Govt urged to step up support for e-sports in HK

Researchers at Baptist University on Thursday called on the government to promote e-sports, saying the fact that it will be an official competition event in the 2022 Asian Games shows it is not just about playing video games.

Professor Chung Pak-kwong of the university’s department of sport and physical education said the new sport in which players compete in computer games requires head-hand coordination, and involves fair competition just like traditional sports.

He said e-sports is gradually gaining popularity as shown by a recent survey he led, with more than 100 of 2,000 local students surveyed saying they had taken part in such competitions.

The academic said some students said their parents support their passion, but they were reluctant to pursue e-sports as a career due to a lack of resources and prospects.

Chung said authorities should do much more to support the development of e-sports in the city.

“You see even the Hong Kong team hasn’t been formed for the next year’s Asian Games,” he said.

He noted that the government did set aside HK$100 million for Cyberport to improve e-sports software and offer exchange programmes for athletes, but said that is far from enough.

Chung said the administration should provide regular subsidies and venues to train players and organise tournaments.

“Can the government work together with the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee [of Hong Kong] and identify a governing body to support the long term development of e-sports, including… organising competitions in schools?”

A professional e-sports player called Syreni echoed his views, saying holding more tournaments can help retain talent in the industry as they now have a “very low” salary.

But she said she has no plans to quit the sport.

“For me, being an e-sports player is the dream of my life, because I like to play video games so much, and letting my interest to become my career… is like a dream come true,” she said.