Shoot your shot: Do you have what it takes?
By: Nadhifa & Yna Zuilan
In 2016, the little red dot nation stood in awe and pride when Singapore won its first Olympic gold medal. Joseph Schooling, who was 21 years old back then, brought home a celebratory victory by setting a new Olympic record in the 100m butterfly swimming category. Since then, the country has continuously kept a close eye on competitions that could elevate Singapore’s name even higher, and one way it has done so is through eSports. Although it might be a very different experience to tune in to.
The colourful lights would flash back and forth in the air-conditioned stadium, the e-athletes are not seen actively moving around making use of their physical strength but their strategic sense with their weapon: a sturdy keyboard and a mouse. The audience watches in anticipation, holding their breaths waiting with eagle eyes to see who would emerge as the winner of the online battle arena. Players’ virtual characters would die off one by one, and with the last few movements and actions, the audience raises in a celebratory uproar, hands are thrown and cheers are heard. Applause reigns through the hall, confetti showering above each attendee and a winner is crowned in the eSports competition.
Preparing for the exciting day: A view of the tournament stage at the Valorant Championship Tournament 2021 in Berlin, Germany (Credits: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
In a speech given by Minister of State (MOS) Alvin Tan at Gamescon Asia 2021, “The exponential growth of the global gaming and eSports industry over the past five years has been remarkable. Southeast Asia, in particular, is one of the world’s fastest-growing gaming and eSports markets. The industry presents many opportunities and a huge potential for growth. In 2020 alone, our local games market grew by 15% from 2019.”
eSports is a world of competitive and organised video gaming. This is where competitors of different teams or leagues face off at games that are popular amongst their community: Valorant, Counter-Strike, League of Legends, Fortnite and many more.
Then entered the 2021 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) held in Berlin, Germany, one of the biggest eSports tournaments to happen this year. Representing Southeast Asia (SEA) is Singapore based eSports organisation, Paper Rex, a team made up of six players from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. With vigorous training and ambition to make their countries proud, the team was able to win numerous Valorant tournaments held locally and regionally that granted them enough circuit points to play for the VCT.
Facing head-on with the other team: Professional Valorant teams Vision Strikers and Paper Rex in Berlin. (Credits: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
How Did eSports Gain Popularity?
Although quite an unconventional way of raising the country’s flag in a global competition, eSports has garnered attention and support enough to make it into a profession much similar to the sports industry.
According to the co-founder of Paper Rex, Matthew "Djojo" Djojonegoro, “It (the eSports industry) wasn't popular or mainstream back then. It's not like today where people are given contracts and salaries and it's actually a viable career.” He has shared that technology and media platforms such as YouTube, Twitch and Facebook plays a role in marketing the gaming community and gave it the limelight it has now.
“The resistance is definitely getting less and less.” Mark Chew, the CEO of another eSports company, Team Flash, states. Compared to maybe about five years ago, people may view eSports as a waste of time or not an ideal way to gain finance. “When I went to my first eSports event around three to four years ago in Jakarta, I looked around and the fans were there, you know. I knew then that I needed to get into this industry because this is the next generation.”
Team Flash is an eSports team based in Singapore that is made up of players from Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. They play and compete in a variety of games such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Brawl Stars, e-racing, League of Legends and many more.
“Our values ‘making gamers heroes’ is important to us. We want our players to be the role model for the next upcoming generation to aspire to be.” Mark Chew, 43, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Team Flash. (Credits: Yna Zuilan)
With such advancements to the way of living that we have now, the eSports industry has achieved a boost in recognition leading to a nationwide accomplishment. However, the internet is not the only factor that guarantees the eSports industry the success that it is experiencing now. The perseverance and tenacity of the players that are putting their efforts into improving themselves is a crucial aspect.
The Training Details
Having been given the opportunity to speak with Alexandre “Alecks” Salle, the coach of the Valorant team, he shares about the training and preparation that Paper Rex underwent all while preparing for the big day. “I've been a player and travelled to competitions before. As a coach, I think the best thing I could offer was advice because I've done it in the past.” he shares.
