In May, the esports war in Shanghai will start, and the three peak events will be finalized in the AFC Champions League ACL Glory Top

May 07 2025

During the May Day holiday, many top events started in Shanghai, and e-sports enthusiasts have already felt the hot atmosphere of top Asian events. The first Hero ESPORTS Asian Championships in 2025 Champions League) is currently the highest-level and largest international comprehensive e-sports event in Asia, and has brought together nine top e-sports events, covering Counter-Strike 2, Dota2 events, Honor of Kings, Street Fighter 6, League of Legends Cup, Genting Games, Fearless Contract E-sports events, Delta Action and CrossFire. In addition, the ACL of the Heroes ACL will also provide multiple direct e-sports World Cups (Esports) World Cup, referred to as EWC, is the largest international comprehensive e-sports event in the world.

The DOTA2 project, as the focus battle, started offline in Shanghai from May 1 to 3. Tickets will be sold out in 52 seconds on the final day (May 3), which shows the strength of the knife friends and the popularity of the competition. In the loser final on May 3, Yakult Brothers won the S26th place in the Fantasy League, advanced to the finals to face Xtreme Gaming, and strive for the opportunity to qualify for the EWC eSports World Cup.

In addition, the schedule of Honor of Kings and Genting Games in the ACL of the Heroes has also started. The Honor of Kings qualifying match officially started yesterday, among which the four teams, Qingjiu, Shanghai RNG.M, Guangzhou TTG and Shenzhen KLG, advanced to the second round of the qualifying match. The Genting Tactics Regional Qualifiers are divided into APAC and CN areas. Currently, APAC & CN Division Promotion Team has been announced, APAC Division Flash Wolves, T1 Esports Club, ROC Esport, Tulip Esport's four teams have advanced, CN Division Team Falcons and Weibo Esports Club Four teams, TwistedMinds, and Alpha_Gaming_Esports, have advanced.

Three major events, the battle for the ACL champion and EWC qualifications of the Heroes

From May 16th to 18th, the ACL finals of the Heroes AFC Champions League will be held simultaneously at the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Oriental Sports Center, Jing'an Sports Center and National Convention and Exhibition Center. The championship battles for the three major events of "Honor of Kings", "Genting Games" and "Fearless Contract" will be held in the above three venues.

On May 5, the ACL of the Heroes ACL The x King of Glory event officially started at the Shanghai KPL Esports Center. 12 top KPL teams will compete in exciting competitions, with a total prize pool of US$200,000. The champion team will directly advance to EWC, showing the top confrontation of mobile e-sports.

Hero AFC Champions League ACL x Genting Tactics Asia Challenge will be launched on May 8 in Shanghai Bund Central Plaza. CN and APAC Division have decided 6 EWC promotion teams through regional qualifiers: APAC Division Flash Wolves, T1 Esports Club, Virtus Pro (formerly Tulip Esport renamed), CN Division Team Falcons, Weibo Esports Club, Twisted Minds. The fourth and fifth place in the two divisions won the EWC "Final Qualification Tournament" (LCQ) direct invitation quota.

As the only international fearless contract event in China in the first half of the year, the hero ACL The x Fearless Contract Bounty Knockout Tournament will start at Shanghai Fearless Arena from May 14 to 16, and the final day will be held on May 18. The six teams from CN and PAC will compete fiercely for the final championship glory and the maximum bonus of about 1 million yuan that a single team can get.

Hero ACL x Honor of Kings, KPL peak team meets on a narrow road

As the top event of mobile e-sports, the ACLX King of Glory events of the Heroes ACLX Kings are divided into three stages: qualifying match, knockout match and finals. The 8 teams were selected based on the third round of the regular season rankings of the 2025 KPL Spring Festival, and held a qualifying match on May 5, 6 and 13 to compete for the only qualification to advance to the knockout round. In the next knockout round from May 14 to 16, the winner of the qualifying round will face off against the 3rd to 5th teams in the 2025 KPL Spring Playoffs (if the playoffs tied, the higher-ranked regular season in the third round will be qualified), and one team will be determined to advance to the finals. In the end, the team will have an ultimate showdown with the runner-up of the 2025 KPL Spring Tournament on May 18 to compete for the ACL championship and EWC qualification.

