Shanghai’s all-in-price party complex draws young throngs despite economic jitters
- Shanghai’s LKF? Gaming and esports kingpin Dino Ying explains how his nightlife hotspot INS is a hit with budget-conscious locals and tourists
A complex in the heart of Shanghai that combines an esports arena with six nightclubs, a range of restaurants and a comedy club is luring crowds of young locals and tourists – despite a general slump in consumer spending – thanks to a “for-everyone” attitude and a reasonable, all-in price.
The 20,000-square-metre INS (“Into Nothing Serious”) complex is meant to offer an experience like an international music festival, according to founder and chairman Dino Ying Shu-ling, who is also the founder of one of China’s most successful gaming companies Hero Games and esports group VSPO.
“Shanghai is relatively developed, and many young people here are well travelled and have been to various music festivals abroad,” Ying told the Post. “I wanted to create a place like that in Shanghai, where you get one ticket and can experience everything. A space where everyone feels equal.”
The largest space in the complex, which opened in June 2023, is an esports arena that hosts a string of competitions every month. By nightfall when competitions have ended, the stage disappears and within minutes the space transforms into a live music bar.
Founded in 2016 by Ying and his partners, VSPO now organises more than 4,000 esports competitions a year. It counts Savvy Games Group, a unit of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, as a key shareholder after a US$265 million investment in February 2023.
