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Members of three esports clubs pose at a fashion mall in Shanghai. They will represent China at a global VALORANT event in Los Angeles next month.
Gaming and animation fans gather in Shanghai in July for a carnival month of highly-anticipated events including ChinaJoy, Asia’s largest games fair; and a national eSports competition by VALORANT, a newly released shooting game.
It fits well with Shanghai’s strategy to further develop the industry and become a “global eSports hub”.
In fact, three events took place in town over the weekend – the VALORANT competition, a game and animation show, and an offline themed event for Honkai Impact 3 with 3D printed models.
On Sunday night, professional esports club EDG defeated rival BLG 3-1 in the VALORANT Champions CQ finals. Three clubs – EDG, BLG and FPX – will represent China at a VALORANT Global Championship event in Los Angeles in August.
VALORANT, a popular 5v5 First Person Shooter (FPS) game for PC, was developed by Riot Games, the developer of popular titles like League of Legends (LoL). It is operated by Tencent in mainland China.
The final was held at a fashion hub in Lujiazui, the Pudong New Area, which was packed with gaming and eSports fans.
Zhu Shenshen / SHINE
Fans in cosplay wear attended CCG Expo 2023 in Shanghai. More than 176,000 people attended the show.
The China International Comics and Games Expo (CCG Expo) ended in Shanghai on Sunday. A total of 176,000 gaming and animation fans attended the show, which featured gaming merchandise, stunning art exhibitions, manga cafes, premieres, idol groups, popular cosplayers and diverse performances.
According to game developer miHoYo, a Honkai Impact 3 offline carnival was also held in suburban Jiading district over the weekend, using 3D-printed game items and engineered game scenes.
Shanghai miHoYo is the developer of Genshin Impact, one of the best-selling games in the world.
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A 3D printed tree appeared at an offline event of Honkai Impact 3, a game developed by Shanghai-based miHoYo.
The weekend events marked the start of a carnival summer for gaming fans in Shanghai, with more events coming with greater anticipation and larger exhibition space.
Out-of-town visitor Jennifer, who wore cosplay clothes at CCG Expo, plans to stay in Shanghai to attend Bilibili World 2023, or BW2023, which starts on Friday.
“The events (in Shanghai) are great. It’s a carnival summer for us,” she said.
BW2023 takes place between Friday and Sunday at the National Convention & Exhibition Center and features games, animations and shows for X-Generation people.
At the end of the month, ChinaJoy, Asia’s largest game fair, will return to Shanghai with various exhibitions and events on artificial intelligence and eSports.
Typically, ChinaJoy is a summer festival for gaming fans with booths from gaming companies and hardware vendors. They show the latest developments in gaming, animation, fashion, smart devices and even cars. Almost 500 exhibitors from 22 countries and regions have confirmed their participation in the event with a total exhibition area of over 120,000 square meters.