“Everybody was very motivated, and we just tried our best. So we got into practice every day, and we just prepared for the tournament. We made sure that the environment was a happy environment that we all can have fun in.” Alexandre “Alecks” Salle, 32, the coach of Paper Rex’s Valorant team on the training schedule during the VCTs. (Credits: Yna Zuilan)
“We try to make it (training) as varied as possible. We don't try to make it so monotonous because it can get really draining and it can lead to burnout. So I tried to vary the training times, I've tried to make it shorter, sometimes longer,” he mentions. “I just make sure that they're practising the right things, and I keep an eye on them outside of the game, (and) inside of the game. I would go in and see if they're still practising by themselves and I try to give them encouragement,” he adds.
“We have something called scrim, which is like a practice metric into the teams.” Christopher “Wigglyspoo” Seah, a coach from Team Flash shares when asked about their training session.
While Paper Rex has finished one of the biggest tournaments they have participated in this year, Team Flash is preparing for an upcoming Brawl Final Worlds Championship that will take place in Europe from November 26th to 28th.
As a coach, Christopher is responsible for reviewing videos after every practice match to see how the team can improve. He shares that he makes sure the players pace themselves and slowly increase the amount of practice, so none of them feels too burnt out.
Sacrificing Their Time In Exchange
Yet, just like any rising team, the players do find challenges along the way as their careers take flight especially as a professional in the field.
“You have to spend a lot of time practising. This leaves less time for yourself, school or friends, so it's tough, and so you have to find a balance and sometimes you do need to sacrifice time with friends and whatnot,” said Paper Rex player, Zhang Teng "Shiba" Toh.
“During VCT, perhaps we spent like six hours to practice a day. Then apart from that we usually spend a few more hours outside of that doing like our own self-improvement,” he adds.
“Being able to play against European teams and the other teams participating in Masters was also a good experience for me. During the matches, it can get a bit stressful and during my first series against Asian strikers, I was pretty stressed out and I couldn't really play my game. But overall, I think it was a pretty fun experience. I got to do a lot of things I've never done before.” Zhang Teng "Shiba" Toh, 20, the substitute for Paper Rex’s Valorant team on the experience of the VCT tournament. (Credits: Yna Zuilan)
At the young ripe age of 20 years old, Shiba has been tossed into the limelight as a professional gamer, despite being a dream of most teenagers now, it does come with a price. “Sometimes when you're competing, let's say that you don't do too well, then maybe your fans or others can be pretty upset at you and then they'll send you hate mails.” Shiba shares.
Not only do the players experience the heat of the game online but also the heat of the audience offline. “It's a little tough but I’ve mostly been able to zone it out. So at some point, you just learn to not bother,” he states. He also shares that he has received numerous death threats from betters when their team lost matches in the VCT Tournament.
“Some people may have the misconception that it's just a video game,” Team Flash’s coach, Christopher adds. “But when I think anything in life starts from a passion to a hobby and becomes a career, that big change really puts a lot of emotional and mental toll on the players.”
“It's a tough balance, and it takes a lot of discipline to try and focus on practice during training days. And then during our personal life, we try to tell ourselves not to be so stressed out by this other side of life.” Christopher “Wigglyspoo” Seah (left), 23, the coach for Team Flash’s Brawl Stars team and Jerome “Response” Quek (right), 17, the roster player for Team Flash’s Brawl Stars. (Credits: Yna Zuilan)
However, the player of Team Flash, Jerome “Response” Quek feels differently about this. He has expressed that while he does feel like these hours are not enough to balance his school life, practice and personal time, he does not suffer much negative impact. Rather, he thinks that there are more positive side effects than negative.
“It helps me, actually. For example, during high-pressure situations. When there's a lot of money on the line and people watching, there's a lot of pressure. So actually teaching me how to handle this will help me in the future.” he said.
While currently, eSports might be the next feasible career, both players Shiba and Response from Paper Rex and Team Flash respectively share the same viewpoint on its sustainability.
“Being a competitor for a game is tough,” Shiba responded. “As you get older, you are not as sharp as you were in the past, so it is difficult to do this in the long run.”
