Charts of the Day: China’s 100,000 Professional Gamers

Many parents in China — and indeed beyond — are unlikely to encourage their kids to devote themselves to video games. But as the esports industry has grown rapidly in recently years, tens of thousands of professional players are showing that gaming can be more than just a game.

Last year, 630 million people in China played video games, a tenfold increase from a decade ago, according to Game Publishers Association Publications Committee, a government-backed industry association. This user base props up an industry that saw combined sales of over 94 billion yuan ($13.1 billion) in 2018.

In recent years, China’s esports sector has also flourished along with the emergence of popular livestreaming platforms such as Huya and Douyu, both of which are listed in the U.S. There were around 100,000 people classed as professional esports gamers in a June report by Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Around 30% of these esports competitors have at least a bachelor’s degree, 90% are under 31 and one-third of them make more than the local average wage in the region where they live.

Contact reporter Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com)