Craig Mercure 
Overview of VSPN
VSPN, or Vision E-Sports Network, is a Chinese eSports provider owned by Huya Inc. VSPN has recently raised $60 million from investors. The company plans to invest the money in developing the eSports industry.
This provides an interesting overview of the impact VSPN has had on the eSports industry in recent years. First, let’s look at the effect that VSPN has had on the eSports industry.
History of VSPN
VSPN (Vsports Professional Network), one of the leading eSports companies in China, was established in 2012. Founded by Frank Yang, the current president, VSPN has become one of China’s most successful eSports providers. As a professional tournament organizer, VSPN provides live streaming content with cutting-edge technology for viewers to watch and interact with their favorite games through PC websites, mobile applications and other platforms. In addition, VSPN has also developed technology that allows players to practice against artificial intelligence (AI) machines to help enhance performance skills during tournaments.
VSPN’s partnerships with several key game publishers have enabled it to host various high-quality online events such as League of Legends Pro League (LPL), Overwatch National Roleplaying Championship (IROCC), PUBG Pro Series (PPSC) and Monster Hunter: World Professional League (MHWPL). In addition to its success on the competitive gaming side, VSPN has also gotten involved in producing fan experiences through Live production & broadcasting service.
In February 2018, VSPN announced that it had completed its Series A funding round raising $60 million. Since then it has used this capital to expand its presence throughout Asia-Pacific markets and further strengthen its capabilities while continuing to develop new technologies and digital products. With such strong financial backings now acquired, it is evident that VSport is set up perfectly for long term industry expansion within China and across the globe which will contribute to the rise of eSport professionalism as a whole.
Services offered by VSPN
Vertical Sports Network (VSPN), a Chinese esports provider, raised $60 million from investors in April 2020. The company has quickly risen to become one of China’s most prominent and successful esports platforms.
The services offered by VSPN are extensive and varied. It has established a comprehensive range of services catering to players and fans alike, such as esports tournament organization, platform operations, publicity rights management, IP marketing operations, live broadcasting, streaming media production operations and other services around the esports industry.
As the leading provider of full-ecosystem services in China’s competitive gaming industry since its founding in 2015, VSPN provides an integrated solution for planners, teams and professional players covering tournament organization and operation; team training support; integral marketing service; plus etc.. In addition, the company creates major esports tournaments online or offline – including organizing FORMER TV Festival Series Contest last October -seminars – TBS’ “Esports Summit Forum” for example -and working with clients on custom tournaments for promotional events or product launch campaigns.
In addition, VSPN also operates its own streaming media platform, enabling viewers to interact directly with the players during matches and investing heavily in match production technology–both live and post-produced video content. This has seen it become a leader in market share across multiple social networking sites – including YouTube Tencent Video Douyin etc. Moreover, its flagship events – like the King Pro League – attract millions of viewers and conclude with multi-million dollar prizepools.
While some doubters have questioned whether such lavish expenditure is sustainable, results thus far have proved that VSPN can maintain growth while delivering strong ROI across both short-term campaigns and longer-term brand building initiatives.
Chinese eSports provider VSPN raises $ 60 million
Chinese eSports provider VSPN (Versus Programming Network) has recently raised a huge $ 60 million in funds. This new cash injection into VSPN has been seen as a major boon to the eSports industry.
In this article, we will discuss the impact that VSPN has had on the eSports industry and what this can mean for the future of eSports.
Increased investment in eSports
The investment of $60 million by Chinese eSports provider, VSPN, has significantly impacted the eSports industry. The funding focuses on technological services and gaming tournaments, intending to develop a global network for content providers, viewers and game developers. In addition, this investment indicates increased attention and commitment to the eSports industry by parents and industry stakeholders.
With VSPN having established itself as one of China’s leading esports operators, this $60 million funding further defines VSPN’s ambition to grow into the world’s largest digital entertainment ecosystem provider. This ambition will be essential in shaping the future of eSports. The investment has provided a platform to develop quality content to inspire audiences through interactive experiences while supporting high-level national e-sports competitions and regional grassroot initiatives for aspiring athletes.
As one of China’s foremost esports firms and with its added support from strategic investors especially from countries outside mainland China (such as South Korea), VSPN can now take its gaming operations around Asia-Pacific. All these will create more job opportunities in not just streaming but also business such as service production and exploitation, further boosting industries related to software development or channel-based businesses (such as e-commerce). In addition, this capital injection could help propel market growth through infrastructure investment within countries hosting esports activities. The only limitation lies in how far VPSN can expand beyond mainland China.
