Blazing an e-trail

Chong Xin answers ‘call of duty’ over million dollar booty

PETALING JAYA: Money is not everything.

This best describe eSports athlete Khoo Chong Xin’s (pic) decision to forgo a chance to claim a big jackpot but instead opted to take part at the SEA Games.

The Games, to be held in the Philippines from Nov 30-Dec 11, will make history as it will be the first time eSports will be contested as a medal event in a multi-sport competition sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.

It was a demonstration sport at the Indonesia Asian Games in Jakarta last year.

Malaysia will field 23 players to take part in six events – Dota 2, Starcraft II, Arena of Valor, Mobile Legends, Tekken 7 dan Hearthstone.

The 26-year-old Chong Xin, who is known in the gaming fraternity as Ohaiyo, said he does not want to miss out on the sport’s debut at the SEA Games.

“I was supposed to go for the Dota 2 pro circuit qualifier which is at about the same time as the SEA Games. If I qualify, there’s a chance I can win the prize money that can run into millions.

“But I opted for the SEA Games as this is the first time eSports is part of it and I’m not sure if there is another chance in the future.

“With my experience, I think I can contribute a medal. I have been playing for the last six years and my approach is to treat the Games as any professional competitions that I’ve played before,” said Chong Xin, who counts his biggest achievement was when his team, Fnatic, finish fourth in the Dota 2 International, which offered a prize money of RM5.7mil.

The competition will be held in Manila from Dec 5-10. The team are optimistic of winning a medal in each event at the Games.