As Shanghai strives to build a global esports city, the ongoing Hero Esports Asian Champions League — Asia's first international, multi-title esports tournament hosted by leading regional company Hero Esports — has attracted a diverse international player base. The grand finals will take place from May 16 to 18 in Shanghai.

Jonny Wang, the league's chief executive officer, said that this inaugural ACL has seen active international participation so far. Thousands of esports players have gathered in Shanghai for the tournament, including over 500 overseas players from South Korea, Japan, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.

It is worth noting that Street Fighter 6 has garnered the most extensive global participation among all the ACL competitions this year, with about 800 players registered from across the globe, including Southeast Asian, European and North American nations, said Wang.

In addition to Street Fighter 6, the tournament also includes eight other esports game titles and competitions, namely Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Honor of Kings, Teamfight Tactics, Delta Force, Crossfire, the Legend Cup of League of Legends, and the Valorant Champions Tour. Seven of them will offer the winner a direct pass to compete in the Esports World Cup, the world's largest comprehensive international esports tournament taking place annually in Saudi Arabia in summer.

Not only players, the tournament has also attracted large crowds of audiences from across the world. During the recent May Day holiday, Dota 2, a widely popular game title, saw its tickets sold out in 52 seconds for May 3, while tickets for Honor of Kings games on May 5 were sold out in less than 30 seconds, according to Wang.

As a Shanghai native and the co-founder of VSPO, Wang has been deeply involved in and connected to the development of the city's esports industry. Going through ups and downs, he has witnessed the gathering of esports clubs, the forming of esports industrial clusters, the expanding scales of esports tournaments and the industry's overall growth in the city.

Looking ahead, the next goal for him and for the ACL is to create an esports IP that is rooted in Shanghai and has global influence.

"We have been organizing esports tournaments across the world. I see Shanghai as a 'fertile ground' for esports, and we have been receiving solid support from the city. Here we also have large crowds of audiences who are highly receptive to esports and new IPs. I believe it to be the most possible place to foster such an IP," said Wang confidently.

From Friday to Sunday, the ACL Grand Finals is set to take place synchronously at the city's SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center‌, Jing'an Sports Center and National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC). Meanwhile, the globally renowned gaming festival DreamHack will also make its debut in China at the NECC over the three days, offering an immersive, interactive and comprehensive experience for global esports enthusiasts worldwide.