China is home to the world's biggest gaming company, Tencent, which fully owns Riot Games and has significant stakes in a myriad of other esports title publishers. Tencent is central to the development of esports in China.

Within China, e-sports are run like any popular sport and have been for a long time: there are regional clubs, each with its home stadium; tournaments featuring different tiers of talent make it possible for the industry to evaluate the players (and also for the players to make a living); and in recent years, star ...