In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Tower, Spencer Yang of Unikrn Asia talks about the opportunities and challenges of venturing into the Asian eSports market.
To say that eSports is huge in Asia is definitely an understatement.
Through the efforts of South Korean gamers, Asia has contributed greatly to making eSports a global entertainment trend. Asia is also the first region to recognize the competitive video gaming as a medal sport when it included eSports inthe 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Speaking of China, the majority of eSports fans are found on the mainland where live tournaments with multi-million dollar cash prizes are usually held. Southeast Asia, on the other hand, sits on the edge of the eSports boom even though the teams coming from the region remain underdogs.
Even Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has recognized the opportunities in the Asian eSports market. His company, Alibaba, launched AliSports World Electronic Sports Games, which is touted as the world’s highest paying eSports tournament.
As eSports becomes big in Asia, Spencer Yang of Unikrn Asia pointed out that eSports betting is also becoming more popular in the region. Many operators, initially cautious about gambling, are now beginning to realize the opportunities that eSports betting brings.
“We’ve always been really excited about innovation happening in Asia, in all aspects in eSports. Because of the betting, we are very cautious about this. But this year, we realized, ‘Hey, it’s about time that we focus on this,’” Yang told CalvinAyre.com. “In China alone, there are over 250 million gamers playing this Arena of Valor. So, right now, we are looking at what we can really do here.”
Yang noted that eSports wagering has evolved as the industry grows. In the beginning, operators only offered traditional products like moneyline wagering as well as handicap and outright betting to eSports fans. Live betting is now possible, thanks to technological innovation.
“So I think, what we’ve seen is that eSports betting products are definitely different and yet, at the same time, have many of the good elements from the sportsbook side,” Yang said. “So definitely, a lot of innovation and lots of exciting things happening in the space that we are looking forward to, both online and offline.”
The main challenge that eSports operators face when doing business in Asia is that the region is still very much fragmented, according to Yang. In Unikrn Asia’s case, Yang said: “We’ve been talking to a lot of partners who understands the space and really start a relationship so that we can understand this space better and faster.”
