Asian esports players and enthusiasts have enjoyed a thrilling and unforgettable May in Shanghai, where the Hero Esports Asian Champions League (ACL) brought together the region's esports community for the first time.

Ji Dongkai, a native Shanghai Counter-Strike 2 player better known as "Jee", could hardly hide his excitement and pride when his team, Tyloo, achieved a hard-fought victory in the grand finals on May 16. Marking a strong end to his ACL journey, Ji and his teammates obtained a ticket to represent China at this year's Esports World Cup.

Hosted by Asia's largest esports company Hero Esports, the ACL is the region's first international multititle esports tournament, gathering over 10,000 players and more than 1,200 teams from around the world. Its grand finals, held from May 16 to 18, drew an international audience of nearly 50,000 to Shanghai and garnered over 140 million views online, according to the organizer.

With a total prize purse of $2 million, the ACL Grand Finals took place at three venues simultaneously, and included nine game titles and competitions, namely Street Fighter 6, Counter-Strike 2, Defense of the Ancients (DotA) 2, Honor of Kings, Teamfight Tactics, Delta Force, Crossfire, the Legend Cup of League of Legends and the Valorant Champions Tour.

Seven of the nine titles offered winners direct passes to the World Cup, the world's largest comprehensive international esports tournament, which takes place in Saudi Arabia between July 7 and Aug 24.

"The ACL is bringing the best teams and people together from around the world through esports. It is not a Chinese event, but an Asian event," said Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, vice-chairman of Savvy Games Group and honorary chairman of ACL.

"Asia is the home and base of esports, with the best players and teams. All of them have a passion for esports as an industry, and I think it could be something that goes global.

"No one can be stuck in one area, as we are all part of a global community," added the prince, who was appointed president of the Saudi Esports Federation in 2017.

China now has the world's most esports participants, recording about 490 million last year.

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A total of 124 official and professional events above the provincial level were held in China in 2024, with Shanghai hosting the most — representing 17.8 percent of the total — according to a report released by the Electronics Sports Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association.

Last year, the EWC recorded that 250 million hours of its content had been watched online, and that over 500 million individual users connected to its media to watch the matches, half of which were from China. Among the 2.6 million visitors to Riyadh watching the games in person at last year's event, 50,000 came from China, according to the prince, who expects that number to rise this year.

Crossing boundaries

Jonny Wang, the league's chief executive officer, said that this inaugural ACL has seen active international participation. Thousands of overseas esports players gathered in Shanghai for the tournament, and over 500 of them entered the final stage, including players from nations such as Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and the Philippines.

FlyQuest, an Australian Counter-Strike 2 team at the ACL, summarized its journey at the tournament as "lively, peaceful and educational". One team member Joshua Potter, or "INS", said that he loved the food and culture in the city, and was deeply impressed by the passionate and supportive fans in China.

Mongolian coach of the team, Erdenetsogt Gantulga, or "erkaSt", added: "This tournament was a very good lesson for us and we learned a lot from it. Compared to other tournaments, this is the first of its kind in Asia. It gives us more opportunities to learn more about each other and will bring us overall competitiveness in the region."

Ji shared exactly the same sentiments: "We Asian players, especially Chinese Counter-Strike 2 teams eagerly need such professional regional tournaments. Shanghai is very international and well developed in many sectors. We are grateful for such an event, and we do hope more players and spectators can come to Shanghai to participate."

Compared with the Counter-Strike 2 event, the Street Fighter 6 competition has garnered even more extensive global participation at this year's ACL. Notably, about 800 players, both top-tier and grassroots level, registered from around the globe, including Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.

Among the world's top Street Fighter 6 players gathering at the tournament are Saul Mena, Hajime Taniguchi and Zeng Zhuojun, who are better known as "MenaRD", "Tokido" and "Xiao Hai", respectively.

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Presenting exciting fights on a special stage designed to look like a boxing ring, they enjoyed their time in Shanghai and saw it as an opportunity to meet old friends and global enthusiasts.

The special stage for the Street Fighter 6 finals was set up as part of DreamHack, a globally renowned gaming festival that made its Chinese mainland debut at the ACL Grand Finals. It offered immersive and interactive experiences for esports enthusiasts, including exhibitions, live shows, fan meetings, amateur matches and other diverse activities.

A global community

Coming from Dominica, and having been playing Street Fighter for 15 years, this was Mena's first visit to Shanghai, which he described as an "amazing and special experience".

He was especially happy about, and impressed by, the big crowd of "strong players" and enthusiastic fans coming from across Asia.

"It is amazing and special to see so many fans, and how active people are here. I am very good friends with Xiao Hai. Although we don't speak the same language, through the shared language of the game, we have connected so much. It's so beautiful to see people having a conversation with others through the game," he says.

Japanese player Taniguchi, who finished top in the Street Fighter 6 final, was also swarmed by fans looking for autographs and taking photos. He highlighted the fantastic festive atmosphere at DreamHack where everyone — whether professional or amateur — could sign up to compete and communicate with each other in the game.

"It is a big event, and I enjoyed it very much. The competition is important, though I do appreciate the opportunity to communicate with fans and meet each other. In fighting games, it is interesting and amazing to feel and see players' personality and life experiences reflected in their play," Taniguchi said.

A 43-year-old player surnamed Xue from Shanghai is a regular Street Fighter player who made the impromptu decision to register for the competition for fun.

He said such gatherings made him nostalgic for the time in his childhood, where crowds usually gathered behind players, cheered for a good play and enjoyed the game together.

"As a Shanghai native, and an older player, I am extremely glad and excited to see our city host such a big event," he said.

"Although online games are becoming more common nowadays, playing together offline is always captivating and fun.

"That's why I came to support this event, and I hope we can have more gatherings like this," Xue explained.

"I think the purest essence of esports is the happiness it brings to players and fans. It allows us fit into one community quickly and happily, and that feels so good," said Nie Dingyuan, or "Sheltie" from Team Falcons, winner of the Teamfight Tactics event at ACL.

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Liang Jiazheng, or "Hong Lian", another renowned Teamfight Tactics player who failed to make to the final, was cheering for Nie by the stage. He explained that players are actually always exchanging ideas and experiences with each other, regardless of team, club or regional affiliation, as they share the same goals.

"The world is wide. Taking esports as the bond, we appreciate the chance to transcend national boundaries to see the world, talk to overseas teams, experience different cultures," said Hu Zhuanghao, or "JiuZhe", coach of Talent Gaming, the winner of ACL's Honor of Kings tournament.