GENTING HIGHLANDS, Jan 21 — In the run-up to Chinese New Year, Resorts World Genting is taking the something-for-everyone promise very seriously with two “surprises” unveiled yesterday for both millenials and families.
For the second consecutive time, the ESL One professional e-sports tournament will be held at Genting Highlands.
Running from January 23 to 28, the tournament will see 16 top Defence of the Ancients (Dota) 2 teams compete with each other for a prize pool of US$400,000 (RM1.57 million)
“We are proud to be the venue sponsor for the second year running, following ESL One Genting’s huge success among excited young millenials last year,” said Resorts World Genting vice-president of Promotions and Entertainment Kevin Tann at the press conference.
Apart from the prize money, there are 400 coveted Qualifying Points up for grabs which will determine the eight direct invites to The International 2018 e-sports tournament.
“This is a complex and fast-changing universe we are eager to be a part of, as one-fifth of the world is said to actively play video games for an average of an hour a day,” said Tann.
ESL Asia chief operating officer Frank Sliwka said last year’s installment showed how enthusiastic Malaysian Dota 2 fans are.
“The passion we witnessed from the community on-site and the huge support from our partners at Resorts World Genting meant we already knew it would not be our last event here,” he said.
Sliwka said last year’s ESL One tournament was attended by over 5,000 fans in the course of three main event days, which also saw over 11.4 million viewers consuming around 4.5 million hours of content online.
Team Digital Chaos eventually took home the trophy and US$125,000 (RM492,312) prize after defeating fellow finalist team Newbee.
Meanwhile, the SkyAvenue Mall saw the launch of the SkySymphony Theatre of Lights and Sounds to usher in the Chinese New Year of the Dog.
Featuring LED screens covering four storeys, SkySymphony’s state-of-the-art installment features 1,001 winch balls moving in a synchronised fashion to form different shapes.
Tann said the installation depicts the Chinese legend of the Great Race, where 12 animals raced one another to become part of the Chinese zodiac.
“We take pride in showcasing this once a year performance,” he said.
Tann also added that SkySymphony, which cost over RM30 million, would be a permanent fixture at SkyAvenue even after the Chinese New Year show runs its course from January 20 to March 4.
Throughout the rest of the festive season, Resorts World Genting will also showcase several other performances from February 14 to March 4, including the Kwong Ngai lion dance show and the Dog Dance show with nine dog mascots of different breeds.
