(Yicai) Sept. 21 -- Shanghai has overtaken Los Angeles as the world's top city for esports, according to an industry report by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The Chinese city surpassed LA thanks to the local government’s various cultural policies and measures to create a favorable environment for competitive video gaming, a team led by Prof. Xu Jian at the university’s Institute of Cultural Innovation and Youth Development wrote in the report published today.

As a result, Shanghai has attracted numerous renowned domestic and international gaming and esports companies, the report said.

The report is based on a study of five primary indicators. Shanghai excelled in three of them, including infrastructure, esports tournaments, and esports clubs. Los Angeles dropped to second place even though it ranked first in terms of social influence. Beijing, No. 3, was the strongest in the industry ecosystem. The next slots go to Paris, Berlin, and Seoul. Singapore is No. 7 due to its robust social influence.

Other Chinese cities included in the ranking are Shenzhen, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Xi'an, and Chengdu, occupying the slots of 11 to 15, while Haikou in Hainan province is No. 17. In Southeast Asia, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta made the top 20.

In esports individuals or teams compete playing video games, including first-person shooters, real-time strategy, multiplayer online battles, and sports simulations, watched by spectators. The emergence of the industry has given rise to professional players and major tournaments, including The International, also known as Dota 2. This year’s Dota 2 in Seattle has a prize pool of USD40 million.

The upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, set to start on Sept. 23, present a critical opportunity for that Chinese city to establish itself as a global esports hub as the race will have seven gold medal esports competitions, which should improve Hangzhou's future ranking, the SJTU report said.

https://www.ipshanghai.cn/essayDetail/1413122

Editor: Emmi Laine