Singtel Group gears up to boost gaming and e-sports

They will boost high quality local, regional, and global esports competitions across SEA, Australia, and India.

Singtel, its subsidiary Optus as well as regional associates Airtel, AIS, Globe, and Telkomsel inked deal to jointly bolster the gaming and esports ecosystem across Southeast Asia, Australia, and India.

In a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) the six parties agreed to partner across the gaming space, including scaling up esports, content creation and distribution, and collaboration with the broader gaming ecosystem.

“Gaming is part of a digital world without borders, where fast network speeds, connectivity and local market knowledge are critical. It is a natural and perfect fit for Singtel and our partners,” Singtel International Group CEO Arthur Lang said. “We hope to play a major regional role as an enabler of esports, to collectively grow the gaming ecosystem, and give gamers the support and recognition they deserve.”

The group will tap on its telco assets, strong knowledge of its local markets in Asia. and mobile customer base of more than 700 million to explore opportunities to enable esports enthusiasts and gamers to step up their playing field.

Together, they eye to boost access to high quality local, regional, and global esports competitions, as well as original content and exclusive programming for the more than 200 million customers across the Group which play games on a regular basis.

Gamers in the region are expected to balloon to more than 700 million by 2021 from 400 million in 2017. Meanwhile, esports viewership numbers expected to double and reach over 40 million by 2019.

Singtel owns and organises the PVP Esports Championship which attracted over 3,600 teams competing in both Dota 2 and Arena of Valor for a US$300,000 prize pool.

Photo from PVP Esports Facebook page.