The Internet serves as a ubiquitous medium connecting the whole world. There's a burgeoning industry, eSports, which is getting more and more attentions nowadays. The eSports is a form of competition that is facilitated by electronic systems, especially video games. With an infinite potential, the industry keeps growing at a fast pace. The eSports offers a new field for Macao to develop.

 

Cheang Chi Hou, a 20-year-old local semi-pro player, has been playing the online game "Counter Strike" for eight years, he said that it's tough to make a living in Macao as a pro player since there is nearly no support from the government in eSports.

 

He said that one of his teammates quit eSports and went to Taiwan to study his bachelor degree, but he would like to stay in this field for new opportunities.

 

The eSports players are hired to take part in competitions and online streaming so as to attract audience and spectators with their advanced skills.

 

"There's only MOP5,000 a month for working as a pro player in Macao, but a mainland team would offer me RMB4,000 a month." said Cheang, adding that the local salary for a pro player is unreasonable.

 

In fact, eSports has enjoyed a progressive increase both in revenue and audience following on the Internet, which indicates its popularity. Subordinated businesses like streaming, KOL marketing, advertising and so on benefit from eSports. According to an article written by Peter Warman, CEO of a Market research company Newzoo, the eSports revenue in the globe will reach US$696 million this year and will grow to 1.5 billion by 2020 as brand investment doubles.

 

eSports also provides high prize for the players. League of Legends, the most popular game in the world, has its own professional world championship hosted annually with US$5.07 million of the prize pool in 2016. Only 32 teams were invited from different parts of the world to participate in this event.

 

South Korea is believed to have the most developed eSports industry in the world, according to the information from the Statistic Portal. Its sales revenue amounted to US$9.48 billion in 2013 and is estimated to reach US$10.5 billion by 2018. Also, the Korean government has an umbrella organization solely focused on the governing of eSports known as the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSpa). From pro players to coaches, the eSports industry has a relatively comprehensive system which takes care of the eSports insiders, and provides them with subsidies and post-retirement employments.

 

In August 2017, an E-Sports and Music Festival was held by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, which was the very first eSports-themed event all over the world, according to the Hong Kong Tourist Board. It attracted more than 50,000 site visitors and five million online audience within three days.

 

More and more places are attaching great importance to eSports as a new business of economic development. Being a place which lacks diversity in its  industries, the Macao government is advised to start to examine the trend and put more effort on supporting the local eSports insiders, since they may be  useful resources for future eSports development.