We’re a generation that has witnessed the birth of videogames and the inevitable advent of e-Sports and professional gaming. Despite being from different countries, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds and schools of thought, there’s one common factor that binds us all – our passion for gaming. While the available resources might have limited the boundaries for some, it has not deterred us from following our favorite games and players across the globe. We have idolized them, cheered for them, been sad when they couldn’t perform well, defended them and eventually bid farewell to move onto the next generation of players that either reminds us of them or creates a chapter of its own.

Asia has played an instrumental role in shaping up e-Sports and competitive gaming. In fact, South Korea is the very reason why professional gaming exists today. Holding the reputation of being the most wired country on earth, one of the most awesome by-products of South Korea's broadband boom is the advent of an online gaming culture unlike anything seen anywhere in the world. There are dedicated channels like Ongamenet, Fomos and MBCgame that broadcast Starcraft 2 matches all day and all night long. The e-athletes command hundreds of thousands of dollars as salaries as well as endorsements and enjoy the lifestyle equivalents of a Hollywood celebrity. A Chinese Warcraft III player carrying the Olympic torch to the Beijing National Stadium should be testament to its level of popularity and growth in the region.

However, despite being the torch bearers and having paved the way for the rest of the world, Asians remain secluded in their own shell. This self inflicted segregation from the rest of the world and the great divide between the Asian countries can be seen on many levels within the e-Sports and Professional gaming circle. If one had to quote the most basic example, it would probably be the lack of ONE good Asian shoutcaster who’s known across the world? Despite Starcraft 2 being a National obsession, South Korean shoutcasters are nowhere to be seen at major gaming tournaments outside Korea. Not that we hate Sean “Day9” Plott or Kevin “Rotterdam” van der kooi, but perhaps a face/name that comes from the same region as that of the origin of that particular discipline can have a huge impact and is probably the most elementary aspect missing from Asian e-Sports. Despite having great internet penetration and usage statistics, this lack of reaching out to the masses outside Asia and even within Asia stands as a barrier between an actual event taking place and its awareness in say the neighboring countries. Recently, 70 teams signed up for the Counter Strike Chinese Qualifier that would guarantee ONE Asian slot at the IEM5 World Championship Finals to be held at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. However, none of the demos ever made it to HLTV.org with any kind of coverage given to the Qualifier.

The international E-sports festival held in 2010 along with the first ever Chinese Youth E-Creation festival held in Wuhan lasted for 3 days and attracted a whopping 100,000 participants from 13 different countries. The digital entertainment group behind the event – CY Foundation’s website is in English while the actual IEFgames website is in Chinese! One of the premium coverage websites (GosuGamers) for HoN, Starcraft, Starcraft 2, DotA, Warcraft 3, WoW and Poker is based out of Sweden despite the fact that the biggest playerbase of those games resides in Asia.

The World e-Sports Masters (WEM) event has been held in Hangzhou, China for 3 years in a row co-hosted by the city of Hangzhou and JoongAng Ilbo. With a total prize purse of $125,000 split across three tournaments for Counter-Strike 1.6, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne and Crossfire in 2010, it still has not managed to become “The Tournament to Win” simply because it has never been marketed or indoctrinated in such light by its organizers. While the e-Sports scene in Asia has seen tremendous growth in the recent past, the region still struggles to get recognition on a world level. While the likes of SCOGA and SMM have contributed in every way possible to the scene, a true World Championship or something close to it is yet to be seen. Unlike Europe or America where organizations like DreamHack, MLG, PAX have had major success, Asia is in dire need of such a centralized entity that can focus on each region and organize tournaments which attract the professionals from all the major gaming disciplines from across the globe. 

Asia has a considerable number of gamers who aspire to share stage with some of the best names in the professional gaming circuit. In order for that to happen, the playerbase needs to be approached with an open mind. There’s a sizeable number of gamers who play first person shooters like the Call of Duty Series, Counter Strike (1.6 & Source), Quake, Battlefield: BC2 and Team Fortress 2. More and more tournaments need to focus on this group and give them their fair chance to compete against the best in America and Europe rather than embracing Warcraft 3 and Starcraft 2 alone. The major challenge is to gain recognition by putting up the best possible player contingents, having top-notch coverage and professionalism in terms of tournament payouts and overall event handling. For that to happen, some major tournaments are needed within Asia with the sole intention of not just attracting the Asian populace but rather the entire world.