Singtel inks gaming deal at first e-sports tournament
Some of the world's top gamers battled it out over the past three days in Singtel's inaugural e-sports competition, which saw the telco take strides towards becoming a major regional player in the gaming space.
The sold-out event saw more than 3,000 attendees, while e-sports commentators broadcasting in seven languages online drew more than three million global viewers at its peak.
Six professional teams were among the 18 that competed in two main events at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre with a prize pool of US$300,000 (S$415,000).
Team Secret from Europe, which won first place in popular multiplayer online battle arena game Dota 2 yesterday, took home US$80,000.
Thai team Alpha X won the US$40,000 top prize in the mobile battle arena game Arena Of Valor.
The PVP eSports Championship also saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Singtel, its subsidiary Optus and regional associates Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel to grow the gaming and e-sports ecosystem in South-east Asia, Australia and India.
Mr Arthur Lang, Singtel's international group chief executive, said that more than 200 million of the firms' combined 720 million subscribers are frequent gamers. And with the growth of mobile games in particular, there is "a tremendous amount of opportunity" for telcos, he said.- TIFFANY FUMIKO TAY
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
