Last September, Alibaba established its sports department to “transform China’s sports industry through Internet-enabled technologies.” Back then the Chinese ecommerce giant, worth $212 billion by the end of 2015, had made some buzz over partnering with top football clubs Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and other sports companies. Today, six months later, Ali Sports Group debuts its very own esports division, the Ali Electronics Sports Division.

The first official act of Ali Esports was the announcement of a new event: the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG). The tournament aims to attract more than 100 countries and regions, and covers top tier esports titles such as Dota 2, CS:GO, StarCraft 2, and Hearthstone. The total prize money of $5.5 million is part of a larger investment of more than $15 million. The competitions start in April, the finals will be held in China in December.

The WESG is compared by Alibaba to the former World Cyber Games. The mention of the World Cyber Games rings a bell for esports fans and pundits alike. Originally, the WCG was an international esports event operated by a South-Korean company of the same name. It attempted to mirror traditional sporting events, such as the Olympic Games; including an opening ceremony, and players competing for bronze, silver, and gold medals. It was shut down in 2014, after thirteen years of existing. However, Ali Esports states that its World Electronic Sports Games is different from the past.

The World Electronic Sports Games will—in addition to the game-specific rules—operate with more specific regulations regarding the age and nationality of participating athletes, anti-doping measures, moral etiquette guidelines, and more. The purpose is to ensure “a fair sports competition to enhance the healthy development of esports.” Ali Esports also announced a new platform to accompany the event. It will serve for things like player registration, tournament schedule, content distribution, and social interaction.

The impact of Alibaba’s investment into esports can’t be underestimated. It is China’s—and by some measures, the world’s—biggest online commerce company. Its three main sites—Taobao, Tmall and Alibaba.com—have hundreds of millions of users, and host millions of merchants and businesses. It’s toughest rival, and the obvious reason why League of Legends is not among the list of esports titles for the World Electronic Sports Games, is Tencent, the company that owns Riot Games. After all, the Chinese esports market is getting even more interesting now..

UPDATE: Fixed mistranslation of relationship to WCG.