Chinese esports giant NIP sets global targets with Abu Dhabi expansion
Co-founder Hicham Chahine said a significant portion of NIP’s audience is now outside China, which he called a more ‘developed’ video gaming market
As Chinese esports giant NIP Group plans to establish a global headquarters in the Middle East, co-founder Hicham Chahine is considering how to capitalise on opportunities in vastly different video gaming markets.
“The West is very accustomed to PCs, consoles,” Chahine said in an interview on May 14. “In China, gaming is a mobile phenomenon, led by companies like Tencent and NetEase.”
“In China, we see the emergence of super apps that consolidate many services into one place,” he said. “In contrast, the West is more fragmented, with gaming spread across PCs, consoles, Instagram, Facebook, and various other platforms.”
“Overall, China is much more developed and consolidated, while the West is more fragmented regarding these core themes,” he added.
Established after the merger of Sweden’s Ninjas in Pyjamas and China’s ESV5 in 2021, with co-founder Mario Ho Yau-kwan, NIP is best known for its professional teams in the video games Counter-Strike and League of Legends. Last year, it listed on the Nasdaq, becoming China’s first esports stock.