PETALING JAYA: The e-gaming industry in Malaysia has grown over the last decade, and those wishing to make a career of it will be able to give the matter serious consideration.
Passion Republic Games founder Ng Aik Sern said the industry in Malaysia has had a consistent growth of 25% annually in the last few years.
“We’ve seen many international e-gaming companies such as Bandai Namco Studios Inc setting up operations in Malaysia. This has drawn much attention to the e-gaming community,” said the 41-year-old from Puchong.
Bandai Namco is a Japanese video game developer established in 2012. It creates video games for home consoles, handheld systems, mobile devices and arcade hardware. In 2016, it established its Malaysian subsidiary as “a hub for visual art production in the region and to build a global art production organisation”.
Ng said public reaction to e-gaming is very encouraging with local competitions being eagerly awaited by enthusiasts.
“There is a lot more opportunities opening up compared with a decade ago.
“Ten years ago, parents discouraged their children from spending too much time to make e-gaming a career. But as we evolve, parents are now more accepting and understanding of what it takes for someone to be in the industry,” he said.
Local professional Apex Legends gamer Karl Cheng, 25, said the e-gaming industry in Malaysia is still not up to par compared with other countries.
The company behind Apex Legends explains that it is a “free-to-play, hero shooter game, where legendary competitors battle for glory, fame and fortune”.
“The local industry does not have the budget to host all platforms for competitive games such as Apex Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This has to change because there is more potential for someone to become recognised in the scene internationally, through personal computer (PC) games, as most international tournaments cater more to it (PC games).”
Petaling Jaya-based Cheng is also sceptical that e-gaming can be a full-time career in Malaysia.
He said the current state of the local e-gaming industry is not viable for professional e-gamers to make a living because it is not as easy as it looks.
“One would have to be mentally focused when making a decision to become a professional.
“If a player wants to be a professional, he needs to sacrifice sleep as he has to follow tournament schedules in other regions and time zones to be able to climb up the leaderboards. Maintaining a certain position also takes time.
“On average, most professional players play up to eight to 12 hours a day just to keep the momentum going,” he said, adding that perseverance is really important when competing in tournaments because one must be able to handle failures to become a professional e-gamer.
