Singapore

MORE than 10,000 fans sit cheering and screaming their lungs out in a stadium, wielding country flags, clappers and light sticks.

The stadium is dark, and is filled with strobe lights.

Under gigantic screens, e-athletes, in their matching team shirts, fire at their keyboards and frantically click away on their mice, their every action igniting a roar from the crowd.

This is eSports, or as what they call it, the sport for the digital age.

eSports, also known as electronic sports, is usually a multi-player video game played competitively for spectators by professional players.

Some better-known eSports titles are DOTA 2 by Valve Corporation, and League of Legends by Riot Games.

As eSports takes off around the globe, game-market research firm Newzoo estimates that eSports revenues are set to grow to US$1.49 billion by 2020.

The number of eSports enthusiasts is expected to grow from 191 million this year to 286 million by 2020.

Nicholas Khoo, chairman of Singapore Cybersports and Online Gaming Association, says that although eSports has been around for more than 10 years, the uplift in growth was only in recent years.

"With better Internet connectivity, and allowing people to play together regardless of location, there is also online broadcasting. Now, not only can you play together regardless of location, a lot of people can also watch you play," he says.

Eight teams of five people each competed at overseas eSports tournament The Manila Masters 2017, but there were about 17,000 people in the arena watching them, and there were more than three million online viewers.

In the gaming ecosystem, key players are game developers, the publishers, the event organisers for game tournaments and athletes, sponsors and streaming platforms.

Big prize pools have also been pumped into eSports. This year, the largest prize pool for an eSports tournament, The International 2017, was close to US$25 million.

While the eSports market is burgeoning, there are fewer than 10 professional eSports players in Singapore.

There are also fewer than five local game developers producing eSports titles, although the Singapore game industry has been growing.

Due to Singapore's small market size, it will take a longer time for eSports here to mature, says Mr Khoo.

There is a limit to which eSports athletes can perform at their peak. An eSports athlete can perform up to 800 actions per minute and would have to sustain that for about two hours.

The other career options available in eSports, such as coaching, being shoutcasters or managers for eSports teams are also limited in Singapore.

eSports is largely dependent on audience size, and Singapore's small market cannot support that many jobs in the industry.

Mr Khoo says: "Although in Singapore it is quite limited, there are many job opportunities in the region and we've seen eSports players going there because they seem to appreciate our local talent."

"Everyone looks at eSports and says that I want to be the guy who wins the prize money. But there needs to be more awareness about the other opportunities in eSports."

He suggests that local game developers and cyber-athletes look towards the region and leverage big players, such as Twitch, to gain a better foothold in the eSports scene.

In addition, with government bodies looking more into eSports in recent years, local eSports players may find it easier to venture overseas.

Games and eSports researcher from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and ex-eSports athlete, Ryan Tan, believes the lack of eSports athletes will result in a lack of guidance for young players.

Describing it as a "vicious cycle", he says: "Young talented players find it difficult to get into contact with these industry players to get access to proper gear, apparel, or gaming locations.

"Most professionals work for specific publishing companies, peripheral manufacturing companies, or events organisations. There's a dearth of true eSports personnel - people who are trained to cater to the needs of the eSports industry and handling of eSports athletes."

"At its current pace, Singapore's cyber-athletes will always be a few steps behind those of other countries, and the industry just won't be as fertile a place."