More and more young Vietnamese are pursuing the professional eSport path

Tram Ho

Ngày càng nhiều người trẻ Việt Nam theo đuổi con đường eSport chuyên nghiệp - Ảnh 1.

Vietnam is the Champion of the League Championship 2019. Photo: Arena of Valor

Doan Manh An's destiny is to become a professional eSports commentator. A few years ago, he graduated with a degree in marketing and worked in the office. Tired work so he quit. Sometime later, he stayed home, watched other people comment on the game League of Legends, and accidentally found a commentator recruiting for Vietnam Esport TV. He decided to take the opportunity even then, eSports were not as popular as it is today.

5 years later, Manh An is one of the famous eSport comments in Vietnam. Some of the tournaments he has participated in are the Vietnam League of Legends Championship and more recently the MSI 2019 Friendly Tournament organized by Riot Games.

Manh An works for Garena's Vietnam Esport TV, the electronic entertainment division of Sea Group. As a commentator, his mission is to report matches to viewers, especially in League of Legends games. Each match lasts up to 35 minutes, Manh An must explain how gamers choose characters, tactics …

As the leading eSport channel in Vietnam, Vietnam Esport TV has about 2.95 million followers on YouTube and attracts 1.85 billion views, an average of 650,000 views per video. In Vietnam, video games are still considered a time-killing entertainment, not something one can earn a living. Gamers, professional or amateur, are often discriminated against.

Nonetheless, more and more young people watch gaming more than just a hobby and make it a career, whether it be commentators, players or programmers. Technology boom means the field will have many promises.

Skepticism and discrimination

One of the biggest obstacles facing caster and gamers is … the family. Their work has only been born in the last 10 years with the introduction of the Vietnam E-Sports Association in 2009. Although today's games have become popular and recognized as a sport, some of People still don't understand what's fascinating.

Similarly Manh An, commentator nickname Thang Steel, who is attached to the publisher of the game Appota, must convince parents about his work. The two recalled how they were pulled out of Internet cafes and scolded for spending too much time on games as a teenager. Even in the game industry, Man An and Thang Steel have not completely solved the skepticism of their parents.

Manh An said: "My mother still asks me every time I play a game. I often have to remind my mom that this is my job." Of course, Manh An's work is more complicated than that.

Caster doesn't need to be the best player, but they need to understand the mechanics of a game. Thang Steel's idol is Trevor "Quickshot" Henry, one of the first League of Legends commentators. Prior to joining Appota, Thang gained experience by commenting on Street Fighter gamers at several game events.

"You have to master the words and have to play the game to explore more than to win games. I'm not prepared for any competition. It happens naturally because I played in many different positions to increase the ant. awake and familiar with the game, "Thang said.

Some caster also livestream game and interact with fans. Caster can test many different narrative styles.

New game

About 2 years ago, Manh An was invited to the exclusive Facebook Gaming network, including nearly 500 content creators related to games in Vietnam. Facebook is the most popular social network here and Facebook streamers also attract millions of views.

In the gaming industry, only a few streamers have reached the "star" title. The most famous ones are ViruSs, PewPew, Misthy, each with a large number of followers, receiving sponsorship from many brands and collaborating with advertising companies.

Manh An believes in the career of streamer. He taught himself to better understand the game and interact more with the fans. Streamer must be ahead of the trend and be mentally prepared to deal with the negative reactions from others.

There is no formula to be a successful streamer or caster. For Manh An, the strong point lies in the humor. With Thang Steel, it is realistic. Manh An said, "The key is to really understand what viewers want. Since I switched to Teamfight Tactics, I have more time to interact with viewers because the pace is not so fast."

Rise and identify

Most Vietnamese young people grow up with video games. Before the Internet became a gadget, they often buried themselves in Internet cafes for hours of playing line games. This changes when the Internet is faster and cheaper. Facebook enters Vietnam as well as YouTube. Video games are released globally at the same time, so young people can download them and play like anyone else in the world. Flappy Bird game of Nguyen Ha Dong in 2013 caused a global fever, bringing Vietnam's name on the map of mobile games.

Currently, Vietnam's only technological unicorn is VNG. Game startups include Appota, VTC Game, SohaGame. Garena – the region's eSports power – has been here for a decade. Game publishers pour money into major and sponsored eSport titles.

According to a 2018 Appota report, Vietnam has about 18 million eSport players and is on track to reach 8 million livestream viewers at least once a week. With 51 million 3G and 4G subscribers and 32.8 million gamers across the country, Appota estimates that one in two people with mobile Internet plays games on the phone.

The Appota report also cited data from Newzoo esport analysis firm, ranking Vietnam as the 28th largest game market in the world, up from 35th in 2017. In 2018, Vietnam's eSport and video game segment achieved revenue. 365 million USD.

Chris Tran, eSport Manager for Riot Games Southeast Asia, commented that Vietnam's market has great potential thanks to its young audience, competitive gamers and strong community spirit. In 2018, Riot Games began to make room for Vietnamese eSports teams in their League of Legends international tournaments.

Jason Ng, Vice President of Garena's strategic partner, said that the recent victory at Team Flash's Arena of Valor World Cup 2019 proved the Vietnamese eSport talent. Vietnam is also among the 12 representative teams at Garena's Free Fire World Series in Brazil.

According to Mr. Ng, the gaming and eSort market in Vietnam continues to grow rapidly. The coalition is one of the leading mobile games in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Du Lam (According to KrAsia)


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Source : ICTNEWS