E-sports are connecting more possibilities in the super digital scene.

After e-sports achieved the phased goal of "marching into Asia", with the heated discussion caused by "the first e-sports undergraduate graduation", it was passed at the138th meeting of the International Olympic Committee held in Tokyo, and "together" was added to the original Olympic motto "swifter, higher and stronger". This very interesting thing makes everyone feel more clearly the extraordinary significance of sports to the group above the individual.

Recently, GameLook, e-sports, sports industry ecosystem and other media interviewed Ma Xiaotong, senior vice president of Tencent Group, on the future of e-sports, and described the grand blueprint of e-sports industry under the "super digital scene" to the industry, giving people from all walks of life a shot in the arm.

In the interview, Ma Xiaotong believes that e-sports is the best concrete performance of the game as a "super digital scene". Under his observation, the e-sports industry has obviously accelerated its development in recent years, connecting more users and increasing social recognition. Talent is the driving force for the sustainable development of industry. In Ma Xiaotong's view, this is the "possibility" that e-sports is constantly creating as a super digital scene.

At present, e-sports has been combined with many industries to form an ecological circle, showing strong radiation and driving value. E-sports is not only integrated into the daily life of young people, but also surpasses sports and becomes a super engine to drive the development of more industries. In Ma Xiaotong's eyes: "With the progress of technology and thinking, e-sports will continue to have breakthrough innovations."

The following is an interview record:

Q 1: Tencent is a leading enterprise in the digital culture industry. As the general manager of Tencent e-sports, what do you think is the biggest change in e-sports in recent years?

Ma Xiaotong:

In the past two decades, the e-sports industry has made rapid progress in the world, and this growth has obviously accelerated in the past few years. To sum up, there are several outstanding aspects:

First, the scale of users has grown rapidly. As a brand-new digital entertainment content plate, more and more people participate in, watch and pay attention to e-sports. According to our calculation, it is estimated that by the end of 2002 1, the global e-sports users will reach 474 million, with an average of1e-sports content consumers for every 15 people.

The second is the improvement of social recognition. Today, from government departments to related cross-border enterprises, and then to the public, more and more people begin to pay attention to the positive social value of e-sports and actively promote its development. Here, the most typical milestone is e-sports entering Asia-after 20 18 became the performance event of the Asian Games in Jakarta, e-sports was listed as the official event of the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2022, which is an important progress in social evaluation.

The third is the confirmation of industrial attributes. As a game marketing method, e-sports has gradually evolved into an independent emerging industry with great potential. This development has three labels, one is the maturity of the business model with copyright as the core, the other is the perfection of the supporting personnel training system, and the third is the gradual expansion of the e-sports related industrial circle, which began to reflect the radiation and driving value in a wider range.

It can be said that today's e-sports has initially possessed the embryonic form of industrial ecology, and has a wider connection with people's daily life, which is expected to create more values and possibilities. This is also the fundamental reason why we are more willing to re-examine and position e-sports from the perspective of "super digital scene" today.

Q2: Under the guidance of the new concept of "super digital scene", how to better understand the value and future development direction of e-sports industry?

Ma Xiaotong:

"Super digital scene" is a concept we put forward at the beginning of this year, which is actually a reflection on the nature of the game. Based on the practice in tencent games for many years, we believe that games can rebuild their own value space with technology, talents and responsibilities as the chassis. If explained in detail, the three keywords contained here have their own meanings-"number" is the emphasis on technology and the chassis of the game with all possibilities; "Scene" emphasizes the connection, the connection between people, the connection between people and society, and the connection between industries. And "super" describes the tension of this connection, which will be full of imagination. With the progress of technology and thinking, breakthrough innovations will continue to emerge.

E-sports originated from games. As a fast-growing industry, its increasingly extensive connection value can be said to provide a very intuitive case evidence for the "super digital scene".

