Singapore has one again taken a huge step forward in giving its support to the growing esports and gaming industry.
Called Singapore Games Association (SGGA), the new trade body is dedicated to support and facilitate the gaming and esports industry in this country.
Supported by Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), SSGA is also extending its support to local game developers and to also champion local made games.
The rise of this new body will certainly place Singapore’s name on the world map when it comes to the gaming world. According to an online market research conducted by Staista, it is projected that the video games section in Singapore will reach US$130m in 2020 and US$138m by 2024.
This figure is massive and to have a new body championing and supporting local Esports athlete is a huge step forward for Singapore.
The association would build upon the work of the former Singapore Games Guild (SGG), which is a non-profit organisation founded in 2017. Previously, SGG was big on pushing and supporting locally made games.
But now, it is passing its baton to SGGA who will now take on the expanded role to give its fullest support to the variety of the gaming and esports industry.
Amongst the association’s objective is to place Singapore’s name on the world map when it comes to esports. The initiative which they have set out, has a clear indicative: to make Singapore the esports hub in South East Asia. It also hopes that through the initiatives, it will put Singapore in a strong position as a country of choice for international esporting tournaments and events.
SGGA has some very interesting plans up their sleeve. The association have said that they will establish a local public directory for all esports related services. If it happens, this will be the first local esports directory that aims to promote local companies and job opportunities in the esports and gaming world.
As part of the initiatives, SGGA will also curate training programmes and internships to develop local talent to meet global demands. By the looks of it, the future of esports in Singapore is looking relatively bright.
This is certainly good news for those who are interested to kick start their career in the gaming industry. It is worth remembering that you do not have to be a gamer or an esports athlete to be involved in the industry!
SGGA will be functioning as a membership-based association. It says its effort will include enabling its members to network locally and internationally as well as encouraging businesses to uphold best practices and look for global opportunities.
Its upcoming plan also includes collaborating with organisers behind gamescon with the aim to exhibit locally made games that will be held virtually later this month.
The association which will be helmed by Gwen Guo is also planning to hold workshops and capability development programmes to support the growth of esports athletes and professional gamers.
In addition to that, the association has also said talked about its plans to organise at least ten workshops covering a range of topics (i.e., business management for start-ups) in its first year. They will also be conducing outreach activities with educational institutions and SMEs to facilitate training and hiring efforts.
They are also hoping to debunk some misconceptions about gaming and esports as well as broadcasting the range of career opportunities in the games industry.
SGGA is also looking for patrons who are eager to play a vital role to its initiatives and is also seeking for volunteers across various roles.
Meet the team
As mentioned above, Gwen Guo, co-founder and creative director of a local game audio services, will chair the association. She will be bringing in her experiences at start-ups and corporate companies.
Working alongside Gwen will be Elicia Lee, managing director of the firm Eliphant which has a niche in game marketing, events, live stream production, and esports in Asia.
Its executive committee includes Esports pioneers, Cavin Koh — director of strategic partnerships at Eliphant and Jayf Soh — CEO and founder of the largest esports team Resurgence.
The team will also be working with Brian Kwek, owner of Ysbryd Games, Emmanual Yao, associate director of production services at Ubisoft Singapore, and last but not least, Karen Teo, vice president of APAC global business group at Facebook.
