Beijing DRG Victorious on Home Turf in Valorant Champions Tour as Shijingshan’s “Esports City” Ambition Gains Full Momentum

Recently, the first stage playoffs of the 2026 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT CN) concluded successfully at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in Shijingshan District, Beijing. As a core team in the VCT CN league, the Beijing DRG Esports Club competed on its home ground and secured a spot at the Masters tournament in London, representing China on the international stage. This home victory is not only a moment of glory for DRG but also marks a new phase of accelerated development for Shijingshan District’s “Esports City” initiative, further clarifying its development path of “promoting industry through events and building the city through industry.”

As a worldclass tactical shooter esports event, the Valorant Champions Tour chose Shijingshan’s Shougang Park for its first ever Beijing stop. The venue, Shougang Ice Hockey Arena, was converted from a legacy venue of the Winter Olympics, where centuryold industrial heritage blends with cuttingedge digital sports, offering an immersive viewing experience for esports fans across the country. Over the 10day event, a total of 24,000 people attended live matches, driving 427 million yuan in integrated cultural, tourism, commercial and sports consumption across the district during the May Day holiday, a yearonyear increase of 6.4%. This successful conversion of event traffic into urban economic growth has fully activated the development momentum of the district known for hosting two Olympic Games.

DRG’s connection with Shijingshan began in June 2025. At the opening ceremony of the Jingxi Esports Festival, DRG officially moved its three divisions — Valorant, Naraka: Bladepoint, and Game for Peace — to Shougang Park, becoming a key piece in Shijingshan’s efforts to build a comprehensive esports industry layout. Leveraging the spatial advantages of Shougang Park’s industrial heritage, the district’s industrial cluster effect and targeted policy support, and using a Winter Olympics venue as its professional home base, the club has rapidly built a local esports ecosystem integrating event operations, youth training and content creation, achieving a twoway empowerment of team development and regional industrial upgrading.

Since relocating, Beijing DRG has achieved impressive results: its Valorant division has made a breakthrough leap in the VCT CN league, going from champion of the promotion tournament to qualifying for an international Masters event; its Naraka: Bladepoint and Game for Peace divisions have also repeatedly achieved outstanding results in top domestic leagues. In this homeground Valorant tournament, DRG once again demonstrated its strength, earning a ticket to the London Masters together with EDG and XLG, putting Shijingshan on the international esports map and injecting strong momentum into the district’s ability to attract global youth attention.

The industrial cluster effect continues to grow, as Shijingshan rapidly builds itself into a national esports industry hub. In recent years, Shijingshan District has focused on the full ecosystem of esports, issuing special support policies, successfully hosting major events such as the China Esports Industry Annual Conference and the Beijing Esports Innovation and Development Forum, inaugurating the Shougang Esports Center, and launching the construction of a game and esports incubator. To date, 131 upstream and downstream companies covering game development, event operations, broadcasting and media have gathered in the district, forming a complete industrial chain and providing a solid growth environment for top clubs like DRG.

With DRG as a link, Shijingshan continues to deepen its integrated development model of “esports + culture & tourism + technology + consumption.” During the tournament, DRG players actively engaged with urban landmarks such as the Modekou Historical and Cultural District and Shougang Park, creating new esports tourism scenarios through youthoriented storytelling. The club also launched limitededition merchandise incorporating elements of Shougang’s blast furnaces and Beijing’s unique characteristics, using esports IP to energise urban consumption. Looking ahead, Shijingshan District will continue to improve its event system of “weekly activities and monthly highlights,” promote the landing of more worldclass esports events, and work alongside leading forces like DRG to transform Shougang Park into a landmark destination for professional esports competitions, trendy experiences and industrial incubation. The district will continue to polish its “Home of Two Olympics” and “Esports City” golden name card, injecting lasting momentum into the highquality development of the capital’s digital economy.