Malaysia to set up the first e-sports hub in Southeast Asia

By Digital News Asia September 27, 2018

This first integrated e-sports hub in SEA is owned by Agri Mind
The e-sports centre will be spearheaded by entrepreneur Adib Khalid of Tune Studios

(From left) Mogu co-founder Matthew Tate; Tune Studios CEO Adib Khalid; Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia Syed Saddiq; Agri Mind chairman Calvin Lau; and Mogu co-founder & CEO William Lau

THE World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) SEA Malaysia National Final held at Quill City Mall has concluded after three days of intense playoffs, with the closing ceremony officiated by Youth and Sports Minister, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

The WESG SEA Malaysia Final kicked off on Sept 21 and saw the best of over 200 participants from five different major titles, namely Dota 2, Counter-strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, Starcraft II and Vain Glory.

The champions will be flying the Malaysian flag at the Southeast Asia Regional Qualifiers, where they will compete for a chunk of a US$150,000 prize pool and bragging rights of being the best in the region.

WESG is an international e-sports championship tournament, originally organised by Alisports and based in China. Started in 2016, it builds on the philosophy of allowing players to play in a competition where they would feel a sense of pride in representing their country while competing in the game they love.

The minister discussed his vision during the closing ceremony of the WESG Malaysia Nationals Final by elaborating on his previously stated intention of creating a strong e-sports infrastructure to promote Malaysia as the e-sports leader for the region.

During his speech, he said that they intended to push forward a project akin to an “Olympic village for e-sports”, which would include facilities for competitions, education, player and crew accommodation, as well as production and events.

As e-sports continues to gain in popularity, the minister feels that the government can and should play a vital role to ensure a sustainable and healthy ecosystem.

This first integrated e-sports hub in SEA is owned by Agri Mind (who are the main organisers of WESG SEA), is fully endorsed by the Youth and Sports Ministry, and will be named AirAsia E-sports Center after regional airline AirAsia, who is a key sponsor of the project.

Combining the entire e-sports ecosystem under one roof, this hub will be located in Klang, spearheaded by entrepreneur Adib Khalid (of Tune Studios).

Chairman of Agri Mind, Calvin Lau said, “We see so much potential amongst the grassroots in this region, not just in terms of player and team growth, but also the corresponding ancillary industries, and we want to create a model that taps into that – working closely with the relevant government bodies to develop the entire e-sports industry throughout Southeast Asia, starting from the youth.”