Guangzhou TTG, an e-sports team belonging to Tianhe-based Quwan Network Technology, claimed their first championship in the final of the King Pro League Summer 2023 competition, beating Chongqing Wolves 4-2 in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Sept 10.

Behind the team's victory is the rise of Tianhe's e-sports industry. In 2021, Tianhe had five digital cultural enterprises, including NetEase, that were included among China's top 100 internet enterprises. Additionally, seven Tianhe-based digital cultural enterprises were selected as national cultural export key enterprises.

The gaming enterprises above designed size in the district reached an operation revenue that was equivalent to 25 percent of the nation's total, making it the largest gaming hub in China.

Vibrant Tianhe at night. [Photo/WeChat account: tianhefabu]

Since 2020, Tianhe has held a number of e-sports competitions, attracted a batch of e-sports teams, and launched a series of relevant preferential policies.

It took the lead in inviting national-level institutions, such as the China Institute of Sport Science, to carry out research on e-sports. The Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao E-sports Development Research Institute, the first e-sports research and innovation base in South China, was also established in the district in May 2021.

Identity Ⅴ, NetEase's first survival horror game, has more than 300 million online players nationwide, while the finals for this gaming competition attracted contestants from 206 countries and regions.

Guangzhou Sport University opened its e-sports and management major in 2022, becoming the first public undergraduate university in South China to have such a major.

According to Tianhe's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for the culture industry, the district will build a globally leading e-sports center with the Tianhe central business district, the Tianhe Road Business Circle, Tianhe Sports Center, Tianhe Smart City, and Guangdong Olympic Sports Center as its core.