More than 500 local electronic sports teams have applied to take part in the city’s first amateur eSports contest, which officially launched its offline knockout matches over the weekend.

With a total of 200,000 yuan (US$30,480) up for grabs, the eSports Shanghai Amateur Championship encourages players and teams from both home and abroad to enter. It is part of the 3rd Shanghai Citizens Sports Meeting.

Sixty teams from the 500 will fight for the final championship on the most popular computer and mobile Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games, “League of Legends” and “Honor of Kings”.

The offline competition for the championship kicked off at Changfeng Joy City in Putuo District on Saturday. The first batch of winning teams fought in the atrium of the shopping complex, with their competition broadcast on a large screen.

“Without the contest, I would never have the chance to showcase my talent and techniques in the game Honor of Kings,” said an urban management official of Putuo’s Taopu Town surnamed Wang, His team was selected to take part in the first round of competition.

Wang organized a team comprising his colleagues and friends. They cleared the qualification matches held online in the past two weeks.

Wang spent over two hours a day after work on the mobile game. It was nothing but a pastime at the beginning, but he was later determined to become a professional player amid the city government’s efforts to promote eSports culture among the public.

Shanghai aims to become the world’s eSports capital, eventually rivaling Los Angeles, which has attracted famous game clubs and developers like Riot Games, Activision Blizzard and Infinity Ward.

The city government has initiated a series of preferential policies to support the industry and professional players.

By the end of 2019, Shanghai had built 35 eSports stadiums and hosted 40 percent of the nation’s top eSports competitions. More than 80 percent of the nation’s leading clubs and players are based in Shanghai.

The value of Shanghai’s eSports sector is expected to reach 19 billion yuan (US$2.88 billion) this year, according to the Shanghai eSports Association.

Knockout matches of the amateur championship will be held through December 13 at Changfeng Joy City, and IMBA E-Sports Center at the Global Harbor mall, also in Putuo.

The final competition will be held at the Electronics Sports Park in Putuo District on December 19 and 20, according to district culture and tourism bureau, one of the organizers of the event.

All matches will be livestreamed online.