Top gaming companies, Riot Games and FunPlus, have set up headquarters and research centers in Shanghai, in an effort to become the global eSports capital. 

Riot Games, developer of the League of Legends (LOL), will establish its global research center in Jing’an District, with FunPlus setting up an eSports club and culture digitalization platform in Shanghai. 

During his visit to Shanghai in October, Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games, called Shanghai “a global eSports capital city”, as they now hope to utilize the city’s resources in infrastructure and talent. 

Ouija Entertainment’s president, Chen Yulin, said in a sideline interview, “Shanghai’s game industry rises again with top-level firms and a great business environment on talent and IP (intellectual property).” 

Since 2017, Shanghai has launched “50 Measures” to support game and culture development.

They include attracting game and culture companies, increasing the number of eSports venues, holding top events, setting up eSports majors in colleges, and accelerating application and approval procedures for related publications.

Between 2018 and 2020, Xuhui supported 439 culture and innovation projects, while being home to headquarters and regional centers for giants like Tencent, NetEase, miHoyo, Giant, Yoozoo, and now Ouija Entertainment.

In a new industry report, Shanghai’s game industry index reached 79.0 points, followed by Guangzhou’s 71.5 points and Beijing’s 69.8 points.