The International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has announced an exclusive strategic partnership with Alibaba’s sports group, Alisport. The announcement was first made in Shanghai, China on the 26th of July 2016 and the partnership hopes to push eSports to new heights, making it even more legitimate as a sport.
Both parties have come up with three specific goals they wish to achieve. First, they wish to organise tournaments where both amateur and professional players can take part. This would also mean that IeSF will fully endorse AliSports’ WESG Game Series initiatives.
WESG, also known as World Electronic Sport Games series was announced back in March this year. It’s a tournament series that will include a multitude of game titles like Dota 2, CS:GO, Starcraft 2, and even Hearthstone.
Both parties will also work hand in hand on making eSports recognised as a legitimate sport. Although they did not specify what exactly this means. According to the press release, the last goal is to create an unspecified “unique IP”.
Apart from receiving IeSF’s support with the WESG series, AliSports also plans to build eSports Stadiums in China. With these, the company hopes to make eSports a way of life in China.
Now that AliSports is backed up by the International eSports Federation, it looks like the eSports industry in China is going to get a whole lot more serious.
