Just a couple of days ago, as a former esports enthusiast—now a middle-aged veteran who can barely keep up anymore—I was still totally fired up by the 2025 Weibo Esports Night!Dozens of guests from various fields—including table tennis world champion Deng Yaping, renowned actor Ren Jialun, and star esports player JackeyLove—gathered at the event. Together, they delivered countless highlight moments and spectacular performances. While fully showcasing the beauty of competitive sports, they also made me realize once again that the “passion” of esports extends far beyond youth and the arena!

Of course, the esports industry is currently undergoing a profound transformation. Attention is no longer limited to tournaments, viewership, and revenue; instead, there is a growing emphasis on the sustainable consumer ecosystem and business models that have emerged from esports. Weibo’s “Night of Esports Passion” is undoubtedly an excellent case study, demonstrating how the platform is focusing on “user engagement,” “business expansion,” and “operational efficiency” to identify new avenues for growth in the esports sector.

01

Youthful Vibes: From Sports to Everyday Life

According to the "2025 China Esports Industry Research Report" released by iResearch, Chinese esports users aged 30 or younger account for nearly 70% of the total, indicating a clear trend toward a younger demographic.

This also aligns with my own "personal observations": the young colleagues around me, as well as my own nephews and nieces—regardless of what stage of life they’re in or what their daily routines look like—all enjoy playing games to some extent and have a genuine passion for esports tournaments.When the League of Legends S15 World Championship took place a while back, everyone—from the elderly to the very young—seemed to be buzzing about it! And when news broke that Operation Delta was finally embarking on its esports journey with the “Search, Strike, and Withdraw” mode, my WeChat Moments filled with “Delta Friends” immediately erupted with excitement, as everyone rushed to debate whether playing as a “mouse” or a “fierce attacker” would yield better rewards on the battlefield.

Given this youthful demographic, attracting young users has become key to gaining a competitive edge in the esports industry.

As a major social media platform covering more than 90% of esports IPs and boasting over 133 million esports users, Weibo enjoys a uniquely advantageous ecosystem. In line with the trend toward a younger user base, it has established an integrated ecosystem encompassing “viewing, interaction, consumption, and merchandise.”

Let’s start by discussing “viewing” and “interaction”—specifically, how combining the benefits of real-time trend tracking with active social engagement and user-generated content can further amplify the potential for viral spread.

Take the recently concluded League of Legends Season 15, for example: related topics garnered significant attention. The hashtag #LeagueofLegendsS15# reached 1.96 billion views, while #S15MatchDayDiary# generated a massive amount of user-generated content (UGC) during the tournament, featuring not only a wide variety of formats but also numerous outstanding entries.

Then there was the 2025 KPL Grand Final for *Honor of Kings*, which also achieved staggering results on Weibo, setting a record by securing 80 spots on the main trending list within 8 hours and remaining on the list for a total of 123 hours.

Overall, as a platform at the forefront of the industry that provides young users with a space to express their esports-centered lifestyles, Weibo’s versatile “strategic approach” is proving increasingly effective as the esports scene continues to attract a younger audience.

Next, let’s talk about “consumption” and “derivatives”—these are the key focuses of Weibo’s strategy this year, addressing the major pain points currently facing the esports industry.

In fact, many esports tournaments and teams struggle with a lack of viable revenue models; the traffic generated solely by tournaments or by professional players has consistently failed to translate effectively into revenue.

So how did Weibo break through? It’s simple: they set their sights on “Gu Zi,” which was all the rage among young people at the time.

"Gu Zi" refers to merchandise derived from video game and anime IPs, which often evoke strong "emotional attachment" and a sense of "community belonging," serving as an important way for young people to express their passion.

From the perspective of esports teams, developing a "Gu Zi" economy does not interfere with players’ daily training and helps fully leverage their IP value. Given that the overall costs are not high, this is undoubtedly a low-barrier monetization strategy worth exploring, particularly for engaging highly loyal fans.