Expansion of eSports tournaments
The recently announced round of funding for Chinese-based eSports provider VSPN signals an exciting new era of growth and expansion for the burgeoning global eSports industry. This massive $60 million investment brings more attention and support to the eSports industry’s existing infrastructure, making it easier to bring gamers together from across the world than ever before.
The increasing popularity of competitive gaming has revolutionized how gamers interact, connecting them in virtual arenas to battle each other on some of the world’s biggest titles. With this additional funding, VSPN will expand its portfolio to include teams, tournaments, and events internationally. As a result, there will be more options for amateur players who want to showcase their skills and gain recognition in the competitive gaming circuit and pro players looking for an extra boost in a new market.
This type of investment helps fortify the already robust foundation for competitive gaming throughout China and beyond. Furthermore, the increased focus on creating mutually beneficial opportunities allows players and organizations to benefit from increased awareness and access to resources like coaching, training facilities, sponsorships, etc., thereby taking professional gaming further into the mainstream culture. It is now no longer just “for nerds,” it has become a legitimate source of entertainment with skilled gamers able to receive proper recognition while earning money doing what they love most: playing video games!
Increased viewership
Chinese eSports provider VSPN’s latest funding round of $60 million brings the company’s total valuation to approximately $500 million. This investment pushes VSPN closer to the top of the industry and demonstrates strong interest in investing in eSports.
The benefits, however, go beyond just currency. According to VSPN Co-Founder and CEO Zhu Xuanqing, this significant investment provides them with greater resources, allowing them to continue providing “premium content, professional tournaments and thrilling experiences for fans globally.”
As one of China’s leading eSports providers, VSPN holds exclusive or majority ownership of over 10 popular game titles across the region including League of Legends, Overwatch and PUBG Mobile. Subsequently, it has broadcast rights for around 7 game titles worldwide and provides live coverage of all major regional tournaments via YouTube Gaming, Twitch and Huya TV. This has led to a tremendous boost in viewership numbers over recent months and increased advertising opportunities for brands looking to connect with young audiences through content produced by VSPN.
In addition to this newfound recognition from partners across the region looking to establish their presence in the esports sector through sponsorships or investments, they can also take credit as a prominent driving force contributing towards the growth of China’s burgeoning eSports scene – a trend projected to continue well into 2020 with its predicted market size reaching USD 4 billion by 2021.
Improved infrastructure
Chinese eSports provider VSPN has significantly impacted the infrastructure of the eSports industry, particularly in improving the quality of support and services available to both players and viewers. The investment of $60 million has enabled the company to provide better infrastructures such as improved servers and gaming platforms. This has enabled higher quality streaming services for viewers who can access eSports tournaments worldwide.
According to Alexa data, VSPN is one of the leading providers in China for online gaming content, displaying immense potential for further expansion in eSports across Asia. In addition, VSPN has broadened its horizons by venturing into other tournament formats such as mobile gaming platforms and traditional sports, increasing viewership numbers even further.
VSPN’s investment also suggests that major organizations are now beginning to view eSports as a viable source of entertainment. This is helped further by various sponsorship deals awarded to professional teams through tournaments organized by VSPN, which are now even more attractive with better infrastructures that encourage high-level competition between them. In addition, some organizations have even started investing time and resources on research that could help bring greater growth and advancement within this sector by connecting players through fairplay algorithms.
Challenges faced by VSPN
Chinese eSports provider VSPN has recently raised $60 million and wants to expand its influence in the eSports industry. Despite this, there are still various business challenges facing VSPN as it attempts to take its place as an industry leader.
This article will explore the various challenges facing VSPN and how they might affect their operations.
Lack of regulation
One of the greatest challenges to VSPN and other providers in the eSports industry is the lack of regulation. This lack of regulation has allowed large multi-year sponsorship deals, rising salaries for top players, and exclusive streaming deals for large tournament events. However, this lack of regulation has led to issues with match-fixing, doping scandals, cheating punishments that are too lenient, unequal pay among players and teams, and poor broadcasting standards. Without regulations on all categories within professional gaming and eSports, VSPN is hindered from providing a fair playing field and maintaining consistent ethically enforced standards across tournaments.
There is also a lack of standardization between different countries regarding rules for professional gaming competitions. The discrepancies between rules can affect how spectators view a match and can even lead to controversy over certain outcomes or playing styles. For example, VSPN’s Rainbow Six Siege League runs on different rules than those used in Europe or North America. The differences cannot be ignored when running international tournaments as they must consider these variations when scheduling their events. Any lack of clarity can hurt VSPN’s reputation and the reputation of pro teams or players competing in such international tournaments.