Conversely, from the perspective of "super digital scene", we can also see the future development direction of e-sports more clearly:

First of all, we will pay more attention to the continuous breakthrough of the underlying technology. Taking shooting as an example, from the initial two-party battle to the multi-person team formation of tactical competition, we will continuously improve the participation and observation experience of e-sports and enlarge the imagination space of e-sports;

Secondly, continue to pay attention to and promote the cultivation of diversified talents in the field of e-sports, and provide power for the future development of e-sports from two dimensions: horizontal and cross-disciplinary talent attraction and vertical professional talents;

Finally, we will continue to think, precipitate and enhance the social responsibility of e-sports, and make it a part of the value of e-sports, and build a better compatibility between e-sports and society.

Q3: How do you think that many giants in different industries have begun to deploy e-sports in the global market?

Ma Xiaotong:

This is a very good thing, in fact, it also proves everyone's understanding and recognition of the development space and social value of e-sports.

Under the background of "super digital scene", in the future, I believe that more and more enterprises will pay attention to the value of e-sports from different angles such as "new form of digital sports", "new symbol of popular culture" and "new engine driven by regional economy", so as to join this ecological circle, and then fully promote the connection between e-sports and more vertical fields based on their professional expertise, and create greater and more positive value.

Q4: E-sports has been officially selected as the official event of the 2022 Asian Games. What opportunities do you think e-sports will bring to its development?

Ma Xiaotong:

As mentioned above, entering Asia is an important progress in the evaluation of e-sports society. I will introduce it in detail here.

First of all, the entry of e-sports into Asia is not a sudden thing, but a long-term accumulation and natural result. In fact, e-sports has had global competitions around 2000, such as WCG, ESWC, CPL and so on. , but it was mainly a solo event at that time; In 2003, the State Sports General Administration listed e-sports as the 99th official sports event in China. In 20 18, e-sports became the performance event of the Asian Games in Jakarta and the most popular event in the Games. In the same year, e-sports became the official event of the Southeast Asian Games; In 20 19, the first global e-sports single sports organization GEF was formally established; Then this time, e-sports has finally become the official project of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and everyone can clearly see this development track.

If entering Asia brings any opportunities for the development of e-sports, I think the core point is that entering Asia marks the development of e-sports has entered a new stage in the dimension of "standardization".

E-sports has become the official event of large-scale intercontinental sports events for the first time, which means that the social recognition of the sports attributes of e-sports has risen to a higher level. The history of sports development proves that this kind of recognition often means the direct development opportunity of a project, so its rules will be more detailed and perfect, the supporting construction such as event organization and player training will be upgraded, and then the competitive level and industrial maturity will reach a new height.

Q5: E-sports has become an official event of the Asian Games. What opportunities are provided for more young people who are interested in participating in the e-sports industry in China?

Ma Xiaotong:

I think entering Asia is both a sign and an opportunity, and the question is actually "What kind of opportunities will the ever-developing e-sports industry provide for young people in China".

It is conceivable that the standardized growth of e-sports as a sports event will surely attract more and more young people to directly participate in this project and strive to develop into professional players.

But I think the bigger opportunity comes from the "possibility" created by e-sports as a super digital scene.

As mentioned above, the e-sports meeting needs continuous technical promotion, and it is associated with more and more related industries to form a broader ecological circle. And this ecosystem needs the support of professionals in many fields. * * * Opportunities to enjoy technology dividends, such as technology, business, market, academics, data research, even psychological research, rehabilitation and so on. There will be a huge demand for talents here, which of course means ample opportunities for personal development.

Q6: Facing the future, what is Tencent's position in the development of e-sports industry?

Ma Xiaotong:

In short, it mainly focuses on three aspects:

First, through technical iteration, we will continue to launch the world's best e-sports products, create a matching high-quality e-sports competition system, and provide a stage for all e-sports enthusiasts to display their talents;

Second, actively participate in the formulation and improvement of various industry standards. One of the important signs of an industry or an ecological maturity is to form a complete standard system. On this basis, we can promote the development of e-sports industry more scientifically and orderly;

Thirdly, as one of the important exploration directions of "super digital scene", e-sports hopes to create new value scenes with partners in different fields and enhance the value ability of the entire industrial ecology.

