KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Electronic sports (e-sports) can further boost the tourism sector in the country, said Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman.
He said the Dota 2 (The KL Major) tournament, for example, had attracted the attention of thousands of local and overseas e-sports fans and this showed the immense pulling power of the video game.
“It can be seen that many (fans) are not from Malaysia. This can boost tourism in the country and at the same time, promote Malaysia as well as attract the interest of Asean youths, especially.
“This group (the youths of Asean) is the community that we want to attract so that they will know about Malaysia and will want to visit us many times,” he told reporters after visiting The KL Major exhibition here today.
Syed Saddiq also hinted that e-sports events would continue to be hosted in the country.
“This may be the first time but I don’t think it will be the last. We want to bring more international-level e-sports tournaments to Malaysia because it will not only attract local participation but those from overseas as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking of e-sports development in the country, Syed Saddiq stressed that the government was committed to ensuring e-sports would not be sidelined and continue to focus on several plans that had been drawn up.
He outlined the three main factors that the development plan would focus on as empowering the Malaysian eSports Association, forging strategic alliances with video game companies and creating an e-sports league starting from the grassroots level.
The three-day KL Major marks the first time that an international e-sports competition is being hosted in Malaysia. It offers a total prize money of US$1 million (RM4.1 million). — Bernama
