Major Changes at Shanghai-Based VSPO Afoot

VSPO renamed to Hero Esports, shuffles executives. Credit: Savvy Games Group/VSPO/Hero Esports

China-based esports tournament organizer VSPO announced that it has appointed a new CEO and has engaged in an “international brand alignment,” renaming itself to “Hero Esports.”

Danny Tang, co-founder and current CFO, will become the company’s new CEO, with the mission of expanding the company’s “operations and driving international growth.”

Current Founder and CEO Dino Ying will transition away from the leadership role to take on the position of executive chairman,focusing on “exploring and creating the next generation of esports products and experiences.” according to a release.

Ying will also dedicate more time on the company’s Esports Asian Champions League (ACL), and the development of the Esports World Cup and the Olympic Esports Games.

Finally, Luying Wang, VSPO’s group VP and head of capital markets, finance and legal, will become the company’s acting CFO.

If you are wondering why the Esports World Cup and the Olympic Esports Games are mentioned, that is because Savvy Games Group—a wholly owned gaming and esports company of the Saudi Arabian government—made a significant financial commitment of $265M USD through a Series C investment.  Chinese conglomerate Tencent also holds a minority stake in the company.

Savvy Games Group, which is backed by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund, has created what some consider a global monopoly on tournament organizers; it currently owns ESL, FACEIT, Esports Engine, and has a sizable investment in VSPO. It also has been backing the Global Esports Federation and the International Esports Federation financially and has key leadership positions in both organizations. Very few independent tournament organizers remain at this point beyond BLAST and PGL.