For the Love of the Gaming Community
With Amar Agus Din, it was a simple matter of being passionate in event organisation and being an avid gamer. The execution was not such a simple affair, but after having proposals rejected multiple times, and with some experience organising gaming tournaments and events back in his university days, Game On was finally born.
Established in August 2016, Amar (who is also a member of the local gaming association ‘Bruplay’ – the host of the first gaming event in Brunei way back before it was even known as ‘Esports’) and his team has led Game On to become the leading Esports company in Brunei, focusing on console and mobile gaming.
And if we even have to explain what Esports is to you, then you have not been keeping up with the news. What was once friendly competition between friends in a living-room has now become a multi-million dollar industry with players from all over the world competing in an arena to be, at its most basic, the best in a certain video game. The reality is anything but basic. In 2019, the Esports industry made USD1 billion dollars, and is expected to almost double that in 2022.
Now how does a small country like Brunei factor into this behemoth industry that only aims to get bigger, provide more jobs, open up different avenues of education, and stand to make truly talented gamers superstars with serious money? For Game On, it’s been by taking slow but steady steps.
“Since Game On’s establishment, we have been providing a platform for gamers by hosting gaming events on a small to national level. By doing this, we identify who are the top contenders within the gaming community,” Amar explains.
“We are constantly looking for local and international collaborations, and our latest breakthrough happened in 2019 when Riot Games came to Brunei for the first time and invited Game On to host national qualifiers for Hyperplay.”
They also collaborated with partners in Malaysia, sending two local gamers to represent Brunei to compete in Kuala Lumpur against 16 other countries. When collaborations aren’t in the cards, they sponsor Esports teams to compete outside of Brunei. Earlier this year, they sponsored a PUBGM team to compete in Sarawak, and the team won the tournament.
Game On continues to spread its reach across the nation, soon providing gaming assets to an educational institution for a gaming club. The team intends to assist more gaming clubs from various institutions to elevate their clubs. Providing these gaming stations would encourage more club participations and promote healthy competition, in the hopes that these young talents will one day compete internationally for Brunei.
Lack of young competitors hasn’t been too much of a hurdle for Game On, with attendance steadily increasing in their gaming tournaments, and parents supporting their children in attending and competing in the events (their youngest tournament player was a whopping seven years of age).
Ideally, their campaign to champion the Esports community in Brunei is to put the sultanate on the worldwide gaming map, but the team of Game On are nothing if not realistic. At this stage, they’re just looking to maintain the momentum for the local gaming communities.
“Esports is still at its infancy in Brunei, and with more companies supporting our cause, it can be a revenue and income source for some. Because gaming isn’t just limited to playing and competing in tournaments; there are other online platforms that the players can tap into, that they can hopefully monetise from.”
Lofty ambitions and goals aside, Game On upholds one core value since its inception: that they’re doing this for the good of the community.
“Our tournament is about more than just winning,” Amar explains. “Our tournaments invite everyone over for some relaxed free play. We segregate casual and competitive gaming areas for our events and host exhibition matches with the public against our players. It’s about offering unique opportunities to meet with people from different walks of life who share the same passion: Gaming.”
Game On continues on with the third edition of the Brunei E-sports Tournament (BES+) to be held from 7-8 December 2019. This is the largest gaming event in Brunei, bringing together the best of the best as players and fans gather to honour the competitive spirit to determine a champion. The theme for this year’s tournament is ‘into the future’ and will be showcasing retro consoles, current generation gaming and Virtual Reality (VR).
Soon they will also be introducing a league system for all games where each player can check their stats, rankings and future tournaments all under one platform.
Email the team at gameonbms@gmail.com for inquiries, and keep yourself updated with gaming news from Game On by following them on:
FB: @GAMEONBMS Instagram: @gameon.bn Twitch: gameonbn Website: www.projectgaming.asia