Singapore-based online gaming platform Bountie recently opened its first esports arena last week, aiming to cement its position and develop the local esports community. But does it really need one in the first place, especially with former cybercafes like Spout Arena/Alienware Arena and Oasis shutting down after being around for so long?

According to Bountie Chief Gaming Officer Check Ho, he doesn’t think of these places as failures, but rather as an opportunity for the Bountie Arena to fill that massive void in the market in Singapore.

“What we saw in those arenas was an opportunity to do it bigger, better, and much more user-friendly with an emphasis on customer service.

There are currently no major spaces in Singapore specifically designed for esports competitions and tournaments. Nor are there i-cafes with the hardware and services that we are providing.

It’s not just the games that we want you to come and enjoy; we want to provide our audience with so many reasons and options than just PC gaming.”

According to Ho, the Bountie Arena features more than just PCs like a typical cyber gaming cafe. It offers a variety of arcade machines, darts, consoles, handhelds, mobile games, and of course, PCs which are supplied by ASUS ROG and NVidia. This means that gamers of all preferences can visit the new place, regardless of whether they are console players or PC master race folks.

How Will It Make Money?

The company aims to make the Bountie Arena the main venue of choice for small to medium-scale esports competitions, tournaments and events in Singapore. While this is an ambitious endeavour on their part, local esports fans will remember the likes of Spout Arena and Oasis attempting the same thing in the past, and ultimate closing down.

Ho plans to sustain the Bountie Arena with esports events, along with revenue from their partnerships, sponsors, gaming PC rentals, F&B sales, dart machines, and educational classes.

Image credit: Asia One

The Fast Track

Singapore is known for having some of the best Internet services (fast and stable) in the world. Which begs the question: why would locals want to go to an esports arena and needlessly spend more money when they already have the perfectly-adequate Internet to play online games at home?

Ho says that’s not always the case.

“We think that a venue like ours is definitely needed, given the lack of options available in Singapore for a fixed location for such events.

Singapore does indeed have a stable and fast internet infrastructure.

However, not every person is fortunate enough to have a very good gaming setup at home, which is something that we provide at the Arena along with a whole host of games to play!”

What About Its Cryptocurrency Plans?

Interestingly enough, the folks at Bountie have been tackling the cryptocurrency market with its Bountie coins since late 2017. Will this esports arena be deviating from that plan? Not likely, said Ho, as Bountie is split into three segments: the arena, the platform/store, and the cryptocurrency/ICO.

The cryptocurrency aspect won’t be implemented in the Bountie Arena just yet, according to Bountie CEO Lex Na.

“We will be launching the Arena without any cryptocurrencies at the moment. The reasons are because we would like to make sure daily operations and management are stabilised before thinking about adding additional complexity to the mix.

In the meantime, we are speaking to gamers, advisors and industry partners for the views on this topic. We will do what’s best for the community and industry instead of what’s best for Bountie.”

Located at One Fusionopolis Way #B1-06/07/08 (above one-north MRT), the Bountie Arena is open every day of the week from 11am to 12am midnight. It features 6600 square feet of space with a world-class esports stage, a gaming academy, over 112 high-spec computers, four private rooms, five darts machines, and a console corner.

Top image credit: Bountie