Boosting the e-sports industry
AirAsia, Alisports and Agri Mind collaborate to make Malaysia big in e-sports, writes Aiman Maulana
AIRASIA has come on board as the official airline partner of the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), one of the biggest global eSports championship tournaments today. This major partnership, which also involves Alibaba’s sports branch Alisports and Agri Mind, will see flights and cash prizes being provided for the WESG e-sports tournament.
The partnership is not only aimed at making the international tournament better, but could also elevate the e-sports industry in Malaysia.
e-sports has seen a huge growth in Malaysia but if we ever want to be on par with international giants, we still have some way to go.
Allan Phang, Air Asia’s Allstars Engagement and Internal Branding, said the partnership can help Malaysia’s e-sports industry in a number of key areas.
The most obvious benefit here is exposure. As WESG is widely known in the e-sports circle worldwide, positioning AirAsia as the official airline partner will not only show the world that efforts are being made in Malaysia to connect with the best in the world but also show that Malaysians can successfully stand on the same stage as them.
The second benefit is that it strengthens the e-sports community in Malaysia.
“Our Allstars team took a dive into e-sports as a passion project. We’ve already done activities for other sports so why not give e-sports a try? From June 2017, we started engaging with e-sports communities, sponsored Team Mineski in January this year and bought majority shares for Team Saiyan (Mobile Legends eSports team) in March. This partnership with Alisport for WESG will be our next step to give value back to the community,” said Phang.
As they have already dabbled in e-sports since last year, making a move of this scale will have the local e-sports community rallying around it while also attracting potential new competitive gamers to give it a try.
For a community to flourish, there must be a reason for not only existing people to stay but also for new people to join and Phang believes that their initiative, which includes making e-sports accessible for everyone even at the international level will give value back to the community.
Having the support of large brands such as AirAsia for major tournaments is great but all these benefits are things that people can see in relatively short-term.
AirAsia has one long-term goal in mind assuming all of its e-sports initiatives proceed smoothly enough; to attract other businesses in Malaysia to join the e-sports bandwagon.
“We want to grow the next generation of athletes and we would like to help out wherever we can. We’re hoping that our actions and its subsequent results will educate and convince others to not miss out on this business opportunity with eSports. Some senior managers may not understand this as they don’t come from the same generation as the millennials and thus have a different mindset but perhaps if a big brand like us can produce results, it can serve as an eyeopener for them,” said Phang.
That is not the only long-term goal of this partnership, however, as Agri Mind’s chairman Calvin Low pointed out that there is a need to positively change people’s perception of gaming and e-sports in Malaysia if we want to see the industry soar to even greater heights.
“Many people in Malaysia, especially the older generation, may view gaming in a negative light. With significant partnerships like this, we want to show that gaming isn’t a waste of time and people can actually make a career out of it. The key here is to properly balance it with their daily lives,” said Low.
In the past, gaming was seen as a pastime activity and many were playing games for an unhealthy amount of time, giving it a bad image. While the millennials may see it differently, the older generation may still feel the same way, making it clear that there is a need to educate people from all walks of life on this. What better way to teach people than through action?
One thing’s for sure, the e-sports scene in Malaysia is continuing its momentum in growth and there are efforts currently being made to take it to the next level. For the time being, our local e-sports industry seems to be in good hands and hopefully, we will soon be able to see our beloved country stand on par with the international giants of e-sports.