Electronic Sports in Malaysia: as slow as our Internet connection

Another piece from work. This time I decided to just leave all the links in and remove the images; it is so much easier for me to just copy and paste the HTML code, but because Blogger keeps bugging out on the images and I can't be bothered to put them in a second time, they're out. They don't belong here in my fortress of text anyway. With that out of the way, here it is.

So e-sports is finally taking off in Malaysia.

With the launch of e-Sports Malaysia in late January, as well as the Selangor Cyber Games held in mid-December last year, it would seem that Malaysia as a whole is finally taking e-sports seriously. The latter being the first tourney event co-organized by a state government, and the former a registered body under the Sports Commission of Malaysia and the governing body of e-sports in the country. It would seem that, finally, pro gamers will be officially recognized as athletes, and be given the sort of respect and treatment befitting of our country’s representatives.

Now that we have a governing organization for e-sports that is registered under the Sports Commission, maybe we can finally kill the perception that games are a waste of life, and that gamers are wasting their lives away with a pointless pastime. Kids will finally be scolded for not turning on their PlayStations. Okay, maybe that’s being too optimistic, but still, the thought of the day where we will finally stop getting the condescending looks from the Gen X folks for a hobby drawing close is an exciting one. With that said, I couldn’t help but wonder: would our gaming scene have been better if this happened sooner?

The gaming scene is a global one. It may have started in South Korea, but as it spreads throughout the world, it became a movement on its own that waits for no one. To be a part of it, competitive gamers have to keep up with it, even if their local movement is trailing behind. While this may not be generally true for every competitive title, it quite certainly is for Dota 2 players. Arrow Gaming, the Malaysian team that was caught in a match-fixing scandal probably wouldn’t have gotten involved in it if eSM existed sooner. I think so for two reasons: first, is the fact that the players are underpaid, or so claim the two players “Lance” and “DDZ” at least. The second is the subpar treatment Arrow gamers are getting from their team management.

eSM has said that one of their Key Strategic Areas is the welfare of gamers, and had they existed sooner, perhaps the welfare of Arrow’s players would’ve been better taken care of, and the whole incident would've never happened. I should emphasize the word ‘perhaps’ because, as with anything else, nothing can be said for certain. But at least the existence of an e-sports governing body will reduce the likelihood of it occurring.

Back to the global e-sports movement. In an interview with Mushi during the Selangor Cyber Games in December last year, he has mentioned that he definitely wouldn’t be remaining in Malaysia as a professional gamer. His reason behind the decision is that overseas, the potential for progress as a professional gamer is much greater, and that the gaming scene locally just isn’t happening enough. Government support may be a good start, but it takes everyone’s involvement to help elevate the movement here.

This isn’t directly related to eSM per se, but when you think about it, there is an important relationship to be found. Going against the tide that is the stigmatization of video gamers is an immense undertaking. Close to impossible, even, especially when done as individuals or sparse groups of people. With the involvement of a governing body registered under the Sports Commission, however, things couldn’t be easier. It gives a banner for all gamers to unite under, and there is now a framework for people to follow in debunking the myth of a life wasted by playing video games. It is easier to withstand the unstoppable force that is the Gen X perception of video games when we have an immovable object to provide shelter, and eSM is that object we so desperately need.

But because eSM came to being now instead of earlier, local talent like Mushi and ChuaN – among many, many others – are playing for teams in China instead of our local teams. Now, we face the problem that is the gaming world’s equivalent of brain drain. As I mentioned, the gaming scene is like any other: a movement that waits for no one. Mushi and others like him have managed to keep up with the movement; to keep up with the times, as the rest of the country trails behind them. Now that we are picking up the pace, can we do so fast enough to catch up our players of international-level talent, so that they will represent a team that carries our flag? Can we, the local community, do enough to catch up to them, and convince them to play for Malaysia, now that we have the eSM to rally behind?

As a fellow gamer, I was never good enough to play many of the competitive titles on those levels. The only games I was good enough at to be competitive at are the Tekken series, excluding the -Tag games, which seems to be a niche title here. As such, I have given up my hopes of making a living out of it. For me, the eSM was too little, too late; the promises of an e-Sports Academy and the countering of a deeply rooted social stigma that the eSM provides would’ve been an option for me, if I hadn’t already finished my tertiary studies and found myself a job writing this rant. But for the younger gamers whose future have not been set in cement; for those fresh out of secondary school and SPM, the eSM is the best thing that could ever happen to them. It could’ve been the best thing that could ever happen to me, but thanks to its timing, it is the worst thing to happen to me, as I wallow in rage and envy, watching the younger generation make a living out of their hobby.

And on that bombshell, adieu to y’all.

This originally showed up here.