Shanghai Launches First-Ever ACL Grand Finals 2025: Asia’s Ultimate Esports Showdown Kicks Off

The first Hero Esports Asian Champions League (ACL) Grand Finals are being held in Shanghai from 16th to 18th May, 2025, a significant milestone in Asian esports. Hosted by Hero Esports, this major event features a rich array of top teams from China and the Pacific region competing on several top esports titles.

Tournament Structure

The ACL Grand Finals 2025 runs over three days in Shanghai at three top venues:

SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center (Esports Coliseum): Hosts Counter-Strike 2, Honor of Kings, and League of Legends Legend Cup S3 tournaments.
Jing’an Sports Center (Tactical Esports Arena): Includes the Valorant Champions Tour and CrossFire games.
National Exhibition and Convention Center (Global Gaming Festival Hub): Has Dota 2, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, and Delta Force tournaments.
The event features a prize pool of $2 million and has the added merit of being a qualification event for the 2025 Esports World Cup Riyadh.

Participating Teams

Six top teams, two from each region, have secured their spot in the ACL Grand Finals:

Pacific Region: Paper Rex, DRX, ZETA DIVISION
China Region: Xi Lai Gaming, Bilibili Gaming, Trace Esports
These groups progressed through challenging regional qualifiers to qualify for this honorific competition.

Competition Structure and Broadcast

The tournament uses a single-elimination King of the Hill knockout system, where team seeding is based on their previous performance. Games are set to start every day at 5:00 PM China Standard Time (CST), with a second game following at around 7:00 PM CST. The grand finals for both titles will be on May 18th.

Global viewers can watch the live action on Hero Esports’ official streaming channels on Twitch, YouTube, and Huya.

Culture Integration InitiativesIn addition to the competitive component, the ACL Grand Finals are also integrating local culture. Shanghai’s INS Park is organizing the ACL Grand Finals Night, hoping to give fans a mixture of esports entertainment and local nightlife activities.

This event points towards Shanghai’s increasing significance as an international hub for esports, with global competitors and fans attending. The ACL Grand Finals 2025 is a critical milestone for Asian esports and can help build international partnerships and tournaments in the future.

For more detailed information and live updates, please visit Hero Esports’ official social media platforms and the streaming channels of the tournament.