BUKIT JALIL — Can competitive gaming be considered a sport? Malaysia says ‘Yes’ with a RM10 million allocation for e-sports during the national budget announcement.

Malaysian gamers took part at the recent Asian Games in Jakarta where e-sports was an exhibition sport where the winners did not add to the overall medal tally. Clash Royale, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), Arena of Valor and League of Legends (LOL) were played with traditional powerhouses China dominating with two gold. South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Indonesia won one.

Sports minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman is e-sports biggest fan and has repeatedly said he wants Malaysia to be the hub for gaming in the region.

Hence the announcement of the budget may come a as a surprise. For many however the benefits could be large.

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President of eSports (ESM) Malaysia — the governing body for e-sports — Datuk Latt Shariman when contacted said gaming has grown from three to four tournaments a year to at least one every month. 

He thanks Saddiq for his efforts to boost the sports profile and making the government consider them as legitimate sportspeople.

“When we started years ago no one knew about us but now we’ve put a positive perspective for gamers with this grant,” Shariman told Malay Mail.

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“We were one of the first countries in the world where government recognised the sport but were never given a grant. YB Saddiq being a gamer helped us a lot.

“More than half of Malaysia are gamer’s and the sport has a great following in the world. In fact their advertising revenue can be more than football which makes it enticing for sponsors as you’ve got a lot of eye balls on the television set watching the games live.”

According to Latt, Malaysians have a good Dota2, League of Legends (LOL) and Fifa players. While their Counter Strike (CS), Hearthstone and Mobile Legends team are up and comers.

“Hearthstone stands a good chance to be included in 2024 but for Malaysia were now good at Fifa, Dota and League of Legends (LOL),” Shariman explained.

“Our big projects to get our own stadium but that’s a long way to go. It’s obvious RM10 million isn’t enough for the stadium but at least it’s a start.”

With gaming set to be a medal sport at the 2024 Olympics in France, Latt said the current crop of top players won’t be at that Olympics but there will be new players unearthed and the target is to find potential players from 2020 onwards.

On October 28 of last year, during the International Olympic Council (IOC) summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, e-sports was declared as a legit sports because the gamer’s involved prepare and train with an intensity which may be comparable to athletes in traditional sport.