The universal esports ecosystem basically comes down to the several main publishers, Tencent, Valve, Riot Games, Activision, Moonton. Malaysia is unique in its esports ecosystem in the sense that it has a huge base of nearly all these publishers’ signature titles(games) while certain countries are working towards only letting one ecosystem dominate their esports world. However, the current government has done little to capitalize on this uniqueness. A government led by Pakatan Harapan will fully capitalize on this to benefit youth and the economy of the country. The following policies will be put in place for this:
- The amalgamation of large-scale yearly events such as Level-Up and EPIC will attract the broader esports ecosystem and also industry giants such as Valve, Tencent, Moonton etc.
- Streamlining and digitalising visa request process for international athletes and sports athletes and also providing support for esports tournaments.
- Preparing potential athletes including those in esports with additional capacity, personal knowledge and skills.
- To address the current underlying disclarity and inconsistencies with responsibilities and jurisdictions between MSN, MESF, ESI; specifically in OCM recognition of an Esports national governing body/association.
- To initiate the process to institutionalize a tribunal mechanism.
These items will increase the focus of the government on esports which will lead to a positive economic spillover in terms of sports tourism where athletes can fly over with their team to train at these suitable training centers and spend months training with players from around the world. We hope to see Malaysia become an esportshub and will make this our goal.
The PN manifesto mentions “Memperkasa pembangunan bakat esports dengan memperkenalkan stadium khas esports dan program mencungkil bakat masa depan esports.” However, no further elaborations or action items have been put forward other than an esports specific stadium and “programmes”. Whereas the BN Manifesto fails to address the sports industry as a whole. The lack of understanding of the esports industry and the uniqueness of Malaysia by both the coalitions shows that this industry can only truly benefit if Harapan comes into power.
While we have increased focus on the esports arena, we also will continue to grow our traditional sports via strategic investments and restructuring of the ecosystem development. Infrastructure facilities, management of athlete’s welfare and protection, stakeholder participation, detailed planning to nurture talents at every level of society. Our action plan are as below:
- Upgrading selected sports complex to position Malaysia as a high performance sports training destination. Sports facilities will be equipped with the latest technology allowing athletes to train and rehabilitate efficiently. These athletes will receive a higher quality training and rehabilitation experience.
- Removing the barrier of access for citizens to access sports facilities and infrastructure in order to cultivate a sporting culture.
- Opening up and creating more opportunities for talents at the grassroots level so that more citizens will freely participate in sports.
- Cultivating partnerships with the National Athlete Welfare Foundation (YAKEB) to prepare skill training programmes and careers for former athletes to ensure that they live comfortable lives after retirement.
- To form a dedicated Sports industry Council to assist & support private sector sports developments.
For a full reference of the PH Manifesto on Sports, you can access it here: Advancing Sports Economy – Kita Boleh!
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