Singtel Group has launched a new Asia-Pacific eSports league in conjunction with gaming peripheral company Razer and other strategic partners.
The new PVP eSports Championship will be a multi-title and regional league with a prize pool of $300,000.
The championship will be held in Singapore from October 5-7, with local qualifiers held in Australia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
Winning teams from each country will face off against professional teams from North America, Europe and China at the championship event. Singtel plans to sponsor a home-grown Singapore team for the tournament.
Singtel has organized the league in tandem with its regional associates Airtel (India), AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (the Philippines) and Telkomsel (Indonesia). Throughout the league, Singtel Group plans to organize eSports activities that build on existing initiatives in Singapore and by Globe and Telkomsel.
The group plans to leverage its mobile customer base of over 600 million across the APAC region to gain a slice of the fast-developing eSports industry.
The first tournament will be organized by eSports even organizer MET and will feature mobile game Arena of Valor and PC game Dota 2. The Singapore stop of the global tour of popular online card game Hearthstone will also be part of the championship.
“Telcos have every right, and the assets, to play in the growing gaming ecosystem and we want to engage the largely millennial consumers across our regional footprint,” Singtel International CEO Arthur Lang said.
“Mobile-based games, in particular, have gained a strong following in this region where the mobile phone is the main gaming device of choice. With the Group's robust broadband and mobile networks as well as reach across Southeast Asia, India and Australia with over 600 million subscribers, we are excited to build a vibrant eSports ecosystem that will provide gamers and fans access to original and exciting content.”