“I think it also depends on the game.” Response said. “For example, in my case, Brawl Stars may not live up to its hype in the long run. However, big games like League of Legends may still have a chance to continue flourishing in the future.”
What Does It Take To Become A Professional eSports Player?
Matthew Djojonegoro has also mentioned that ever since Paper Rex was established, around eight players have dropped out. This can happen due to various reasons, such as mechanical skills, not being able to keep up or events that are out of their reach, such as players serving National Service (NS). More serious cases that happen are breaching contracts and breaking tournament rules.
Having spoken to both coaches of each team respectively, they agreed on one thing: that being the best in Singapore is not sufficient for an individual to step into the professional limelight. According to Christopher, consistency and vigour plays as much, if not a bigger role to an eSports team than just being the best. Stamina and maintaining a rigid schedule also plays a big part, and these are just some things that make a person stand out from many others, apart from being the best.
“There's a lot of work behind the scenes that they have to do. For example, the players should still do their own personal practise outside of training.” Alexandre has shared. “ It takes a lot of discipline, and at the same time, the players have to remain focused so that we can get the most out of it.”
Because the players are expected to be committed full time for the organisation, the team will not just accept anybody. Other than the traits mentioned above, the individual has to be willing to give eight hours of their day for training and must be able to connect well with the team. Watching their sleep cycle and diet are also a few of the many things that being an eSports athlete have to face.
Government’s Support On eSports
As eSports continue to thrive as an industry in itself, Singapore is seeing the rise of it in the country thus creating more opportunities for the nation to support the passion that is brewing within its citizens.
“I think we're not even at the peak of eSports. I think this is just the beginning. And today's younger generation, they're looking up to a lot of eSports professionals. And I think there’s still a lot of room to grow.” Matthew “Djojo” Djojonegoro, 33, co-founder of Paper Rex. (Credits: Yna Zuilan)
“You have all these different bodies under the government, and there's a Singapore eSports Association as well. We hope one day we get to work with these government bodies,” says Matthew Djojonegoro. “eSports is becoming mainstream, it's going towards that direction. So I'm happy the government's picking it up as well. I hope one day, it's seen more as a viable career.”
Additionally, Mark Chew shares, “I think the last four years it has exploded quite a fair bit, you know, and I think if you look at the number of eSports events that have come up through the last year itself, we had three major eSports events early this year.”
Despite COVID-19, Singapore has hosted three major eSports tournaments; Mobile Legends Championships, Garena Free Fire World Championships and DOTA Major 2021.
The game continues: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M2 World Championship 2021 at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. (Credits: Moonton)
According to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, government agencies have been supporting local startups and companies in this space. Sea, formerly known as Garena, is one of Singapore’s unicorns, and first made its mark through its platform for video games. The games industry has also catalysed the growth of other companies in the ecosystem, such as Razer and Secretlab, which are globally prominent lifestyle brands amongst gamers today.
When asked about the eSports industry, Mark has expressed that the upcoming generation will see these eSports players as the next role model or “heroes''. Aeons ago, not one Singaporean would take the time of the day to watch the Olympics or specifically its swimming category. When Joseph Schooling stepped in to represent Singapore, Singaporeans started watching him and looking up to him. Similar to this, he feels that if eSports has an internationally known Singaporean representative, Singaporeans will start watching as well.
According to the Minister for Trade and Industry in September 2019, the ASEAN Chairmanship event was well-attended by over 8,000 youths of different backgrounds and featured the first League of Legends ASEAN tournament.
eSports developer and publisher Garena also held the Free Fire World Series in Singapore earlier this May, which broke the global viewership record for an eSports match outside of Chinese platforms with more than 5.4 million peak concurrent viewers, according to a speech given by Minister of State Alvin Tan on 15th October 2021.
As we progress further and further into the future, so does the eSports industry. If we look into four or maybe five years ago, playing games for a living is looked down upon and the individual will get shunned and laughed at. However, it has now become a dream for millions to go down this career path and one example is Singapore’s biggest eSports athlete, Koh "iceiceice" Daryl Pei Xiang. He is a known DOTA player who has earned around $1,769,541.96 from his tournaments alone.
So what about you? Do you have what it takes to be the next eSports Singapore representative?
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