Weibo is actively developing a unique, closed-loop business model for esports merchandise. It is continuously reinforcing the idea among users that “Weibo is the go-to platform for watching esports, following players, and buying merchandise,” while consistently fueling user engagement and anticipation. In addition to partnering with esports teams to sell merchandise, Weibo is also using this opportunity to foster deeper social connections between fans and communities, as well as between fans and players.

For example, the "LPL Spark Player Cards" released in late August included special Polaroid cards featuring exclusive photos of the players, as well as special message cards bearing handwritten notes from the players. These two types of special cards can only be obtained through gacha draws or by exchanging points, and their high collectible value is self-evident to fans willing to invest their passion.

During the campaign, Weibo also placed prominent entry points for the event on LPL, League of Legends tournaments, and related keywords and super topics. Fans who completed the "show your card" task using relevant hashtags could also claim discount coupons. This created a space for fans to showcase their connection to players and stimulated purchasing enthusiasm among the players' potential fan base.At the same time, by integrating with the S15 tournament livestreams, the campaign enabled fans to “earn merchandise just by watching,” continuously driving traffic and conversions to create a seamless transition from content consumption to purchasing.

This "Millet Economy" strategy has delivered impressive results multiple times over the past year: the first installment of the Guangqi series card packs, featuring KPL players, sold out within three days of launch and topped Weibo’s ACG IP card collection chart; related sharing campaigns drove a 102% increase in total posts within KPL-related super topics. Furthermore, collectible cards for the Identity V tournament generated over one million in GMV during the pre-sale period, with a repeat purchase rate of 55%!

These results not only underscore the strong purchasing power of esports merchandise among young consumers, but also demonstrate Weibo’s comprehensive marketing capabilities—from generating buzz and fostering deep fan engagement to driving high-conversion sales. Furthermore, they provide compelling evidence that physical consumption driven primarily by young people can effectively enhance the commercial value of esports tournaments.

02

Diversity: Helping Esports Break Down Barriers Between Communities

The number of esports users in China is now approaching the 500 million mark. However, given this massive user base, there is significant overlap between esports and other sectors, resulting in a diverse landscape where these fields increasingly intersect.

“Night of Esports Passion” is an initiative launched by Weibo that explores the intersection of esports and traditional sports, drawing inspiration from the diverse landscape of esports. This initiative is not merely a crude superimposition of two distinct fields; both are rooted in fair competition, striving for higher, faster, and stronger, and constantly pushing the limits of human capability. The journey is also filled with inspiring stories, demonstrating that the two share numerous commonalities.

During "Night of Esports Fever," Weibo not only designed a strategy to bridge the gap between the esports and sports communities but also expanded its reach into the broader entertainment industry by inviting several top entertainment stars who are hugely popular among young people, thereby attracting a massive audience from the entertainment sector to engage with and follow esports.

For example, as early as November 3, when the official Weibo account for "Night of Passion" announced that Ren Jialun, a currently popular mainland Chinese actor, would be the first cover star of a special issue, many of his fans flocked to the platform and took the initiative to help promote the show, marking its first small breakthrough into a wider audience.

On the day of the gala, the "dream collaboration" between the esports, sports, and entertainment industries quickly dominated multiple trending topics.Topics such as #iG_with_Deng_Yaping_and_Lin_Dan_Photo# and #Yinuo_and_Shao_Ziheng_Strike_Hard# quickly climbed to the top of the trending charts, effectively transforming esports’ spotlight at the “Night of Passion” into cross-industry social conversation, thereby achieving a two-way conversion of user groups through engagement.

"Night of Passion" also offered fans a variety of interactive activities that blended online and offline experiences. For example, the "Night of Passion Hall of Fame" event gave fans the opportunity to vote online and show their support for the contestants. In turn, the contestants, touched by the fans' affection, expressed their gratitude at the event venue. This not only created many heartwarming and touching moments of interaction but also generated mutual momentum between the online and offline communities.

