Emerge Esports allows gamers to earn while they play through Web 3.0, while also supporting grassroots gaming in Singapore through Campus Legends and mentorship programs, nurturing future talents in the gaming ecosystem.
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00:00For web 3D games, if you're a good player, you're able to try and play it out,
00:04you're able to farm, you're able to play. In the long term, you're still able to earn.
00:07And if you get lucky, you might be able to sell those assets as well. You don't have to be the
00:10top 1% or top 0.1% of the players in the world to be able to earn and monetize from this.
00:16Emerge is a commercialization partner for IPs around Southeast Asia. What that means is that
00:35we look for monetization opportunities for people like content creators, for IP project titles,
00:42and we are also very enthusiastic about web 3D gaming.
00:47So for web 3D game publishing, what we do is we assist those web 3D games,
00:51such as we are the official game publisher for Immutable, Tezos, Chroma, C and Gala.
00:55So we kind of assist them to push user acquisition, marketing, as well as localization
00:59in terms of languages, so on and so forth. In the web 3D environment, users, they have
01:05actual ownership of their in-game assets. The users will also have a chance to have
01:11revenue share or profit sharing with the game. They also have a stake in the game,
01:16so a stake meaning that they can come together as a community. They can decide on certain directions
01:23and how the games actually encourage this is by contribution. So for example, very recently,
01:30MapleStory, a lot more AAA titles will slowly come into web 3.
01:35So the key differentiation between the web 3 game publisher and web 2 game publisher is first,
01:40the distribution platform. So for web 2 games, they are normally seen through like Google Play
01:46stores, app stores as well. But for web 3 games, it can be on the app store, but it can be on
01:51various other channels as well. And the key reason is because of the mode of payment.
01:56And some of the mode of payments is very different in terms of traditional games,
02:01such as you are using cash and stuff. But for web 3 games, you might be able to use cryptocurrency
02:06or different type of assets as well. Main differentiation is that you might be able to
02:11earn from playing web 3 games as compared to playing in web 2 games. So for web 2 games,
02:16some of it, you may know that you may only earn through being the top performers,
02:20such as being a pro esports players. And that might be just the top 1% or 0.1% of the world.
02:25But for web 3 games, if you are a good player, you're able to try to play it out, right? You're
02:30able to farm, you're able to play in the long term, you're still able to earn. And if you get
02:33lucky, you might be able to sell those assets as well. You don't have to be the top 1% or top 0.1%
02:38of the players in the world to be able to earn and monetize from this.
02:42How I also envision it to be is that users will be able to co-create games or certain directions
02:48along with the game developers themselves. In web 3, I would say the community actually makes
02:53or breaks the game. So in web 3, even a few or a very dedicated community, if they are very
03:00influential in the web 3 space or in that community, the games will be more inclined
03:05to actually listen to them. This is also something that is different from web 2,
03:09is that users are incentivized to create a lot of user-generated content. So in a way,
03:16that will actually encourage a lot of organic marketing as compared to a web 2 game where
03:22users are not incentivized or they don't naturally create content for the game.
03:30How did you get involved in eMatch?
03:34For eMatch, we definitely started with a small team and we have also tried a lot of different
03:41things including setting up our own esports professional team. We had that called Kingsmen
03:48and we were competing in different games such as Mobile Legends, Valorant and also Brawlhalla.
03:55It's fun, right? Because it's a personal dream of mine to own a team, especially in games that
04:01I like. And of course, games that I play myself and watching them win. And of course, getting
04:08first in the regular season, especially for our first ever time, was very chilling as well. And
04:13sitting in the private room as one of the owners of the team, watching them win is really a crazy
04:19experience for us. How do I feel when I have to exit the esports team or wind down the ventures?
04:27It's actually kind of bittersweet at the same time in some sense where, of course, having your
04:31own team, you definitely have that sort of adrenaline rush when you support them as well.
