过沮丧。毕竟每一年的电竞行业都是在飞速发展，4年之后的电竞能壮大到什么样，我也很期待。

What are the biggest developments in esports that we should be on the lookout for in the near future?

At this stage I think it’s the use of 5G and mobile gaming. This is a trend that can be obviously seen, as Chinese smartphone brands have been gradually recognized and even feared by the world. And when 5G technology is implemented, many possibilities will present themselves. We should remember that the 4G mobile billing model was unimaginable before 4G was implemented.

近期，电竞领域有哪些最大的发展值得我们关注？

现阶段我认为是5G和移动电竞的运用。这是一个可以肉眼看到的趋势，中国的智能手机品牌已经逐渐被世界所认可，甚至是惧怕。而等5G技术实现后，可以爆发许多的可能。要知道4G所带来的移动付费模式是在4G前所无法想象的。