Esports is still a very young industry in Malaysia. There’s still a long way to go for us in accepting esports as a legitimate industry and lifestyle. The withdrawal of Team Malaysia from the Overwatch World Cup 2019 is one of many examples that more needs to be done for our esports industry to thrive.

From a short clip taken from our exclusive interview with Kakuchopurei, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq explained how difficult it is to secure funding for national esports team. He specifically address the lack of funding faced by Team Malaysia Overwatch that ultimately led them to withdraw from the international tournament.

“We’ve never gone through this process before. It’s the first time. It took a little bit of time but we want to ensure next year, and thanks to you guys, at least now we know we need to come up with new SOP and come up with new ways of distributing funds. We need to inform audit that this is new and that it’s different.”

– Syed Saddiq

This is just a small portion of our interview with Saddiq to discuss the recently announced KBS Esports Blueprint for 2020 to 2025. Full video of the said interview is scheduled for 4th Dec 2019, which is tomorrow.

For more updates and news on esports in Malaysia, stay tuned on Kakuchopurei.