While Lin Haoming was busily preparing the Star Sea Team domestically and testing the waters for its future professional path, league of legends' popularity in overseas markets, after several months of fermentation and accumulation, also began to show explosive growth.
Especially in South Korea, with its deep esports roots, and North America, with its massive player base, the game not only attracted a large number of ordinary players but also saw the emergence of a group of high-ranking solo queue kings who dominated their servers and several strong online teams.
This vigorous development naturally did not escape the notice of overseas distributors.
They keenly sensed a similar atmosphere to what was initially seen in China—esports events would be the best engine to propel the game's popularity to the next level and achieve deep commercialization.
Consequently, Qin Feng's international calls began to get busy.
The first call came from President Kim, CEO of the Korean distributor "KC Games".
His tone carried the characteristic urgency and efficiency of Koreans: "Mr.
Qin! The high-ranking competition on our server is very intense, and several genius players and strong teams, widely discussed by players, have already emerged.
We believe the time is ripe to immediately begin establishing the Korean professional league (LCK), referencing your country's successful experience!
We are confident we can build the most competitive region!"
Subsequently, Mr. Smith, Vice President of North America's Global Interactive, also sent a communication request: "Qin, my old friend!
The North American player community's enthusiasm for competitive play is unprecedentedly high, and discussions about league of legends on Twitch continue to climb.
Should we consider initiating preparations for the North American Championship Series (LCS)?
This is crucial for solidifying our position in the North American market!"
Distributors from Europe and Southeast Asia also expressed similar intentions, their words full of anticipation, as if professional leagues were already imminent.
Facing the enthusiasm and urgency of his overseas partners, Qin Feng remained as calm as ever, even with a hint of deliberately suppressed composure.
In one international meeting after another, he patiently listened to reports and proposals from all parties, then gave a unified response that surprised some distributors:
"Thank you all for your active preparations and optimism regarding the future of esports.
However, I believe it is still too early to immediately launch large-scale professional leagues."
This answer made both President Kim and Mr. Smith on the other end of the screen pause.
"Mr. Qin, I don't quite understand," President Kim said bluntly, "You know the esports landscape in Korea; players crave high-level competition, and capital is watching.
Why wait?"
"President Kim, Mr. Smith, please bear with me," Qin Feng's voice was calm and powerful, carrying a sense of overall control, "Professional leagues are not castles in the air; they require the most solid foundation.
This foundation is not just a few high-ranking players, but a widely participating community atmosphere, a multi-level talent pipeline, and a preliminary validated audience market."
He elaborated on his strategy:
"First, I suggest that in each region, the official bodies should not rush to personally host large professional leagues.
Instead, we should vigorously encourage and support the development of grassroots tournaments, online platform competitions, and collegiate leagues.
We can issue official announcements, provide technical guidance, small prize money support, or in-game item rewards for these events, and even offer traffic support through the international version of our new platform, Star Sea Live."
"Let the grassroots forces get moving first, letting competitions of all sizes fill every corner of the community.
This will not only screen out truly talented players and teams but also cultivate audience viewing habits, allowing esports culture to truly penetrate the grassroots."
"Secondly, after grassroots events have developed to a certain stage, our Riot Games headquarters will take the lead, in conjunction with regional distributors, to hold small-scale, high-frequency regional events in the form of official invitational tournaments," Qin Feng continued to outline his blueprint, "For example, host a 'Korean Server Apex Invitational' inviting the top-ranked teams on the server; or a 'North American Stars Challenge' pitting several highly talked-about teams against each other."
"These invitational tournaments don't need to be large in scale, but the production must be excellent.
Through these competitions, we aim to achieve several key objectives:"
"First, to test the competitive level and tactical styles of the top teams in each region."
"Second, and most importantly, to gauge market reaction—by closely monitoring live viewership, peak audience numbers, average viewing duration, and community discussion heat for these events through Star Sea Live and various partner platforms.
We need real data to determine the actual market potential of a mature professional league."
"Third, to use this as an opportunity to officially establish Riot Global Events Company, to independently operate and manage all future official event systems.
This will demonstrate to everyone that our investment in esports is long-term, professional, and unsparing."
Qin Feng concluded: "Gentlemen, what we need to do is not to pull up seedlings to help them grow, but to carefully nurture them and wait for them to blossom.
When grassroots sparks ignite a prairie fire, when invitational data proves immense market demand, and when our events company is ready, the professional leagues launched then will be a natural, firmly rooted towering tree, not a hastily constructed castle in the air.
Please trust my judgment; this is the most stable path to long-term success."
After listening to Qin Feng's meticulously logical and step-by-step plan, President Kim and Mr. Smith on the other end of the line fell into deep thought.
Their initial urgency, in the face of Qin Feng's grand vision and calm rationality, was gradually persuaded.
They realized that Qin Feng was not just looking at the immediate popularity but at the healthy development of the entire esports ecosystem for the next five or ten years.
"I understand, Mr. Qin," President Kim was the first to speak, his tone becoming solemn, "We were too impatient.
You are right; solidifying the foundation is more important.
We will immediately begin to vigorously support grassroots events and prepare to cooperate with headquarters in hosting the first Korean server invitational."
"Qin, your strategy is always impressive," Mr. Smith also praised sincerely, "We'll do as you say.
North America will fully cooperate; let's make the community fire burn even brighter first!"
Soon, Riot Games officially released guiding principles for all regions globally, with the core idea being "encourage grassroots, data-driven, steady progress."
At the same time, the news of the official registration and establishment of Riot Global Events Company was also announced, demonstrating its determination to deeply cultivate esports events.
Under official guidance, various overseas regions temporarily suppressed the urge to directly establish professional leagues, instead dedicating themselves to nurturing the grassroots esports ecosystem.
For a time, league of legends competitions of various scales blossomed across overseas communities, and the official strategy of holding tight to event rights and testing the waters through small invitational tournaments also paved a solid path for the future unification and standardization of global professional leagues.
Sitting in his office, Qin Feng looked at the gradually warming event reports feedback from various regions globally, knowing that the "sparks" he anticipated were quietly igniting worldwide.