Record of the glory of the king Challenger Cup Conference in 2021

# the glory of the king KPL Professional League # Time: 16:00-16:30 on January 15th, 2022.

Venue: Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center

Moderator: Hello, distinguished media friends on the spot. Next is the media interview session of relevant leaders of Tianmei E-sports. Let me introduce them in turn: the one on my right is Mr. Zhang Yijia, general manager of Tencent Mutual Entertainment Tianmei E-sports Center and general manager of the glory of the king E-sports and chairman of KPL Alliance; On the far right is Mr. Cheng Huang, Senior Director of Tencent Mutual Entertainment Tianmei E-sports Center and Executive Chairman of KPL Alliance Competition Committee. I am Yu Zhenzhou, head of public relations for Wangzhe Glory E-sports.

Next, you can exchange questions about the whole tournament system in the glory of the king, the Challenger Cup held in Hangzhou this time, and our daily events. Please raise your hand and ask questions.

21st century business herald: Hello, I’m a reporter from 21st century business herald. At present, the glory of the king’s e-sports regionalization strategy has achieved phased results. I would like to ask how it is progressing now, and will there be new cities in the future?

Zhang Yijia: I am very happy to share with you some achievements in the past work of King E-sports. Regional development is an important measure for the whole the glory of the king e-sports to realize the national e-sports strategy. We very much hope that the e-sports events can be turned into traditional sports and have a city home. In the past two years, it should be said that my team and I, including the whole team in the glory of the king, have made continuous efforts to make our professional teams better distributed in major cities across the country.

Before September, 2021, our 16 fixed-seat clubs in KPL League fully realized the geographical title, and at the same time, we also opened 7 offline home games (including Shanghai League home games). Of course, there are some cities and clubs that have planned to land at home soon because of the objective reasons of the epidemic.

We see that the effects and achievements brought by the whole regionalization are very good. KPL is the first league in the history of e-sports to truly realize the comprehensive regionalization in the whole country. With the development of regionalization, it can also connect urban culture very well, including helping the industrial development of more cities. We also hope that the strategy of regionalization can be used as a very good seed to develop a more perfect industrial chain throughout the country.

Thank you.

Moderator: Thank you for your question. Next question!

Cover news: Hello, I’m a reporter for cover news. I have a question for Mr. Zhang Yijia. In 2021, the the glory of the king National Competition had a relatively obvious development effect. Apart from the inspirational story of XYG, a team that triumphed and upgraded all the way, what other factors contributed to the rapid development of the national competition last year?

Zhang Yijia: In the past two years, King E-sports has made a very important move to re-open the channel for the whole promotion and demotion. In the past, the fixed seat mechanism was adopted for a period of time. We found that 16 fixed seats were not enough to meet the development of the "national e-sports" ecology of the whole king’s e-sports, so we made a very important reform, that is, two temporary seats were added in the KPL top league, which were connected to the K-A league and then connected to the national competition.

On the premise of a very clear promotion mechanism, generate showed a very strong sense of participation in the national competition. XYG is a very important and outstanding team after the reform of the whole competition. Of course, Zhang Daxian’s fan influence as a big anchor in the glory of the king is behind it. Behind it is that he passed on such a professional spirit to some ordinary players, ordinary players and ordinary young people, so that they can pursue their dreams step by step through their own training, thus reaching a higher competitive level.

The XYG team fought all the way from the national competition to K-A, from K-A to KPL, and entered Group S this year. I believe this will be a very good inspirational story. It will trigger and even drive more ordinary teams and young people who are pursuing their e-sports dreams to pursue their career dreams. We hope that the National Competition will play a crucial role in connecting the public and professional competitions in the whole e-sports system of the glory of the king.

In the future, we will promote more, including welcoming more similar mass teams to participate, and gradually step onto the professional stage through our own efforts.

Moderator: Next question.

The Paper: The Paper, my question is to President Zhang Yijia. We have all seen the Winter Cup upgraded to the Challenger Cup. Including the new year, the competition system in the glory of the king has undergone great changes. I want to ask what is the purpose of this change?

