The video gaming live-streaming business is huge right now. Amazon purchased Twitch.TV for $970 million last year. Well, in the land where everything has a Chinese version, China, the Chinese equivalents of Twitch are in a legal war over the Dota 2 Asia Championships.
Sina news reports that two of Chinaās newest and fastest growing video game broadcasting sites, Huomao TV and Douyu TV, are at each otherās proverbial throats over the rights to stream the upcoming Dota 2 Asia Championships.
Huomao TV, which literally means Flaming Kitty TV, has an agreement with Perfect World, the operator of Dota 2 in China, to broadcast the Dota 2 Asia Championships. That is where the beef with Douyu is: Huomao says that Douyu is illegally broadcasting live streams of the tournament, stealing from the company and spreading false rumours that Douyu has an agreement with Perfect World.
Thereās a reason whyHuomao and Douyu are squabbling. Chinese streaming sites are big business right now, and so are e-sports. Both companies started last year, and while theyāre not behind on the movement, theyāre at a standstill with the likes ofYY streams and the services found on Youku/Tudou.
The various Chinese sites have also sunk money directly into e-sports through endorsement deals with teams and players and by directly operating teams. Douyu has their own Hearthstone team and former Chinese pro gamer Cao Mei is making bank by live-streaming on Zhanqi TV.
ē½ē»ē“ęēęēŗ ēŗ·åčµ· ē«ē«ē¶åęé±¼ēę[Sina Games]
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian Internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
Eric is a Beijing based writer and all around FAT man. You can contact him @[emailĀ protected] or follow him on Twitter @FatAsianTechie
