RELATIVELY new on the sports scene, esports has been sweeping across the globe at a truly remarkable pace.
But how does it fare locally? What is the current state of the esports industry in Malaysia? Where is it headed?
What can we do to boost its surge in popularity and at the same time weed out talents that can bear the Malaysian flag and compete on the international stage.
The Vibes recently sat down with esports commentator and team owner Andrew Cheong, or better known in the scene as 'Sir Cloud', to hear what he has to say about the growing industry.
Starting in esports back in 2001, Andrew said back then it was just known as “people going to a cybercafé and just playing.”
But now, it has evolved into a multimillion-dollar industry that has major leagues and tournaments happening around the world.
Andrew says the Malaysian esports sector is still relatively small compared to our neighbours in Indonesia and the Philippines, but we do have the necessary qualities to excel on the world stage.
He says this is evident after Malaysia won three gold medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games earlier this year, while we brought home three bronze medals at the Hanoi SEA Games in 2021.
Andrew also says esports should not just be labelled as another sporting category, but to be classified alongside sports as different online games resemble different sporting events.
“A lot more understanding needs to go into esports, it is not just people sitting around playing games, there is much more than that,” Andrew noted. – The Vibes, December 29, 2022
