Phuket sets up eSports hub
Phuket is taking a significant step forward in
the rapidly progressive world of professional gaming after it was confirmed that an official eSports development centre is being set up on the island.
Leading eSports gaming team NKT are partnering with
The Par Phuket Hotel to estab
lish an eSports development centre which will strive to help
youngsters better understand professional gaming and provide opportunity to develop their skills to the extent that they are able to compete on the world stage.
The announcement was made at a press conference at the The Par Phuket Hotel in Kathu Tuesday last week (Dec
21) attended by President of the Phuket Sports Association
Thammawat Wongchareonyot,
Dumrong Chaisena, Phuket Province Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) Director, Pakin Rueksue, owner of The Par Phuket Hotel, and Jumpon
Tuitan, CEO and founder of NKT.
The centre, to be located at The Par Phuket Hotel, will provide opportunities to Thai youths via an academy-style teaching course that provides an understanding on the industry of eSports and how a potentially lucrative career can be forged. It will also provide the opportunity for parents to learn more about the sport and how it can offer their children a professional career while helping promote Thailand and generating income for the country.
“We are delighted to select
Phuket as the venue for our first pilot project to teach the basics and focus on career development in eSports,” said Mr Jumpon.
“Thailand is beginning to take more notice of the eSports
industry and is increasingly encouraging its youth to become a part of it. It is a sector that can offer a very real career for its participants and that can generate significant income into the country. As the popularity of the sport continues to grow so does the revenue and opportunity attached to it,” he added.
“As such, we are committed to building an eSports learning centre to continue to grow the understanding and reputation of the sport while promoting digital innovation and building a team that is truly capable of competing and
representing Asia in the global
CS:GO (Counter Strike:Global
Offensive) gaming league.”
Mr Jumpon added that he hopes the centre can also go some way to helping educate and change people’s perception
of the sport where its participants are often unfairly tagged
as “game addicts”.
“We want to create a new image more along the lines of businessman and professional athlete,” he said.
“Phuket is our launch venue but we hope to set up similar centres in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in the near future,” he added.
NKT has invested more than B140 million in the devel
opment of its gaming athletes from all over Asia to compete in the world renowned event of CS:GO, one of the most popular games universally. The majority of its athletes are Thai, many of whom hold top-level degrees from major Universities, although it also has members from Indonesia, Mongolia, South Korea and Singapore. The collective NKT team is ranked number 1 in Southeast Asia and sits in the top three in Asia with an impressive win rate of over 80% and win streak of 13 games in a row.
Global eSports revenues are expected to exceed US$1 billion (B33.8bn) this year, according to Newzoo’s 2021 Global eSports & Live Stream
ing Market Report.
The world’s richest profes
sional competitive gamer is 28-year-old Johan Sundstein from Denmark, who to date has earned close to US$7 million
since turning professional
in 2015.
The top-earning Thai player
to date is Anucha Jirawong,
who has netted US$685,188 from his professional gaming career.
Whereas there is widespread criticism that eSports is
not strictly a sport, participants
claim they train to a similarly intense level as traditional athletes and require exemplary
hand-eye coordination, dexterity, teamwork and mental endurance.
There are ongoing calls for eSports to be included in the Olympics but thus far the IOC has rebuffed requests. However, they did lend support this year for the first-ever
“Olympic Virtual Series” in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 games and has intimated that there may be a possibility it is
included in the 2028 Games to be staged in Los Angeles.