Western esports organisations that have entered Southeast Asia, Korea and China

Gaming and esports consumers vary greatly from region to region. One esport could be a huge cultural hit in the East, whilst being unknown in the West.

However, the modern esports ecosystem has further incentivised the development of global organisations, filled with teams that compete in titles all across the world. The reason is simple, to diversify revenue streams and enter new markets to attract more fans. This is why some of the biggest organisations in the Western world have begun expanding East — particularly esports powerhouse markets Southeast Asia, Korea, and China. 

The selection of these three regions doesn’t come as a big surprise. South Korea has a rich esports history and continues to foster loyal fanbases in the FGC and StarCraft. China, on the other hand, is one of the most mature esports markets in the world, with numerous franchised esports leagues in titles unknown to Western audiences.

Lastly, Southeast Asia continues to dominate the mobile esports space, with games like Arena of Valor, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Free Fire and PUBG Mobile showing immense popularity. This makes it a fertile ground for Western esports organisations looking for a slice of the ever-growing mobile market.

The launch of the Esports World Cup Club Support Programme also pushed many Western esports organisations to invest in new titles – many of which have chosen rosters in the East. The 30 teams in the Club Support Programme have received a stimulus to enter new titles for the Esports World Cup, which is currently underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Without further ado, let’s detail which Western esports organisations have teams in the East. 

North American esports organisation Cloud 9 marked its entry into Starcraft II when it signed Korean player Koh ‘GuMiho’ Byung-jae in November 2023. It isn’t a surprising signing as the region dominates the game’s competitive circuit compared to North America, where Cloud9 is headquartered. 

An example of this is the viewership stats for the IEM Katowice 2024, where all the top five matches featured at least one South Korean player, per Esports Charts. 

FaZe Clan realised back in 2020 that PUBG Mobile was a game to invest in — and that the best region to do that was SEA. Thereafter, the organisation signed a team in Thailand. 

Its long-term commitment to the game resulted in FaZe Clan becoming a partnered team in PUBG Mobile’s Esports ecosystem in 2023. As a part of this, a slot for the PUBG Mobile Super League (PMSL) SEA, which has three seasons per year, is guaranteed for FaZe Clan.

UK-based esports organisation Fnatic initially signed an Overwatch roster back in 2015, but subsequently left the game before the launch of the Overwatch League. 

However, ahead of the Esports World Cup, the organisation re-entered the game by picking up the Esports World Cup-qualified team, YETI. The unsigned Korean Overwatch team placed fourth in the Overwatch Champions Series 2024 Asia Stage 1, booking a slot in the Riyadh event. Fnatic ultimately lost in Round 1 of the EWC Playoffs. 

Overwatch wasn’t Fnatic’s only signing ahead of the Esports World Cup. The esports organisation entered into a partnership with ONIC Esports in 2024, for its MLBB rosters across Indonesia and the Philippines. Notably, Onic has a franchised slot in the MLBB Professional League (MPL) Indonesia as well as the Philippines. 

Fnatic ONIC recently won MPL Indonesia Season 13 and was one of the favourites going into the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup 2024. However, the team failed to make it out of the Group Stage. Fnatic ONIC PH, on the other hand, placed fifth in the MPL Philippines Season 13. 

Multinational esports organisation G2 Esports secured a notable partnership with China’s Invictus Gaming in December 2023.

Representing the Chinese region, the newly-formed G2.iG has competed in a range of tier-one esports events in 2024, including the Riyadh Masters 2024, PGL Wallachia Season 1, ESL One Birmingham and the Elite League Season 1.

In a release at the time, G2 noted: “China, and Asia in general, has always been a huge priority for G2 as the organisation aspires to expand west to east across the globe.”

Besides this, G2 also experimented with Wild Rift esports by partnering up with one of the Philippines’ most popular esports organisations — Blacklist International. However, the team is no longer active after Riot Games announced in early 2024 that it wouldn’t be focusing on SEA for Wild Rift esports. 

With European rosters in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2, Gaimin Gladiators also has ties to Asia-Pacific with a Rocket League roster since 2022.

Since then, the organisation has been pretty successful in the local APAC region — making it to the RLCS World Championship in 2022 and 2023. 

UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports announced on June 10th, 2024, that it was entering the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang scene with Saudi Arabia-based R8 Esports. This included its men’s and female teams. 

