Tencent and FC Barcelona join forces for esports

Spanish footballing giant FC Barcelona has agreed a strategic cooperation deal with China’s Tencent.

The pair will work together in esports competitions, esports education and industry exchange in the future with a view to exploring the many possibilities of collaboration between sports and esports.

FC Barcelona competes in Psyonix’s Rocket League and Konami’s eFootball PES.

Meanwhile, the 2020 Global Esports Summit and Tencent Esports Annual Conference was held in Bo’ao, Hainan on 24 August.

This conference aimed to bring together sports industry elites and esports industry leaders to discuss the industry’s potential and explore new opportunities in the future. Tencent Esports outlined its annual plan at the event.

Mark Ren, chief operating officer of Tencent, believes that esports are becoming the world’s most promising and fastest-growing form of competition and sport. He said esports have captured the hearts of young people around the world, and reach across boundaries and cultures to bring people together.

Ren added that Tencent Esports will work with several strategic partners to foster “new industry forms” with “new experiences” and create “new growth” for eco-partners in various industries, while paving the way for more events to develop and thrive worldwide.

Tencent owns 100% of League of Legends developer Riot Games, 84.3% of Clash Royale developer Supercell, 40% of Fortnite developer Epic Games, as well as stakes in PUBG developer Bluehole, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard.

Image: FC Barcelona

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