Q7: In recent years, the trend is very obvious. There are still many second-and third-tier cities in Beijing and Shanghai with increasing demand for e-sports industry. As the organizer of content and events, Tencent e-sports will better meet the needs of urban e-sports events. What new plans does Tencent have in this regard?

Ma Xiaotong:

On 20 18, Tencent esports proposed the "e-sports city development plan". In the past three years, with the "event landing" as the core measure, we have joined hands with industry partners to take root in more and more cities, build urban professional teams with territorial concepts in first-and second-tier cities, and constantly explore the possibility of linkage between e-sports and regional economic development.

This year, we will continue to upgrade this plan. In the future, we will focus on supporting the conscious development of the city's e-sports industry, and provide systematic solutions through the combing and opening of the authorization system from three dimensions.

First, continue to promote the home and away games system and make e-sports a regional emotional symbol.

In our conversation with Mr. Wu Xiaobo, we mentioned that our understanding of many European cities, such as Barcelona, Milan and Manchester, actually started with local star teams. For these cities, the football team is not only a business card, but also an emotional bond between local people. In the future, we hope that e-sports teams can also establish deeper emotional ties with their cities and create a regional emotional bond for local e-sports enthusiasts.

Second, create a differentiated "e-sports+"regional integration development model.

China has a vast territory, and different cities have distinct regional and cultural characteristics. In the future, we hope that based on the city team, through the holding of the games, we will integrate with local regional cultural characteristics and advantageous industries, radiate and drive related industries, make the foundation of the regional e-sports eco-industrial system more solid, and also provide new impetus for the development of local cultural tourism.

Third, open IP intellectual property rights to help local governments establish their own competition system.

A healthy industrial ecology should be open and multi-level. Events are the core of e-sports content. In addition to continuing to improve the operation level of head events, we will also open up e-sports IP through products such as one-stop event platforms, lower the threshold of event organization, and promote more regional and popular events.

Q8: What are the influencing factors for individual e-sports projects to maintain high popularity? Will it be subject to the life cycle of game products?

Ma Xiaotong:

E-sports originated from games, but after e-sports began to have independent industrial personality, user experience and business model, in fact, it and games were interrelated and promoted each other.

Therefore, the vitality of e-sports and games may become the same proposition in the future-and the core that determines their vitality essentially depends on whether more people pay attention to, participate in and love them.

From the sports point of view, e-sports is indeed a young project, but the data shows that this project has very strong vitality and great development potential.

For example, the total viewing volume of the glory of the king in 2020 has exceeded 73 billion, an increase of 660% over 20 19; League of Legends has been held for 10 years. Last year's S 10 Finals attracted nearly 46 million users around the world to watch online, which is equivalent to the total number of online viewers of six games in last year's NBA Finals.

Especially last year, affected by the epidemic, most offline sports events in the world were suspended. Under this special background, e-sports has become the only undisturbed normal sports event in the world, which also proves its industrial resilience and vitality from a special angle.

There are many factors that affect the vitality of e-sports, but the essence is nothing more than three points: technology, innovation and openness.

First of all, technology-which is also one of the cornerstones of the super digital scene-the continuous development of digital technology enables e-sports to continuously enrich and optimize the user experience, which is an important feature compared with many traditional sports;

Secondly, innovation, because of the close relationship between e-sports and intellectual property rights, e-sports can always maintain a high-speed refresh in content. There is a saying in the e-sports circle that "a generation version, a generation of gods". The so-called version update is actually content innovation, which conforms to the consumption habits of modern society, especially young people;

The third is openness. As mentioned earlier, e-sports is a super digital scene. With the support of technology, we can build a more and more perfect ecosystem, connecting people's lives and more related industries.

Q9: You mentioned that the specialization and professionalization of e-sports are progressing steadily. As a global e-sports leader, what role does Tencent play in the formulation of industry standards for e-sports events?

