by: Aqmal Amdan & Wan Indra Syareezan
“I realised I kept beating everyone, so why not give it a go?”, said Muhammad Yazid, 21, a professional E-Sports FIFA player in Singapore.
Before turning into a professional, Yazid was just an ordinary teenager, playing games for fun while displaying his competitive nature.
“I started gaming at 7 years old and I was always a very competitive person. At the age of 12, for a kid, you can win at games and be better than your cousins or friends. But when I was in secondary school, I noticed I really was beating everyone”, he said.
EVERY JOURNEY BEGINS SOMEWHERE: Back in his Millennia Institute days, Yazid (right) would compete in shopping malls and small tournaments for prizes ranging up to $500 at most. (Source: Muhammad Yazid )
“I still remember going for my first competition. Back then, E-Sports was still in its infancy. Regular office chairs, with standard monitors and tables from Ikea but now, monitors are mounted, and gaming chairs are being used. I went to an open category competition and I managed to win first prize and from then on, I kept going for competitions”, Yazid added.
Yazid started off competing in small competitions in shopping malls and to him, that was already overwhelming. But the thirst to be better and win more as a hotblooded child in the scene was always present within him.
Little did he know that he would go on to qualify for the FUT Champions Cup in 2019 and 2020, a major global FIFA competition held by game publisher, EA Sports.
Yazid was ranked 1st in Asia, and 39th in the world. He was also the first ever Singaporean to go for international FIFA events consecutively.
MR. WORLDWIDE: Yazid (right) qualified to compete in the Fifa 20 Global Series Fut Champions Cup in Paris, back in early 2020. (Source: Muhammad Yazid)
“I had a crazy season in FIFA, I had so much support from my family, friends and school and I appreciate them for everything,” said Yazid, while shaking his head, still in disbelief.
Describing it as a big achievement is an understatement, given the difference in altitude between the regional and international competitions.
Ew-Sports?
When conversations about career paths are brought up in Singapore, predictable industries such as accounting, sales, engineering, and many more will always be uttered. The common answer to success has always been “do what you love” but that is not an answer many Singaporeans would give. We can attribute this to Singaporeans' mentality to what they perceive as a stable career.
As a result, E-Sports became one of the industries that are overlooked due to the negative stigmas that surround it.
E-Sports is the world of competitive gaming. Competitors from different teams get head-to-head with each other in popular games such as FIFA, Call of Duty and Fortnite, in hopes to win a prize pool of up to a few million dollars.
According to a survey done by United States-based content delivery network service provider, Limelight Networks, has shown that Singapore gamers spend 7.44 hours on average each week playing video games, compared with South Koreans (6.69 hours) and the Japanese (6.88 hours). Yet despite placing higher in Asia, South Korea and Japan provide way more support for the Esports industry as compared to Singapore.
With the growth in audience in the Esports industry globally, the media coverage and the attention given in Singapore needs to be addressed.
Different Ballgame
The E-sports scenes in regions like Europe and the Americas are a different beast, in comparison to Singapore. The coverage expands from Twitch to well renowned sports channels such as SkySports. It is an area Singapore lacks in.
According to research firm Newzoo, only 21% of the urban online population watches E-Sports.
“Regionally, prize pools are regularly USD$10,000 to USD$20,000. But on the international stage, it can become a million-dollar prize pool. The jump from regionals to international stages is insane.”
With the big difference of prize pools of international competitions to regionals, we can only wonder how small the prize pools are in our homeland.
THE GRIND NEVER STOPS: Khevind (Left) and Yazid competed against each other in a tournament held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Source: Muhammad Yazid)
“We’re definitely way behind, but a few countries are way, way ahead. E-Sports is still a very new, niche concept that most countries are not supportive of. Telling your parents that you play games and can get money for it is definitely not received well, it’s a huge culture shock.”
“But in Europe, the support is insane. You have organisations such as Fnatic and Hashtag United in FIFA, they pay their E-Sports players monthly with huge pays, they get them to produce content, they get sponsorships.”