04:36But it's actually important for us to understand there's definitely a certain conflict of interest
04:40as well because we manage so many teams. And also, one of the key things is that we want to
04:45make sure that there's some sort of business integrity as well, where we won't just favour
04:49our own team. Internally, our team, internal employees and team members feel sad as well,
04:55but they all understand that the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few.
04:59At that point in time, I honestly felt very sad, mainly because I had a lot of fun during my time
05:06at Kingsman. There were a lot of enjoyable moments, a lot of bonding experiences with the team.
05:11So even though one door was closed, another actually opened up. One of the main reasons
05:17why I came to eMerge Esports was because of two things, which is esports and then Web3.
05:24So it was the best of both worlds for me. And being in Web3 also continued and allowed me to
05:30work with many other esports teams, such as Tier 1, you know, RSG. Both of them are our partners.
05:37As your team gets better, that's where you will actually enter into a franchise league.
05:42Then basically, you will expand your team to have content creators, merchandise,
05:48and then slowly you will be able to be self-sustaining.
05:51There's been a lot of small and big wins for eMerge. So over the years, including our esports
05:59team before, they have also gotten into certain standings in the tournaments. And we have also
06:06received PR awards and marquees awards for the launch of eMerge. So we have gone through that.
06:14And today, eMerge is beyond just having our own esports team. We are doing anything that is
06:21possible to unlock the potential of gaming and leading that to monetization opportunities for
06:28people in the ecosystem. Other things that I've learned from that is also to think of other
06:35creative ways to bring in monetization opportunities for gaming, because there's a lot
06:42more that you can do. And nowadays, gaming is not just a vertical that stands on its own.
06:49It is also relatable to other industries as well. For example, even like FNB, they are also looking
06:56into gaming content to speak to their audience. The possibilities can be very creative when you
07:05open your mind to them. In my personal opinion, playing games and career, how do I really transcend
07:10into it? It's kind of like, if you love what you do, you don't really feel like you're working at
07:15every day. You've got to really have that passion. And of course, gaming has been something that
07:19unites us as well. And that's one of the main reasons why the team, at least in eMerge, most
07:23of them stayed beyond two to three years and has been with us as well, because this is what they
07:28like. And at the end of the day, doing something you like and making money at the same time is
07:33the best thing that you can ever dream of. I think there's two main key learning points that I can
07:38take away from being in an esports team. Support from both the games and the government. So for
07:44example, the games, you could spend a lot of resources on building up a team, but if the
07:50game just decides to stop or don't support you, cut you off, then that's like sunken costs. Secondly,
07:57government support is extremely crucial. And in Singapore context, the Singapore government has
08:02been actively, increasingly supporting the local esports scene, such as Campus Legends by Skogar,
08:10the whole tertiary level esports tournament. So I think providing support at a grassroots level
08:16is the first initial step. And that's where the government can actually continue.
08:33So
08:56I think Emerge consistently, we have been trying to really contribute back to the society as well.
09:02We have done quite a few now, and one that we are doing this year includes Campus Legends.
09:08So Campus Legends is actually an inter-institutional tournament where it allows students to form teams
09:16from different schools to participate in the same tournament. We have been actively trying to
09:20participate such as Campus Legends. We are very involved in that. And of course, through our
09:26efforts like mentoring, through mentorship opportunities in like IT College Central,
09:30in like SCAPE, we have been trying to do that as well with multiple other polytechnics as well.
09:35So we do believe in contributing in terms of the grassroots levels to foster the next generation
09:40of, of course, better talents in the space. But much less, we are not really doing much
09:45in the business opportunity side of things in Singapore. And I hope to be an inspiration to
09:49them to show them that I'm a living case study, that don't give up, just push on and you can do
09:54it, right? You never know what you can achieve if you just don't stop. We hate staying status quo.
09:59So breaking new grounds would mean that we have reached new levels of achievements,
10:04and that would be how success looks like to me.