Ma Xiaotong:

Standardization and standardization are the inevitable direction of the development of any sports or industry.

You can use football as an analogy. The earliest European football, in fact, did not have uniform rules and standards. Until later, the "Galabi Rule" football game evolved into rugby; The "Sheffield Rule" football game has evolved into modern football. Today's e-sports is no exception.

However, the coverage of "standardization and standardization" is very large, and it is not limited to high-quality events. We think it includes at least three aspects. The first is the product; The second is the copyright management of the event content, which is one of the chassis of the current business model of the e-sports industry; The third is ecological construction, covering the supporting construction of clubs, sponsors, players and other industries.

Tencent E-sports will work closely with all industrial partners and international special organizations, and try to define and improve these details one by one through more exploration and practice.

Here, I want to emphasize the issue of intellectual property rights in particular. If we study the history of human sports development, we can see a very interesting invisible clue. From classical sports to modern sports, the weight of the concept of "intellectual property" is increasing. Even modern sports can develop professional sports industry, in the final analysis, because intellectual property rights are more and more protected.

Therefore, if we look at it from another angle, the future of the e-sports industry lies in the promotion of three forces: the intellectual property provider of e-sports projects+content creators and disseminators+users.

Q 10:202 1 The graduation season for college students is coming. Recently, the news that the first e-sports major graduates has attracted attention. What is Tencent's layout plan for e-sports talent training?

Ma Xiaotong:

Tencent E-sports has always been committed to promoting the standardized development of e-sports education, and has also reached long-term cooperation with many universities and related institutions at home and abroad, and built an education system at three levels: academic education, vocational education and mass education, and has published 12 e-sports professional textbooks and put them into teaching use; At the same time, it also created rich three-dimensional scenes such as e-sports open classes and e-sports experience halls, which effectively promoted the public's correct understanding of the industry.

At present, the e-sports industry has formed a complete industrial post system around the competition, including hundreds of professional posts such as e-sports clubs, information and content production, event activities and live broadcast platforms. Our current education system is also designed around this post system.

In the upgrade of Tencent's "E-sports City Development Plan", colleges and universities are one of the most important scenes. This year, we will continue to lay out two dimensions: talent education and talent guarantee. Through in-depth linkage with universities and enterprises, we can realize the docking of professional settings with industries and professional posts, curriculum content with professional standards, teaching process with professional process, academic certificates with professional qualifications, and vocational education with lifelong learning. Give full play to the systematic training role of e-sports related majors in colleges and universities, open up a complete path for the training, transportation and retention of e-sports talents, and attract more young people who are interested in joining the e-sports industry to build a future with us.

Q 1 1: under the guidance of the strategy of "super digital scene", I believe there will be many advanced explorations in the future. How can Tencent continue to promote the rapid development of the e-sports ecosystem while better taking into account social values?

Ma Xiaotong:

The user base of the e-sports industry is growing, and the scale of the industry is also growing. Tencent e-sports has always consciously paid attention to social values, promoted the benign and high-quality development of e-sports ecology, and won positive recognition from international sports organizations, competent departments, partners and e-sports enthusiasts.

First of all, e-sports itself is the same as traditional sports. Behind the attributes of competitive sports is the value core of inspirational and brave struggle. Together with contestants and partners, we will carry forward the spirit of e-sports and continue to carry forward the positive energy of society.

Secondly, Tencent e-sports took the initiative to assume the responsibility of promoting the healthy development of industry norms. By launching the Convention on Anti-Counterfeiting in E-sports, we will promote the standardized development of Tencent's e-sports all-league events and create a good and fair competitive environment for the e-sports industry.

Finally, e-sports is a brand-new independent industry, and the concept of "super digital scene" is to let more and more people enjoy the dividends brought by technological progress to a great extent. In the process of "e-sports+"connecting line, demand and service, whether it is a big e-sports city development plan or a small authorized event, it needs to be built and explored with the whole society. Recently, I have spent a lot of energy discussing with all walks of life to promote the healthy development of the industry by establishing a new social contract.