Finally, the diversification of esports involves not only the integration of different communities but also a wider variety of gameplay formats; in particular, there is still plenty of room for exploration in offline gaming.

For example, the first Peace Elite Pro League Carnival, “PEL: A Time of Adventures,” held in June, is a classic example of Weibo’s efforts to explore diverse consumer scenarios.

At the carnival, 24 top PEL players and 3 renowned commentators made their appearance in creative period costumes. Paraboy, the "Paratrooper," opened a "Century-Old Umbrella Shop" on-site, where he collaborated with fans to create one-of-a-kind traditional paper umbrellas; Cheng C, meanwhile, took on the role of a teahouse proprietor, serving cup after cup of oolong tea to fans who stopped by to relax.

"PEL Adventures" employs a streamlined operational model that combines "culture and technology" with "esports and cultural tourism," successfully channeling online traffic from the PEL professional league into Yueyang’s offline cultural and tourism resources, thereby giving a boost to the local economy.

If we expand our thinking further, we’ll discover that beyond “esports + cultural tourism,” there is still vast room for exploration in areas such as “esports + intangible cultural heritage,” “esports + merchandise,” “esports + cuisine,” and “esports + education.” In the future, through deeper collaboration and joint initiatives between esports clubs, players, and various regions and sectors, we are sure to bring many exciting developments to the esports industry, local economies, and the broader gaming community!

03

Scalability: A reusable operational framework

If youth-oriented and diverse approaches are the core principles driving the deep evolution of the esports industry, then broadening its reach is the key pathway to achieving these goals—that is, developing sufficiently reliable strategies and methodologies through exploration to help more games succeed and go further on their journey toward becoming esports titles.

Today, Weibo’s various strategies for promoting the growth of esports have demonstrated broad reach and strong compatibility with a wide range of games. Whether it’s established titles like *League of Legends* and *Honor of Kings* or emerging games such as *Egg Party* and *Operation Delta*, all have leveraged Weibo’s influence to gain significant momentum on their path to becoming esports titles.

For example, during this "Night of Esports," Weibo cleverly brought together players from traditional titles like *League of Legends* and emerging esports titles like *Operation Delta* on the same stage, giving fans of both games an opportunity to interact and bridge the gap between their communities.

Overall, Weibo’s approach to esports—which combines “trending topics” with “social interaction” alongside youth-oriented strategies—has matured significantly after years of exploration. It has evolved into a highly effective, replicable methodology that serves as a strong model for the entire industry.

(At the "Night of Excitement" event held several months ago, Weibo achieved remarkable success in reaching a broader audience thanks to its well-established operational model.)

When we also consider Weibo’s unique strengths—namely, its massive user base in the esports sector and its youth-oriented approach tailored to Gen Z users, which focuses on personalized recommendations, interactive features, and trending topic management—I believe that Weibo’s current position as the “core hub of the youth-oriented esports ecosystem” within the industry as a whole will be difficult for other platforms to challenge in the near future.

Conclusion

Ever since the esports industry shifted from the “attention economy”—driven by the pursuit of traffic—to the “ecosystem economy”—focused on deepening user engagement and refining business models—industry professionals have never ceased to explore these evolving trends.

Against this backdrop, Weibo has launched large-scale, innovative, and strategic events—such as "Night of Fierce Competition"—by focusing on three key areas: youth appeal, diversity, and broad reach. These initiatives have played a significant role in driving the long-term development of the entire esports industry, and we look forward to seeing more bold, groundbreaking, and innovative endeavors like these in the future.

However, we must also recognize that the esports industry still faces numerous unresolved challenges. Many games have yet to find a viable path toward esports adaptation, and some genres are even considered fundamentally unsuitable for esports. Finding more innovative approaches and scientifically sound strategies to help every game aspiring to enter the esports arena achieve its goals quickly will be key to the next phase of breakthrough development in the esports ecosystem!