Yazid is not the only one feeling this way. 19-year old Khevind Awat Ranai, a professional E-Sports FIFA player for Team Flash also shares the same sentiment.
He said, “I think Singapore still sees Esports in a negative way because our culture and social construct has always seen gaming as a "time-wasting" hobby. My parents are generally unsupportive but as long as I keep my grades up, they usually leave me alone about it. However, I do hope this will change in the coming years.”
The big bulk of the picture is that E-Sports is not even perceived as an orthodox sport in Singapore. Yazid’s brother, who happens to be his coach, Muhammad Mujahid, 23, shared,
“Firstly, I feel that E-sports isn’t quite regarded as an actual sport in Singapore. It is still very much seen as a form of leisure, coupled with being a negative habit that stops kids from studying. There is always going to be some stigma.”
He also added, “It is also not helpful that the number of professional players and E-sports organisations is relatively low in Singapore. Players also don’t really market themselves well via social media and all communication channels.”
However, what kept them going, regardless of these hurdles, is the support and love that they get from the people around them. ''Initially, people always laughed it off and ridiculed him. It was hard. But I always knew how good he was. He never gives up and works so hard. And finally, last season he broke through,” said Mujahid.
“One More Task!”
While the professional E-Sports community in Singapore is still small, the overall gaming community is slowly burgeoning. This is thanks to being cooped up at home all day during the circuit breaker period.
On this topic, Yazid said, ''Nowadays with the pandemic and all, a lot of E-Sports competitions are becoming a craze in Singapore.''
However, he still felt that more can be done. “There are online gaming competitions to build bonds in the gaming community, but there is so much that can be done to push it forward”, he added on.
Khevind also gave his opinion on how Singapore could improve the E-Sports scene by saying, “I feel the first thing that can be done is having the government recognise the esports scene in Singapore. That can be a huge backing, it will promote the influx of sponsors and organizations wanting to be involved in esports events in Singapore. Eventually, this will improve the entire esports infrastructure in the country.”
FROM VIRTUAL TO REALITY: Aftermath of a futsal tournament hosted by Scape, in partnership with Pog E-Sports in December 2019 (Source: Pog Esports)
When the government begins to recognise that E-Sports is an industry worth delving into and be given support, that is when we can be assured to anticipate for even greater progress for the professional gaming scene.
The Singapore E-Sports Association’s (SGEA) launched an initiative called #SGPlaysTogether, in hopes to encourage youth to bond online by playing the video games they love.
While efforts made to introduce the realm of competitive E-Sports can be seen, more support is still needed.
“What I hope they do for the gaming scene is what I hope they do for the arts scene, the music scene, all the other industries that Singapore doesn’t really care for. I really hope Singapore starts supporting these scenes financially to motivate people and teach them that it’s safe to pursue these ventures in life,” shared Yazid.
Let’s Get This Game Going
So, what has Singapore done about the E-Sports scene? Has there been any progress in the movement, or are we still where we were 10 years back? Surprisingly enough, the Singaporean government does recognise E-sports as a legitimate industry and has begun supporting its growth. Called Singapore Games Association (SGGA), a new trade body has been established aiming to build a sustainable gaming and E-Sports eco-system as well as give Singapore up to speed against other countries such as Korea or Japan.
While SGGA is developing the gaming sector in Singapore by supporting local game developers, they are not overlooking the E-Sports sector. As a non-profit membership-based association, they are leading multiple efforts to bring Singaporeans into the E-Sports scene, such as providing members with opportunities to network with local and international games and E-sports associations.
PASSION IN ITS PUREST FORM: Pog E-Sports holding a friendly workshop consisting of friendly tournaments to inspire more players to become competitive. (Source: Pog E-Sports)
The E-Sports community here in Singapore is caring and embracing of one another. With associations such as Pog E-Sports, the team that signed Yazid, holding gaming workshops to encourage competition and build a fighting spirit in others, it's clear to see that there is a passion for gaming and E-Sports deep inside the hearts of many young Singaporeans. But so much can only be done by the people, and for this community to gain traction, not only in Singapore, but in international waters as well, it'll take a lot more support from the higher ups to get this game going.
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