Shanghai has unveiled a citywide plan to boost its gaming and esports industry, including a 50 million yuan ($7.1 million) annual support fund, as it seeks to help homegrown game developers expand overseas. 

The plan was announced at the 2025 China Game Industry Annual Conference, held from Dec. 17 to 19, where city officials outlined 10 measures aimed at building a gaming and esports ecosystem with international reach.

The measures place particular emphasis on original games in driving industry growth, encouraging the development of games that promote traditional Chinese culture and Shanghai’s urban identity. It also invites gaming collaborations with education and healthcare entities, among others.

To support overseas expansion, city authorities said they would establish a service platform to help local game developers navigate copyright, payment settlements, and overseas advertisements.

The city also pledged to boost its esports sector by attracting major international esports competitions and offering incentives to successful Shanghai-based esports clubs. The city is home to 34 esports clubs — more than any other Chinese city.

The policy shift underscores a major regional push to tap China’s booming gaming sector, which grew nearly 10% from last year to a record revenue of 350.8 billion yuan in 2025. The total number of gamers also climbed to a record 683 million.

Chinese game studios are increasingly pushing overseas, buoyed by hits such as “Black Myth: Wukong” and “Where Winds Meet,” though piracy, unauthorized private servers and trademark disputes continue to complicate international expansion. 

Beyond game development, gaming has also become a broader economic driver, with sales of game-related merchandise, known as guzi, reaching nearly 170 billion yuan last year.

Shanghai’s initiative aligns with a broader national push to position gaming as a pillar of economic and cultural growth. In April, the central government rolled out a plan to promote gaming as a new driver of technological innovation and cultural exports. 

Several provinces have followed with their own policies. In May, the southern Guangdong province announced measures to support esports clubs and hotels, industrial parks, and streaming hubs. In June, the eastern Zhejiang province launched a similar initiative focused on helping Chinese games expand overseas. 

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: A Chinese team competes during the 2025 Shanghai Esports Masters, Dec. 4, 2025. VCG)

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The licensing organization responsible for the HDMI standard, known as the HDMI Licensing Administrator, will present a series of technical demonstrations at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The demonstration will spotlight several HDMI gaming technologies that illustrate the performance characteristics of different certified cable categories within interactive gaming contexts.

At CES 2026, visitors to the HDMI Licensing Administrator’s booth can witness prototypes of the Ultra96 HDMI Cable, which was “introduced in the recently released HDMI 2.2 Specification,” alongside the Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable and the Premium High Speed HDMI Cable. The organization will highlight the high-refresh performance rate of its products, as well as their compatibility with popular portable gaming consoles and retro-style gaming systems. Supportive features like variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode will be highlighted, as well.

The Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable laptop will be showcased by the tech brand at CES 2026 as an eSports-ready hardware option that’s engineered with advanced capabilities in mind to keep gamers feeling agile. The laptop appears at first as a normal piece of hardware with a 16-inch display, but can be transformed with additional eSports gaming modes that will expand the screen to 21.5-inches or even 24-inches. The expanding functionality is accessible via a button to offer ease of transition between the various video game-focused modes.

The Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable laptop will reportedly be based on the brand’s Legion Pro 7i platform with an Intel Core Ultra processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU. The additional tech specs for the laptop are yet to be announced.

Image Credit: Lenovo

Dr. Sultan Almasoud, managing partner of Morgan Lewis’s Riyadh office, has been closely involved in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s rapid evolution into a global hub for innovation. His insights on the questions below shed light on the trends reshaping technology and esports—and the opportunities they unlock for investors and operators entering the market.

Q&A: SULTAN ALMASOUD

1. What are the most significant technology trends currently driving growth in Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia is undergoing one of the most ambitious digital transformation journeys in the world. The most significant trend is the rapid adoption of AI across government, financial services, healthcare, and industrial sectors. Vision 2030 has accelerated investment in AI-ready infrastructure, digital identity, automation, and data platforms that support new digital services at scale.

We also are seeing strong momentum in cloud migration, driven by hyperscaler expansions, data localization policies, and new solutions that make it easier for public and private entities to adopt cloud-native technologies. In parallel, fintech innovation, digital payments, and open banking are creating a dynamic ecosystem of startups, investors, and regulators working together to modernize the financial landscape.

In addition, Saudi Arabia’s giga projects are acting as large-scale accelerators for advanced technologies, while strong regulatory frameworks around data, cloud, and cybersecurity are providing international investors with clarity and confidence. Combined with significant investment in digital talent and localization, this is enabling sustainable, long-term technology-driven growth across the Kingdom.

2. How is Saudi Arabia positioning itself as a global hub for esports?

Saudi Arabia has made esports a national priority, fundamentally reshaping the sector. The launch of the Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) and the Esports World Cup, supported by major public investment commitments, has placed the Kingdom at the center of global competitive gaming.

But the strategy extends beyond events. The country is developing training academies, production studios, esports arenas, and digital platforms that sustain year-round player and audience engagement. This ecosystem-driven approach is drawing global publishers, teams, and content creators who now view Saudi Arabia as a foundational market for long-term esports growth.

3. What opportunities do you see emerging for investors and companies entering the Saudi tech and esports market?

There is tremendous opportunity at the intersection of technology, entertainment, and digital infrastructure. For technology companies, opportunities are especially strong in AI solutions, cybersecurity, cloud services, digital identity, and smart city platforms.

In esports, the most compelling opportunities lie in content creation, talent development, gaming studios, tournament production, and technologies supporting broadcasting, analytics, and community engagement. Investors who understand the regulatory environment and align with the Kingdom’s long-term vision will find a market eager for strategic partnerships.

4. What challenges should companies keep in mind when operating in these fast-evolving sectors?

These sectors are evolving quickly, which makes regulatory navigation an important challenge. Companies need to stay aligned with requirements around licensing, content regulation, data protection, and foreign investment—areas that are developing alongside the industry itself.

Another key challenge is specialized talent. Whether it’s game design, AI engineering, or esports event management, building local capability is essential. Companies that invest early in training programs, knowledge transfer, and local partnerships will be best positioned for sustainable growth.

Ultimately, success requires a long-term commitment to the market, strong local relationships, and an understanding of national priorities as the Kingdom advances its digital transformation goals.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Saudi Arabia is positioning itself at the forefront of global innovation, with technology and esports playing central roles in the nation’s economic transformation. As investment accelerates and new digital ecosystems emerge, companies that build strategic partnerships and engage deeply with local priorities will be poised to lead.