As 2020 came to a close, stakeholders and organisations in Southeast Asia began to prepare for the future, announcing partnerships and plans for 2021.

Here are the major esports business stories coming out out of SEA in the month of December, in collaboration with AFK Gaming.  

ESL set to host Wild Rift competitions in Malaysia and Thailand in 2021

As one of the official partners for Riot Games’ Wild Rift, ESL will operate official tournaments for the publisher in Malaysia and Thailand in 2021. The competitive circuit will kick off in April with open qualifiers and local events leading up to larger and grander events on a national and international scale.

Additionally, the ESL Play platform will be used to host Wild Rift Open Cups as a way to boost grassroots competition. The organiser will also host a collegiate event in Thailand in the coming year. 

You can read more about the story here. 

Cambodia and Laos join the IESF

The International Esports Federation or IESF has announced the addition of seven new members to take their membership to one hundred participants. The new members include Cambodia and Laos from SEA among other nations across the world such as Venezuela, Bahrain, Estonia, Hungary and Wales. 

You can read more about the story here. 

Mobile Gaming viewership exceeds expectations

In 2020, Free Fire continued its journey as one of the most popular esports titles in the world by increasing its viewership numbers, compared to the previous year. The Asia division finals of the title’s marquee event garnered the second-highest viewership for an esports tournament in peak (2.5m+) and average (820,000+) viewers. The competition was only beaten by League of Legends’ 2020 World Championships.

Additionally, in terms of peak and average viewership, The FFCS: Americas finals was the third most-watched competition. Mobile Legends’ MPL-ID Season 6 peaked with over 1.3m viewers across all platforms as well with various regional Free Fire competitions in South America all performing well above traditional tier-one PC titles. 

Talon Esports announces digital media licensing partnership with ESPAT Media

Hong Kong based esports organisation, Talon Esports announced a partnership with digital media licensing provider, ESPAT Media. The deal will see Talon contribute images and video to ESPAT’s platform to build a ‘comprehensive content library’. This is Talon’s sixth major partnership announcement in recent times with other names including Logitech and Twitch. 

You can read more about the story here. 

EBN reveals a 65,000 square foot facility in Malaysia

The Esports Business Network (EBN) has announced the launch of the EBN Esports City, Malaysia’s new 65,000 square foot facility designed for hosting international esports events and tournaments.

The facility is located in the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.EBN Esports City features an esports arena, the Orange Esports Club, EBN’s Headquarters, an esports café and three fully-equipped live broadcasting studios. 

You can read more about the story here. 

Listen to ESI Network, a suite of esports podcasts

AFK Gaming is India-based esports media and content company that aims to provide quality and consistent coverage about teams, players, tournaments and competitive video games with a primary focus on the Asian region.