Source: SCOGA. From left: Matthias Beyer, Partnerships Lead, Southeast Asia at Twitch, Dennis Ooi, Honorary Secretary of (Singapore) Cybersports & Online Gaming Association (SCOGA), Kelvin Tan, President and Co-Founder of SCOGA, Nicholas Khoo, Chairman and Co-Founder of SCOGA, Raiford Cockfield III, Director of APAC Partnerships at Twitch, and Dr Charles Ling, COO, Informatics Education.
As esports’ popularity explodes globally, the (Singapore) Cybersports & Online Gaming Association (SCOGA) has established new partnerships to cultivate Singapore’s esports landscape. The goal is to identify and develop promising gamers, mirroring the training of professional athletes, while creating more local career opportunities. Esports, unlike casual gaming, has competitive and broadcasting components, with players competing for cash prizes and live-streaming their gameplay to a global audience. This gameplay itself presents monetization opportunities.
Khoo (left) and Dr Ling (right) signing the MoU with David Chua, CEO of the National Youth Council in the background as a witness.
One of these collaborations is with Informatics Academy to establish an Esports Academy. Informatics, a frontrunner in IT education, recognizes the potential of the esports industry and believes that strategic resource allocation and management can position Singapore to reap significant benefits.
Kelvin Tan, President and Co-founder of SCOGA, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, states: “Our Esports Academy leverages competitive video games to cultivate skills like leadership, teamwork, and communication. We strive to equip individuals for future careers and empower them to pursue their aspirations. Recently, one of our academy trainees, Justin Bersamin, attracted over 4,000 views per streaming session. Daryl Koh, known as iceiceice, the top-earning Singaporean esports player, has earned over US$1 million in prize money.*”
The Esports Academy, supported by the National Youth Council, aims to create a career pathway for passionate Singaporean gamers. It plans to train over 2,000 youths in various esports disciplines, peak performance techniques, and soft skills, engaging more than 50,000 youths initially through gaming festivals, events, and academy programs.
Dr. Charles Ling, Chief Operating Officer of Informatics Education, emphasizes Informatics’ commitment to partnering with SCOGA to nurture gamers while ensuring their academic progress remains a priority. “We offer gaming and animation tertiary education up to the bachelor’s degree level,” he explains. “While youths are honing their skills to become professional gamers, there’s an opportunity to explore the other side—game development.”
SCOGA, Informatics, and Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers and creators, highlight that, similar to traditional sports, the esports industry extends beyond the players. Aspiring professionals can explore careers as sportscasters, presenters, trainers, coaches, coders, or game designers.
Twitch, boasting nearly 10 million daily visitors globally, with each visitor averaging 106 minutes of daily viewing, will collaborate with SCOGA. Together, they will develop a talent development program to accelerate trainees’ journeys to becoming Twitch Partners. This partnership empowers individuals to monetize their content by receiving a share of the revenue generated from their channel broadcasts. Paid channel subscriptions provide Partners with an additional revenue stream.
Twitch will also generate opportunities for program graduates on its platform and offer support for the upcoming National Esports League, scheduled to launch in the coming weeks. Raiford Cockfield III, Director of APAC Partnerships at Twitch, shares, “We aim to bolster the region by investing in Singapore’s esports scene and empowering local content creators to generate income through our platform. Despite the competitive landscape, we recognize the immense potential within the local community and are enthusiastic about collaborating with dedicated local partners.”
Cockfield III projects that esports could become a US$1 billion industry in the next few years, with an estimated 200 million viewers tuning in to watch competitions. According to Twitch, the market opportunity in China was valued at US$82 million in 2016 and is projected to reach US$112 million by 2019. In Korea, the estimated value is US$7.4 million by 2019, up from US$8.2 million in 2016.
“Twitch plays a crucial role in the transition from traditional media to online streaming platforms,” he states. “Seventy-two percent of esports enthusiasts believe Twitch is essential to esports. We are already a significant part of that community.”
Cockfield III believes Singapore possesses the ideal infrastructure to become a regional leader in esports. “Singapore’s network is already optimized for esports and Twitch. We have servers here, we’ve invested here, and we believe it’s the Southeast Asian hub,” he says. “Singapore is a fertile ground for future program development.”
He emphasizes that partnering with SCOGA is the most effective approach to engaging with the local community. “We are fully committed to the growth of the community, and we believe this is the optimal location to achieve that, and we are ready to compete,” he adds.
Cockfield III reveals Twitch’s plans to bring in international experts to provide training to Singaporean Twitch users, covering areas such as utilizing support tools effectively and leveraging social media.
Nicholas Khoo, Chairman and Co-Founder of SCOGA, shares that since its establishment in 2008, SCOGA has hosted over 2 million gamers. The organization continues to witness substantial interest, with over 350 youths trained to date at the already soft-launched Esports Academy.
SCOGA will also collaborate with the NUS EI Lab and Emosis to experiment with a brainwave-sensing headband that can detect and track users’ anxiety levels in real-time. Emosis, a startup specializing in technology-driven wellness and rehabilitation products, is developing a wireless anxiety management headband. This headband, designed for both general consumers and professional athletes, aims to enhance competitive performance through effective anxiety management.
Assistant Professor Raye Yeow, Head of EI Lab, explains that enabling professional gamers to monitor their anxiety levels in real-time will enhance their self-awareness during gameplay. “This is anticipated to improve their performance, especially in response to stressful in-game situations,” he says.
Benjamin Pommeraud, GM - Singapore & Malaysia at Riot Games, the developer of the immensely popular League of Legends, commends the initiative: “It’s inspiring to see SCOGA and the National Youth Council acknowledge the global impact of esports and support the development of talented gamers in Singapore through a structured training program.”
SCOGA is also engaged in discussions with the Spanish football club Valencia Club de Fútbol (VCF) to tap into their expertise in managing a professional sports organization and youth academy. VCF already has ties to Singapore through Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, who holds a controlling stake in the club. VCF also established partnerships with a Singaporean football club last year.
VCF is no stranger to esports, being the first club in Spain’s top football division to have a dedicated esports section participating in various popular games. The collaboration will also facilitate visits for Singaporean gamers to VCF’s facilities and provide opportunities to interact with VCF staff involved in football training and esports programs.
A successful esports player can earn a seven-figure income (in US dollars) on Twitch. Currently, the top 100 highest-earning esports players include individuals from Pakistan (ranked 3rd), Australia, China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
_*Editor’s note: Singaporean player iceiceice holds the 24th position globally in terms of earnings, demonstrating his significant achievements. According to the same source, the all-time highest earner has amassed over US$2.7 million. These figures represent cumulative earnings over three years (2014 to 2016) and not annual figures, potentially translating to a less substantial monthly income. Among the top 100 Singaporean esports earners, the 100th-ranked player earned under US$3,000—a respectable amount, but significantly lower than US$1 million. However, these figures exclude potential six-figure monthly base salaries.
Nevertheless, the future of esports appears bright, and initiatives aimed at stimulating the market’s growth could lead to significantly higher earning potential for esports professionals. Deloitte Global predicts that esports will generate US$500 million in global revenue in 2016, reflecting a 25% increase from approximately US$400 million in 2015. The audience, comprising regular and occasional viewers, is estimated to reach nearly 150 million people.
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Esports Academy will officially commence classes in May. Khoo from SCOGA notes that the association is currently developing a financially sustainable model. As of now, the fees are below S$50 for up to eight hours of training.
The inaugural national league is scheduled to take place between May and July.
Read the Deloitte Global forecast for esports
Check out_ TechTrade Asia_’s blog post on esports in Malaysia