Limited access to international markets
As one of China’s leading professional eSports organizers, VSPN (Versus Programming Network) has made significant progress in developing domestic eSports markets. However, limited access to international markets has been a key challenge preventing the provider from fully capitalizing on its potential.
Despite establishing itself as a leader in the Chinese market, VSPN’s lack of overseas expansion has limited its global influence and hampered its ability to tap into potential international opportunities. Without access to international audiences, many of the best players and organisations remain invisible to broader eSports audiences due to language barriers and cultural differences. Additionally, while VSPN can draw top local talent in China who are comfortable competing exclusively in their native language and culture, it can be difficult for those same players to break into global tournaments with greater exposure and branding opportunities.
For VSPN to make waves outside of mainland China it must first become more accessible through investment into media production platforms that can stream content in different languages, as well as explore joint initiatives with overseas partners such as esports broadcasters like Twitch or ESL Gaming Network – two platforms that are more significantly established abroad than they are within Greater China’s eSports scene.
Lack of financial resources
One of the biggest challenges faced by Chinese eSports provider VSPN is a lack of financial resources. Despite the surge of popularity for eSport, the company, much like its peers, has struggled to increase its revenues and secure sustained funding. VSPN’s early stage investors, including Matrix Partners and Tencent Holdings, have largely shied away from investing further into the company due to a lack of predictable returns and uncertainty regarding the long-term commercial potential of eSport. This lack of funds has hindered VSPN’s ability to invest in its growth or offer attractive marketing deals to event organizers or sponsors.
As such, it was a surprise when VSPN announced in May 2020 that it had raised $60 million in a new round of funding from Lightspeed China Partners and Source Code Capital among other investors. The additional capital will allow VSPN to focus on building its infrastructure such as live streaming capabilities, tournament software tools and new games for users to explore. It will also strengthen existing relationships with game developers (such as Artifact), tournament organizers (such as Garena) and international distributors (Riot Games).
The money will be used for additional team construction, investing more heavily into iconic events such as Honor Cup – owned by Tencent -and expanding content production further overseas. The hope is that this injection will help strengthen VSPN’s position within the competitive realm while answering calls from repeat clients such as General Motors and Huawei who have requested fruther experience in eSport than just broadcasting rights.
Conclusion
Chinese eSports provider VSPN recently announced that they had raised $60 million in a financing round led by Tencent. This has shown a dramatic growth in the Chinese eSports industry and has had a major impact on the industry.
By the end of this article, we’ll better understand how the Chinese eSports provider VSPN has influenced the eSports industry.
Summary of VSPN’s impact
Chinese eSports provider VSPN has had a tremendous impact on the eSports industry. The company raised $60 million in May 2018, making it one of China’s largest investments ever in an eSports organization. This allowed VSPN to expand its events, build a stronger global team, and maintain its status as a leader in the Chinese eSports industry.
The investment enabled VSPN to partner with Chinese companies such as Tencent and AliSports to create new business opportunities and foster further growth in the Chinese market. This included creating exclusive tournaments, merchandising products, digital media content. In doing so, VSPN has become an authoritative presence in the global eSports ecosystem by creating tournaments that capture the attention of fans and sponsors.
VSPN’s investment has demonstrated their undeniable commitment to become a primary player within global eSports industry while introducing new experiences and talent that could have never been imagined. By creating strategic partnerships with local and international associations, they have made themselves stronger in this sector than ever before. Their influence over the eSports scene is undeniable — through funding various online and offline championships, maintaining multiple broadcasting platforms for players across different games and providing different content for audiences worldwide — making them one of the most influential organizations within this rapidly growing industry.
Future of VSPN and eSports
From its initial start as a small provider on the Chinese online gaming market, VSPN (Versus Programming Network) has become one of the most influential providers in the eSports industry. The company’s recent announcement that it had raised $60 million in venture capital financing confirms the potential of VSPN’s esports venture. It is a sign that investors worldwide are confident enough to invest in this relatively young market.
With its new resources, VSPN has much potential for growth in the global esports industry. First, VSPN can appear as a major player on other regional markets besides China—potentially gaining immense ground in countries like Japan and South Korea, which both have particularly strong gaming cultures. Secondly, investments made by Vs PN can go into producing more exclusive events for fans and tournaments offering higher-stakes prizes; increasing viewership and helping maintain interest in eSports long-term.
Finally, this money may be used to help fund research into content creation and technological innovation within the local context—potentially transforming consumer expectations worldwide and revolutionizing rowing coverage of esports events across multiple platforms.
In conclusion, with its massive investment from venture capital firms—VSPN is poised to become an increasingly integral part of today’s gaming industry. The possibilities are endless and only time will tell what impact this influx of money will have on both Chinese esports and esports worldwide.
