Canadian video gamer Sasha Hostyn, also known by her username Scarlett, competes at the WESG in Chongqing on March 12. Photo: VCG

Wei Jizhong might seem at first sight an unusual champion for eSports.

The veteran Chinese sports administrator is into his 83rd year and so is generations removed from the hundreds of gamers who descended on last week on the southwest metropolis of Chong­qing for the third World Electronic Sports Games (WESG).

But history is on Wei's side, given the defining role he has played in the development of sport across the region, a point reflected in his continued role as the honorary vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia.

"You know everyone is watching eSports and how popular they have become," said Wei, on the sidelines of WESG. 

"What we have to work out now is how do they fit in. This is the big question. We have seen events such as this [WESG] grow and now how do we ensure the growth of eSports is healthy?"

The third edition of the WESG was staged at the Chongqing Olympic Sports Center and included a massive outdoor screen streaming the action live, a performance from space-aged American rockers Starset, and a collection of the world's leading gamers, including StarCraft II champions in Finland's Joona "Serral" Sotala and Canada's Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn.

Organizers Alisports - the sports unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - are among those globally trying to help eSports find their way into the main-stream, with an eye on the Olympics and a debut as a medal sport looming at the 2022 Asian Games in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.

Wei admits there is still work to be done, in terms of how eSports are structured.

"If you look at traditional sports their structure is vertical," said Wei. "The IOC, FIFA have local governing bodies, they have national governing bodies, they have the people at the top. It goes from the bottom to the top.

"In eSports the structure is horizontal. You have all these organizations at the same level and everyone trying to find the way to go forward. They are mutually interactive but it is a bit like what the commercial world calls the 'rat race.' Everyone must come together and establish a structure that is uniquely its own. Step by step we can find a way. Maybe we have to stop looking at eSports they way we look at traditional sports."

In Chongqing there was the massively popular combat-centered Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and Defense of the Ancients 2 (DOTA2). But there was also the soccer-themed Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, among the titles Wei believes has more chance of helping eSports in its Olympic cause.

"Going forward we have to avoid negative games," he said.

Online gaming research leaders Newzoo has predicted the audience for eSports across the world will top 453 million this year - divided between it terms "eSport enthusiasts" (201 million) and "occasional viewers" (252 million).

In terms of money generated the prediction is that eSports will be responsible for $1.8 billion annually by 2022.

There has been a flood of events to match the industry's rise, with 737 tournaments recorded in 2018.

WESG has established itself as a leading player, this year attracting 80,000 registered players with 580 of them - representing 58 countries and regions - surviving regional qualifiers to make it to Chongqing.

Around 15,000 of those original hopefuls came from China, the world's largest video game market with 620 million players who forked out an estimated $37.9 billion in 2018 on the likes of mobile and PC games, according to Newzoo.

International gamers relished the chance to connect with their Chinese fans and to use the event to reach a global audience. Live views of the event have on average topped the 400 million mark over the past three years.

"Back home I might have 100 or a few hundred people watching me play [via streaming]. This week I had over 1 million," said Italy's Ettore "Ettorito97" Giannuzzi, winner of this year's Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 title.

"I signed more than 100 T-shirts for fans and the reception as been amazing. In the stadium when we played it was like a football match in Europe, with people cheering. Now we hope our game can make the Olympics one day and the WESG is giving us path and a future."

The 22-year-old Giannuzzi has in the past tested his Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 skills against professional soccer players such as the French striker Odsonne Edouard of Scottish champions Celtic United.

"But it's totally different. He didn't really know that much about what he was doing," said the Italian. "I think that just shows how different the skills you need are."

Other winners across the weekend included Bulgaria's Windigo team, who claimed the $500,000 up for grabs in CS:GO, and South Korea's Lee "INnoVation" Shin Hyung was crowned champion in StarCraft II.

Alisports is in the process of setting up its eSports division in Chongqing, where local officials have been supporting the growth of online games.

Liu Yong, vice president of strategic cooperation at event organizers Alisports, said the growth over three years of WESG pointed to a bright future.

"In terms of media and coverage things have expanded and in terms of live streaming we are seeing millions of fans watching in," he said. 

"The ambition now is to bring more traditional style sports into the games we feature. This week we saw the success of these top Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 players from overseas - and one-fourth of the total registration we had this year was for PES. I think we are on the right track."