Zhang Yijia: The Challenger Cup is not only a simple name change, but also reflects our strategic thinking. Why did we change it to "Challenger Cup"? At the beginning of last year, we also made a very in-depth internal discussion. We are still very determined to build and build a national e-sports system.

In the system of national e-sports, we also learned the experience of football and basketball. The positioning of the Challenger Cup itself is to hope that players at different levels can have a common stage of competition, which is the embodiment of a concept of our national e-sports.

It can be seen that there are teams from KPL, K-A and national competitions in the Challenger Cup, which gives teams at different levels an opportunity to compete on the same stage, and also creates some possibilities for teams at different tracks to have the opportunity to challenge professional teams.

For professional teams, it is also a kind of self-challenge, so we changed the name to "Challenger Cup", in fact, we hope to convey the spirit of "national e-sports" strategy for every team and every young person to pursue their dreams, constantly challenge themselves and constantly break through.

At the same time, the Challenger Cup is also different from our World Champions Cup in name. The World Champions Cup is the top, top world stage. Challenger Cup is a national and comprehensive stage, and these two events constitute two very important and high-light stages in the whole competition system. In the future, we hope to continuously strengthen and penetrate the concept of "national e-sports". Thank you.

Moderator: Thank you, this one in the front row.

Tencent Sports: I’m a reporter from Tencent Sports. Hello!

As a performance project, the glory of the king appeared in the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018. How can this experience help the preparations for the Asian Games in Hangzhou? What experience can you share? Thank you.

Cheng Huang: In 2018, the glory of the king was selected as a performance item for the Asian Games in Jakarta. As representatives of the national team, six professional players of KPL participated in the Asian Games and won the first gold medal in the first Asian Games. At the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, we will fully absorb the experience of 2018 and provide assistance from product research and development, event management, player recruitment and competition training organization.

At the same time, we will fully cooperate with and support the work of the Olympic Council of Asia, the Asian Organizing Committee, the Asian Electronic Sports Federation and the State Sports General Administration. I also hope that through our work and efforts, we can help e-sports projects to bring new experiences to all audience friends in the Asian Games.

Moderator: Thank you. Next question.

Zhejiang Radio and Television New Blue Network: Hello, I’m a reporter from Zhejiang Radio and Television New Blue Network. I’d like to continue to ask, the 2022 Asian Games will start in half a year, what is the significance of the glory of the king’s being selected for this Asian Games, as well as the next work and any arrangements for the Asian Games. Thank you.

Zhang Yijia: I think the selection of e-sports as a formal event in the Asian Games should be said to be a milestone for the whole industry. It can also make such a young sport go global and let more audiences know the charm of e-sports. I think this will be of great help to the e-sports industry in China and even the world.

As a self-developed e-sports event in China, it is a very important honor for the glory of the king to be selected for the Asian Games. Behind this honor, it actually means that we have more responsibilities and responsibilities. We need to show the Olympic spirit of "higher, faster, stronger and more United" on the stage of the Asian Games through the spirit of hard work of athletes, so as to convey more positive value of e-sports. I think this is the most important thing for the whole industry, including practitioners and all participants.

The specific work will focus on the development of the the glory of the king Asian Games version, including coordinating with the relevant work of the competent authorities. We will also convey the elements of Hangzhou, including the elements of China culture, to audiences around the world through the Asian Games version. Let them know more about the culture of China and Hangzhou through this Asian Games in Hangzhou and e-sports projects. Thank you.

Moderator: Thank you for your question. Next question.

Game theory of value: hello, I am a reporter of game theory of value. Just now, we mentioned that there are many football and basketball events in the Challenger Cup, because now I see that some clubs will be selected from all levels to participate in the Challenger Cup. What I want to ask is, will we further lower the entry threshold in the future? As long as we register or sign up for the club, we can participate and draw lots directly. Instead of picking a round of direct competition as it is now. I think in this case, it may make the event more popular, and there will be more stories of dark horse counterattacks. Thank you.

Zhang Yijia: Yes, this is a good suggestion. In fact, the system of the Challenger Cup is optimized and iterated every year. As an e-sports project, it may have some similarities with traditional sports, but there are also differences. The similarity lies in the fact that the competitive spirit we advocate behind it, including the spirit of pursuing self-breakthrough, is very similar. In other words, e-sports itself, as a digital content project relying on games, needs to be iterated according to the needs of users.

