The Electronic Sports Committee of China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association (ESC) has published its 2024 China Esports Industry Report, highlighting growth in the esports sector.
Revealed on December 11th at the China Esports Industry Annual Conference in Beijing, China, the Chairman of the Esports Industry Committee Tang Jiajun, shared a comprehensive overview of the Chinese esports industry, sharing key numbers such as revenue, user scale and number of events.
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According to the report and coverage from South China Morning Post, the Chinese esports industry generated 27.568bn RMB (~£2.97 bn) in revenues, with a 4.62% YoY growth (revenue numbers did not include esports game products).
Revenue for esports content live streaming amounted to 80.84%, with event revenues (8.75%), esports club revenue, (8.75%) and other income (4.04%) accounting for the remaining part.
The esports audience has stayed somewhat stable with an estimated total of 490m esports users, a small increase of 0.42%, signalling a shift from market growth to saturation.
The most popular game genres were shooters (26.1%), followed by MOBA (15.2%), and sports simulation games (12.0%). It’s worth mentioning that mobile games are dominating the market, with a 57.6% market share. In comparison, only client-based games account for 26.1%. Games that had both mobile and client-based versions covered 12% of the market share.
A total of 124 competitive esports events took place in the country (at the provincial level or higher), 58% of which were fully offline (32% were hybrid, 10% exclusively online). It’s the third-highest number recorded from 2020 to 2024, and it’s a small decrease from 2023 (127 events).
The increasing number of large international events such as the 2024 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational and the CS2 Shanghai Major have increased esports overseas influence in China. The report also highlighted the increasing popularity of esports tournaments in Southeast Asia, as well as the inclusion of several tournaments in the Esports World Cup, such as the Honor of Kings Invitational Midseason 2024, organised by the Esports World Cup Foundation and Hero Esports (formerly known as VSPO).
Most of the events are concentrated in the East and Southwest China. Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Beijing are the main hosting cities of offline events, almost half of the total number (46.9%).
Additionally, Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou are three of the four main cities with over 10 esports organisations (the fourth one being Guangzhou). The country has registered a total of 195 esports teams, increasing from the previous year, according to the report.
