Crossing boundaries

Jonny Wang, the league's chief executive officer, said that this inaugural ACL has seen active international participation. Thousands of overseas esports players gathered in Shanghai for the tournament, and over 500 of them entered the final stage, including players from nations such as Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and the Philippines.

FlyQuest, an Australian Counter-Strike 2 team at the ACL, summarized its journey at the tournament as "lively, peaceful and educational". One team member Joshua Potter, or "INS", said that he loved the food and culture in the city, and was deeply impressed by the passionate and supportive fans in China.

Mongolian coach of the team, Erdenetsogt Gantulga, or "erkaSt", added: "This tournament was a very good lesson for us and we learned a lot from it. Compared to other tournaments, this is the first of its kind in Asia. It gives us more opportunities to learn more about each other and will bring us overall competitiveness in the region."

Ji shared exactly the same sentiments: "We Asian players, especially Chinese Counter-Strike 2 teams eagerly need such professional regional tournaments. Shanghai is very international and well developed in many sectors. We are grateful for such an event, and we do hope more players and spectators can come to Shanghai to participate."

Compared with the Counter-Strike 2 event, the Street Fighter 6 competition has garnered even more extensive global participation at this year's ACL. Notably, about 800 players, both top-tier and grassroots level, registered from around the globe, including Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.

Among the world's top Street Fighter 6 players gathering at the tournament are Saul Mena, Hajime Taniguchi and Zeng Zhuojun, who are better known as "MenaRD", "Tokido" and "Xiao Hai", respectively.

Presenting exciting fights on a special stage designed to look like a boxing ring, they enjoyed their time in Shanghai and saw it as an opportunity to meet old friends and global enthusiasts.

The special stage for the Street Fighter 6 finals was set up as part of DreamHack, a globally renowned gaming festival that made its Chinese mainland debut at the ACL Grand Finals. It offered immersive and interactive experiences for esports enthusiasts, including exhibitions, live shows, fan meetings, amateur matches and other diverse activities.