PUTRAJAYA, March 24 — Holding more e-sports championships in Malaysia can help nurture talent and hone the skills of new players, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said.
The organisation of e-sports championships is capable of turning Malaysia into an e-sports development hub in the region, he added.
He said e-sports have become a global phenomenon in line with the latest development in technology and communications, besides being the only sport unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic that swept across the world more than a year ago.
"This industry will develop rapidly, with 20.1 million players spending almost US$673 million (RM2.774 billion) on e-sports games in 2019. Malaysia also ranked 21st globally in the industry market that year.
"The industry is projected to increase to US$1.6 billion in 2023. The e-sports market is a progressive industry and will provide strong and healthy competition on the global market,” he said during the launch of the 2021 Malaysia E-sports Series (MES) Championship here yesterday.
Reezal Merican said that since youths are the main beneficiaries of local e-sports championships, the ministry wants to play a more proactive role to develop and expand the e-sports ecosystem in a more inclusive and positive direction.
Meanwhile, THQ Esports Club founder and owner Aimanhaq Zaharudin, who is also MES co-organiser, said that e-sports was fast developing as a lucrative industry for those involved.
"As a reference, the e-sports team from the United States known as Ninja could rake in as much as US$20 million annually, equivalent to RM83 million, while local athletes don’t do badly either, with Soloz earning over US$1.1 million (RM4.53 million),” he said.
He added that the organisers have received over 2,000 participants who are vying for cash prizes worth RM100,000.
The championship, jointly organised by THQ Esports Club and My Events International, offers prizes of RM20,000 for the FIFA2021 tournament, and RM40,000 each for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) tournaments.
— Bernama
