Three Malaysian champions of the Taiwan Excellence E-sports Cup have emerged victorious, each claiming a slice of the RM113,000 pool prize from a total of 30 qualifying teams at the tournament.
The representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia stated that in 2018, the Taiwan Excellence Intercollege Battleground was held and it was a big success.
This year the event returned with new inspiration – the Taiwan Excellence E-sports Cup. TEEC has come with an even greater vision, providing an international platform for Malaysian gamers to experience the best and latest e-sports products, as well as showcase their best teamwork during the friendly tournament in Taiwan.
Over 283 team registered and an estimated 1,415 individuals participated.
The new Malaysian champions competed in three main game titles, with each team walking away with RM10,000.
Supporting Malaysian e-sports talent
In April 2019, OpenGov Asia reported the gaming and e-sports division of an Internet marketing service in Malaysia collaborated with a digital lifestyle brand that aims to grow the e-sports and gaming ecosystem in Malaysia as well as with a line of the prepaid mobile plan in Malaysia to launch an e-sports campus tournament.
The tournament was sponsored by the prepaid plan in its initiative to support and empower e-sports among youths. Several brands such as have also joined the cause in becoming sponsorship partners.
The tournament featured three different popular games and was held 8 March to 28 April 2019. Besides, the tournament has been taking place in institutions of higher education such as Universiti Teknologi Petronas, UiTM Alor Gajah, and Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
The tournament aimed to engage the youth and Malaysian population with e-sports. The e-sports tournament applies learning opportunities for visitors through its learning booths and talk forums or sharing sessions with players from the gaming industry.
Lifestyle elements are also applied such as food trucks, dance fitness and lucky draws exclusively for new and old members of the prepaid plan.
Making Malaysia a digital entertainment hub
Another report notes that the days when playing Counter-Strike in a cybercafé was considered a pure waste of time are long gone. Today, a group of gamers are raking in millions of dollars just by playing in competitive show matches.
The billion-dollar global eSports (electronic sports) industry is also attracting a growing number of investors. The industry generated annual revenue of US$1 billion for the first time in 2019 and this is expected to reach US$1.5 billion this year.
This comes as no surprise as millennials are the drivers of the experiential trend. The report points out that young people in developing markets have embraced new technology with smartphone ownership leaping ahead of internet penetration given its flexibility.
One expert noted that the eSports industry has grown and gained media attention over the last few years in the US and Europe. Asia will likely continue to be the driving force of the growth and popularity of eSports, with China leading the way.
Malaysia too has seen growing interest in eSports. The government announced an allocation of RM10 million under Budget 2019 and a further allocation of RM20 million under Budget 2020 to develop the local eSports industry.
In November 2019, the Youth and Sports Minister unveiled the Strategic Plan for eSports Development 2020-2025. The blueprint is aimed at turning Malaysia into an eSports hub in Southeast Asia.
The highlights of the blueprint are to introduce athlete welfare, address gaming addictions and stigma, have regional conferences and summits, establish a National eSports League, increase the participation of women in eSports and create licensed training centres.
Malaysia already has several eSports athletes who have made their mark on the industry by winning regional and global competitions.
