Post-Khairy, Selangor gets hip with e-sports tourney
Jake CarterPublished: Dec 2, 2014 3:26 AM | Updated: Dec 2, 2014 3:44 AM
After the buzz about Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's "cool factor" for publicly acknowledging the e-sports community, the Selangor government now appears to be joining in the fray.
After the buzz about Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's "cool factor" for publicly acknowledging the e-sports community, the Selangor government now appears to be joining in the fray.
Newly-minted state exco in charge of youth and sports Amirudin Shari last week announced the Selangor Cyber Games (SCG) which will be held at Encorp Strand Mall, Kota Damansara on Dec 13 to 14.
"SCG is organised by the state government as acknowledgement and support to e-Sports which has a large following and has become among the largest creative industry," he said.
The growing industry, which now sees international tournaments with multi-million dollar prize money, has increasingly captured mainstream attention including governments.
According to the Selangor government's working paper on the event, it is geared to reach out to a community dominated by youths, a significant voter demography in state.
The working paper added the event aims to shed the negative perception to e-sports which has become a means of generating income.
The Selangor government is investing a total of RM70,000 for its SCG tournament and is expected to bring together some 450 gamers.
In his speech, Amirudin (left) acknowledged that e-Sports was a possible career option for some youths.
“The government hopes by organising this programme it promotes the growth of e-Sports in the state and produces a young generation that is active and competitive," he said.
Among the games that will be featured in the tournament include Dota 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive,League of Legends, FIFA 15 with a cash prize pool of RM30,000.
Last year, Khairy raised eyebrows when he publicly congratulated on Twitter Malaysia's Orange Esports team which bagged US$287,000 after coming in third place in The International 2013 Dota 2 Championship.
Khairy's message attracted positive response from youths on Twitter, prompting the minister to later set up a meeting with the team to learn about the industry.
Earlier this year, the minister also assisted the Arrow Gaming team in obtaining their visa to participate in The International 2014 Dota 2 Championship in Seattle, US.
The championship's prize pool, which was US$2.8 million last year, grew almost four fold to US$10.9 million this year.
Dota 2 is a five-versus-five competitive strategy game that is currently played by about 6.4 million people worldwide.
Newly-minted state exco in charge of youth and sports Amirudin Shari last week announced the Selangor Cyber Games (SCG) which will be held at Encorp Strand Mall, Kota Damansara on Dec 13 to 14.
"SCG is organised by the state government as acknowledgement and support to e-Sports which has a large following and has become among the largest creative industry," he said.
The growing industry, which now sees international tournaments with multi-million dollar prize money, has increasingly captured mainstream attention including governments.
According to the Selangor government's working paper on the event, it is geared to reach out to a community dominated by youths, a significant voter demography in state.
The working paper added the event aims to shed the negative perception to e-sports which has become a means of generating income.
The Selangor government is investing a total of RM70,000 for its SCG tournament and is expected to bring together some 450 gamers.
In his speech, Amirudin (left) acknowledged that e-Sports was a possible career option for some youths.“The government hopes by organising this programme it promotes the growth of e-Sports in the state and produces a young generation that is active and competitive," he said.
Among the games that will be featured in the tournament include Dota 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive,League of Legends, FIFA 15 with a cash prize pool of RM30,000.
Last year, Khairy raised eyebrows when he publicly congratulated on Twitter Malaysia's Orange Esports team which bagged US$287,000 after coming in third place in The International 2013 Dota 2 Championship.
Khairy's message attracted positive response from youths on Twitter, prompting the minister to later set up a meeting with the team to learn about the industry.
Earlier this year, the minister also assisted the Arrow Gaming team in obtaining their visa to participate in The International 2014 Dota 2 Championship in Seattle, US.
The championship's prize pool, which was US$2.8 million last year, grew almost four fold to US$10.9 million this year.
Dota 2 is a five-versus-five competitive strategy game that is currently played by about 6.4 million people worldwide.
View Comments0