Hero ACL x Genting Games, Team Game Mode subversion strategy confrontation

Hero ACL x The Genting Games event breaks through the tradition and introduces a 4V4 team battle mode to present a new strategic confrontation perspective for the audience. The current regional qualifiers have concluded, and a total of 6 teams in CN and APAC regions have been locked in EWC qualifications. The Asian Challenge will start from May 8 to 11, and the eight teams in the qualifiers will compete for the top three to advance to the finals through the BO3 double-loss knockout round. The finals are divided into two days:

May 17: Loser Group Final (BO3 Single Losing Competition System),�The third place and the final promotion quota;

May 18: Champions League (BO5 single defeat competition system), the winner tops the championship, and the runner-up was born simultaneously.

Hero ACL x Fearless Contract, Bounty Mechanism ignites the team's enthusiasm

Hero ACL ACL x Fearless Contract Events are divided into knockout matches and finals. Three teams from CN and PAC regions will decide 2 teams to meet in a final battle through a 3-day showdown. The event features bounty knockout matches, with a base bonus of $10,000 for a single game; starting from the fourth round, if the team with lower initial ranking wins, the winner can only win a double bonus (20,000 US dollars). If the team with higher initial ranking wins, it will maintain $10,000. The final champion will enjoy a reward of $50,000, and the total prize pool of the event will exceed $160,000.

Purchase tickets on multiple platforms to cover the needs of diverse tournaments

At present, the ACL tickets for the Heroes ACL have been fully launched on multiple platforms. Audiences can freely choose the following official designated platforms to purchase tickets according to their personal usage habits: Damai, Maoyan, Alipay, Tongcheng Travel.

According to the different settings of the three main venues (PPPDB Oriental Sports Center, Jing'an Sports Center, and National Convention and Exhibition Center), ticket prices are set at various prices. Among them: Pudong Development Bank Oriental Sports Center and National Convention and Exhibition Center support ticket purchases on three platforms: Damai, Maoyan Entertainment and Alipay; tickets to Shanghai Jing'an Sports Center are traveling through Tongcheng The app is available exclusively.

【2025 Heroes ACL Finals Schedule】

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Oriental Sports Center

May 16th 14:10: Heroes ACL Finals X CS2 third place match, exhibition match, opening ceremony, finals

May 17th 14:00: Heroes ACL Finals X Huya League of Legends Cup Opening Performance, Finals (G1-G3), Midfield Performance, Finals (G4-G9)

May 18th 16:30: The opening ceremony of the ACL Finals of the Heroes, the finals of the ACL Finals X King of Glory

Shanghai Jing'an Sports Center

May 16th 12:00: Heroes ACL Finals X CF Finals

May 17 12:00: Heroes ACL Finals X CF Semi-finals Game 1, Semi-finals Game 2, Finals

May 18th 13:00: Heroes AFC ACL Finals X Fearless Contract Esports Mysterious Guest Competition and Finals

Shanghai National Convention and Exhibition Center Hall 1.2-2.2

May 16

11:00 Esports Stage: Heroes ACL Finals X DOTA2 Finals, Finals

May 17

10:00 Esports Stage: Heroes AFC ACL Finals X Delta Action Double Elimination, Winner Group Final

11:00 LAN party: Heroes ACL Finals X Street Fighter 6 Knockout

17:30 Esports Stage: Heroes ACL Finals X Genting Game Loser Group Finals

May 18

10:00 Esports Stage: Heroes AFC ACL Finals X Genting Tattoo Finals

11:00 LAN party: Heroes ACL Finals X Street Fighter 6 quarter-finals

15:00 Main Stage: Heroes AFC ACL Finals X Street Fighter 6 Winner Group Finals, Loser Group Finals, Finals

15:30 Esports Stage: Heroes AFC ACL Finals X Delta Action Loser Group Team, Finals

Precautions:

All tickets can watch related events except Esports Stage.

Only users who purchase Esports Stage tickets can enter DreamHack Esports Stage area; This ticket file already includes DreamHack full-day tickets and early admission rights, no additional ticket purchase is required.

In May, the e-sports war continues to burn, and the ACL of the Heroes AFC Champions League will continue to build a benchmark for Asian e-sports, promote the global development of the e-sports industry, leave a deep imprint for players and audiences, and write a new chapter in the Asian e-sports era.