Newbee Esports Club have announced their players have been awarded athlete certificates in Shanghai, China. Previously, professional gamers were not seen in the same light as athletes from traditional sports, but the shift to changing that has been coming for a while.
Back in November 2018, Shanghai Esports Association released ‘Measures for the Registration of Shanghai Esports Athletes’ to regulate and develop the local industry. With the support of this esports athlete certificate, the registered athlete can be selected as a member to represent Shanghai to attend national or international competitions.
As one of the first clubs to own esports athlete certificate, Newbee Esports Club commented that: “The certification helps Chinese esports players to find their own value and their parents are more confident to support the career chosen by their children. We wish the plan for the development of our industry can get better and better.”
One of the most significant impacts of this will be to help change the mentality of not only publish but sporting bodies across Asian and the world. Esports is already entering the Southeast Asian Games across multiple games but is yet to find its way to the Olympics.
“This will greatly raise public awareness to accept esports and pave an avenue for esports to enter the Asian Games and the Olympic Games”
Qinqin Zhu, the vice president of Shanghai Esports Association, believes that these certificates though will push esports to join traditional sports in major competitions: “The certification of esports professional players is necessary for realising the development of esports standardisation, and it is also a vital measure for the government to standardise these projects.
“It is especially important for the construction of the entire industry ecosystem to recognise the professional gamers as a true athlete. This will greatly raise public awareness to accept esports and pave an avenue for esports to enter the Asian Games, the Olympic Games and other comprehensive sports events.”
In December 2017, Shanghai Municipal People’s Government clearly stated to accelerate the construction of the global esports capital. A series of policies encouraged investors and practitioners to build arenas, develop esports live stream, support international events and construct the complete ecosystem.
At present, Shanghai has become the most developed region in China’s esports industry, and the execution of the certification of professional players has indicated Shanghai is developing the industry to the next level with a more standardised approach.
Esports Insider says: “For Chinese esports industry, the lack of the standardised market management and guidance is the most severe problem for the industry. It is glad to see Shanghai is trying to solve this problem. As the pioneer in Chinese esports industry, it is expected that Shanghai will lead China’s esports industry into a more standardised stage.