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[Thailand] eSports is recognized as a national sport/ Awareness is changing from fun to sport

  • Release date: Feb 10, 2020
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ROVs are the most popular e-sports that are rapidly growing in popularity

Esports, which is gaining momentum globally, has also seen rapid growth in popularity in Thailand in recent years. The most popular title is “AoV (Arena of Valor)”, known locally in Thailand as RoV, a multiplayer online game developed by Garena, a Singapore-based online game company. RoV is a 5-on-5 team-based hero battle game that can be played not only on PCs but also on smartphones.

According to Garena Thailand, RoV hosts numerous tournaments beyond the professional league, including inter-university leagues and amateur competitions. In the 2019 Pro League Season 4, the prize money drew significant attention, with 6 million baht (approx. ¥25.6 million) for first place and 2 million baht (approx. ¥7.2 million) for second place. Viewership has also grown rapidly, doubling from Season 1 in 2018 to 55 million views within about a year.

Many fans enjoy watching streams on platforms such as Facebook and Twitch, and the number of streamers earning income through streaming—such as PopeyeGaming and Baowio—has increased. There is also a growing number of female streamers, and streaming is increasingly being recognized as a legitimate profession.

In October 2019, Facebook officially launched “Facebook Gaming”, a dedicated gaming tab, in Thailand. It is expected to serve as a hub for the game-streaming community.

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Ministry of Tourism and Sports announces promotion of e-sports

Thailand's gaming market is the 19th largest in the world, with $667 million in revenue from gaming, according to a study by research agency NewZoo. The player population is 18 million, of which 67% watch video content of games.In 2017, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports announced its promotion of e-sports by recognizing it as a NationalSports.In July 2018, the e-sports company infofed In recent years, however, the private sector and universities have been working together to train e-sports players and hold gaming events at the Thailand E-Sports Arena, which is located in the commercial complex TheStreet. Many parents of this generation have a negative image of their children's enthusiasm for video games, saying that they become addicted to them and have less time to study. Attitudes are changing from the perception of the sport to the sport.

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This article is co-authored by TNC Lifestyle Researcher (http://lifestyle.tenace.co.jp/) and Intage's Global Researcher. Translated with AI Translator

  • TNCアジアトレンドラボ

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    TNC ASIA Trend Lab is an information organization run by TNC Inc. that researches and shares trends in Asia. It supports corporate marketing activities by finding insights from trends rooted in the lifestyles and habits of local consumers. http://tnc-trend.jp/

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