Four E-Sports Themed Chinese Dramas to Add to Your Watchlist

E-sports is big in China and so is applying it as a theme to Chinese dramas. Here are four Chinese dramas with e-sports background for your next watch list.

1. Gank Your Heart (2019)

Ji Xiangkong (Wang Yibo) is a professional gamer when he meets Qiu Ying (Wang Zixuan). They got off on the wrong foot when they first met and everything seemed to be a disaster but it is exactly why Qiu Ying finds her calling as a streamer. The misunderstanding continues, as the cloud gets cleared, they focus on working together.

Earliest release in this list, it did not get as much as attention as the The Untamed, the other drama of the male lead Wang Yibo that aired  about the same time despite. However, with a Douban score 7.6 given by more than 100,000 people, this would be an enjoyable watch if you love the bickering couple trope.

2. Go Go Squid! (2019)

Tong Nian (Yang Zi) is a full-time intelligent computer science student and part-time cute online singer. Han Shangyan (Li Xian) is an e-sports idol who trains his own e-sports team. Their paths collide and the rest is the history.

Probably the most popular e-sports drama in China, this is also the only TV drama in the list! 

Bonus: Hu Yitian plays Wu Bai who is the team leader of Han Shangyan's e-sports team.

3. The King's Avatar (2019)

Focusing more on the game context itself, this series is about Ye Xiu (Yang Yang) who rebuilds the team from scratch after he was wrongfully kicked out of the team who plays a game called Glory. Chen Guo (Jiang Shuying)  helps him regain his glory (no pun intended.)

Adapted from the web novel of the same name, while some would complain its story line has differences from the anime, it's still an enjoyable drama mainly because of Yang Yang.

4. Cross Fire (2020)

What more you can add to an e-sports drama which seems to be already complex and energetive? Time Travel! Yes, Cross Fire tells the story of Xiao Feng (Lu Han) who is always criticized for sticking to e-sports while in its infancy and Lu Xiaobei (Wu Lei) who is a disabled and capable game genius. Despite being 11 years apart, they meet in the game.

Kinda a surprising pairing between Lu Han and Wu Lei (Leo Wu), it somehow works! With Douban score of almost 8 (7.9) by more than 160,000 people, both e-sports and time travel themes are done so well here.

How many have you watched and which one caught your interest? Let us know!

Source 1.