In terms of competition system, the Challenger Cup can better cover the different levels of positioning of existing events, get through the selection mechanism of KPL, K-A and the national competition, and select the existing three tracks in an integrated way, so that everyone can gather on the stage of the Challenger Cup.

Is such a selection mechanism the optimal solution for the Challenger Cup? We also believe that there is still more room for optimization in the future, further transmitting and releasing the participation of the whole people that we just emphasized. We also hope that the competition system will be continuously optimized in the future, so that more teams or young people with dreams for e-sports can stand on this stage. Thank you.

Moderator: Thank you, Mr. Zhang Yijia, for your answer.

Eco E-sports School: I am a reporter of Eco E-sports School. I want to ask you how to summarize the achievements of the glory of the king E-sports in the past year and what expectations you have for the future.

Zhang Yijia: I think King E-sports has taken a solid step this year. We started planning two years ago, hoping to better promote and popularize the e-sports culture through a long-term cultivation. Relying on the glory of the king’s own national user base, let more people appreciate the charm of e-sports.

In this general direction, on the one hand, we deeply cultivate the China market and promote the regionalization of our professional clubs. In 2020, a milestone has been achieved, and 16 clubs have completed the regionalized title. With the passage of time in the future, we believe that more clubs will be able to land in their own offline cities and create the same atmosphere of home and away games as football and basketball.

In addition, we are constantly expanding the system similar to mass competitions, such as the creation of national competitions and the launch of game-based competition tools, which will stimulate more spontaneous e-sports competitions, and we will continue to increase the authorization of third-party competitions, so that anyone and any party who are interested in e-sports will have the opportunity to become a practitioner and a participant to jointly create the "national e-sports" ecology, and

In the future, we will unswervingly promote the development of the king’s e-sports to the direction of "national e-sports". In the past 2021, very good progress has been made. We also hope that in the next few years, we will continue to lay a solid foundation. We also expect that "national e-sports" will really help more people discover and enjoy the fun of e-sports.

Moderator: Thank you, in the back of the left section.

Nanfang Daily: I’m a reporter from Nanfang Daily. I have two questions. This year is the Asian Games year and the year of e-sports. Is there any adjustment in this year’s planning and deployment, product development or competition schedule, and even marketing for the whole king e-sports to promote the upsurge of e-sports? In addition, after the official announcement of e-sports’ entry into Asia, did you feel any difference or direct progress in the commercialization of the whole alliance of King E-sports, or in the degree of commercial recognition?

Moderator: Actually, as I mentioned in the interview session of the club just now, the information related to the Asian Games has to be announced by the relevant departments before we can make further answers. Let’s see if we can talk about the commercialization plan.

Zhang Yijia: I think on the whole, being selected for the Asian Games is a very good promotion for the whole industry, which makes the e-sports industry more recognized by the public and also plays a very good role in boosting the business dimension.

The impact of being selected for the Asian Games will not be very short-term. For example, we can see the amount of sponsorship last year and whether there will be a significant increase in value next year. As the organizer of the event, we do not pursue such short-term returns. We hope that the Asian Games itself will bring us an incentive, which will encourage us to more firmly consolidate and convey the positive value of e-sports.

Only the positive value can be clearly conveyed, so that more people can correctly understand e-sports. Over time, I believe that in the end, I will definitely get a good return in commercial value. As participants and contributors, we should see the longer-term development of this sport. In fact, whether we go to see traditional sports, football or basketball, it is also through long-term development that we have realized the land reclamation of commercial development, and then gradually become more and more influential in the world, and at the same time slowly develop more commercial foundations, and then further promote this sport with the help of business feedback.

I think this patience is needed if e-sports can really develop into a new long-term competitive sport. As practitioners, we also hope that the e-sports industry will get a longer-term development, and we will unswervingly practice and spread the positive value of e-sports in the future. Thank you.

Moderator: If there are no questions, the interview session is over. Thank you for your participation!

Zhang Yijia: Thank you!

Cheng Huang: Thank you!