However, just four days later after the announcement, Guild.R8 Esports failed to qualify for the Esports World Cup after finishing the MLBB Professional League (MPL) MENA Playoffs in fourth place. The women’s team also failed to make it to the MLBB Women’s Invitational (MWI) 2024. 

In its announcement, though, Guild highlighted that the partnership will extend to the Esports World Cup and beyond. 

NAVI is another esports organisation that has picked up an esports roster in the East as a reaction to the Esports World Cup. 

The organisation announced on June 13th that it was acquiring the South Korean team Dark Horse after it placed second in the Esports World Cup 2024 TFT APAC Closed Qualifier.

NAVI will be competing in the TFT tournament at the EWC 2024 from August 8th – 11th. A prize pool of $500,000 (~£393,600) is on the line for the event. 

Team Vitality is one of the top Western esports organisations with significant investments in the East — starting with India. 

The France-based esport organisation has a separate division for India – which doesn’t just extend to esports teams but also content creators. The organisation also announced in May 2024 that it was entering into a partnership with the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) to “help take Indian esports to the world.” The ESFI is a full member of the International Esports Federation (IESF). 

In terms of esports, Team Vitality India currently has a Call of Duty: Mobile lineup, which is amongst the most successful in the region. The esports organisation previously had a Free Fire team as well, but the game was banned in early 2022. With Garena announcing Free Fire India, Team Vitality could make a return to the game when the title is released. 

While TSM and Fnatic had made similar investments in the country, both esports organisations subsequently departed from the market. 

Team Vitality entered Mobile Legends: Bang Bang by picking up unarguably the most successful all-female esports lineup in the game, Bigetron Era. The team has almost a flawless record in all-female MLBB esports, winning major tournaments in 2023 and 2022.

The team was one of the favourites to win the MLBB Women’s Invitational (MWI) at the Esports World Cup 2024. However, the team ultimately placed second, losing out to the Philippines’ Omega Empress. 

Team Vitality entered Starcraft II in February 2024, in partnership with ONSYDE, a South Korean esports organisation. In a release, Vitality stated that this signing was a ‘part of the global expansion of the Parisian club.’

As a part of this, some of the biggest stars in the game, namely Cho ‘Maru’ Seong-ju, Kim ‘Ryung’ Dong-won, and Kang ‘Solar’ Min-soo, now compete under the organisation’s banner.

Lastly, Team Vitality has one South Korean player in its fighting games roster. Jeon ‘Jeondding’ Sang-hyun was picked up in April 2024 and is amongst the biggest names in the FGC. 

The player has qualified for the Esports World Cup 2024 and will be playing in the $1m (~£787,000) Tekken 8 tournament in August. 

Team Liquid entered Mobile Legends: Bang Bang by acquiring SEA-based esports org, STUN.GG. As a result, STUN.GG’s properties AURA Esports and ECHO Esports, were rebranded into Team Liquid ID and Team Liquid PH, respectively. Both the teams have slots in MPL Indonesia and MPL Philippines. 

Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) is a part of Riot Games’ franchised league for League of Legends in China, the LoL Professional League (LPL). 

The Sweden-based esports organisation entered the LPL by merging with ESV5 to create the NIP Group. As a part of this, the organisation also entered Honor of Kings esports in China (via eStar Gaming)

With the merger, Victory Five was rebranded into Ninjas in Pyjamas in the LPL. Additionally, the NIP Group is leveraging ESV5’s local partnerships and expertise to enhance its brand recognition in China. 

Alliance initially entered PUBG Mobile in 2021 through a collaboration with Yoodo, a major Malaysian-based telecom provider, forming Yoodo Alliance. However, with the latter announcement that it was discounting the Yoodo brand, Alliance announced on August 5th, 2024, that it was parting ways with its title sponsor. 

The team is also a partnered team in the PUBG Mobile esports ecosystem, competing in the PMSL SEA as a Malaysian representative. 

Wolves Esports is the esports division of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite its English roots the club’s esports division largely focuses on the Chinese market. The organisation currently has teams in Chinese esports across VALORANT, Call of Duty: Mobile and Honor of Kings. 

Wolves Esports’ CODM team are the reigning world champions. Its VALORANT roster, on the other hand, is a partnered team in the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) China. 

However, Wolves Esports is most established in Honor of Kings and has competed in the King Pro League (KPL) since 2017. As representatives of Chongqing, the team has a fixed seat in the league and has been very successful in the game. Most recently, Wolves Esports won the KPL 2024 Spring, pocketing over $700,000 (~£551,000) of its $2m (~£1.57m) prize pool.