The below trends and news stories are excerpted from our Value Added News Analysis service from January 2020.

Esports sponsorships

We see more sponsorships deal from both endemic and non-endemic brands.

  • Indonesia’s EVOS introduced AXIS (a multinational telecommunication company, subsidiary of Axiata) as their new sponsor
  • Red Bull and regional bank CIMB separately held esports tournaments in Indonesia
  • Konami opened a new esports Ginza school in Tokyo
  • Singapore-based Secretlab announced its partnership with G2
  • Chonburi FC (a leading Thai football club) entered a partnership with MS Cerberus
  • Gaming and esports media company Ampverse announces an exclusive partnership with Thai esports team Bacon Time
  • US-based esports organization Faze Clan signed an all Thai roster for PUBG Mobile.

Regulations

There are a number of important developments in games regulations.

  • Indonesia officially launched its first Esports Association to nurture professional gamers and introduce regulations for a potential domestic league
  • Japan’s Kagawa Prefectural Assembly held a discussion on January 10 regarding potential guidelines to restrict video game playing time among children
  • 13 nations held a signing ceremony to join the International Esports Federation in China
  • Singapore’s goods and service tax (GST) was extended to include overseas digital services including downloadable content such as mobile apps and online game
  • Esports-themed articles are included in Malay Language textbooks level 4 for high schoolers throughout the country

Disputes

  • KOEI Tecmo Games announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against Chinese mobile game company Hangzhou Jedi Technology Co., Ltd. for copyright infringement. KOEI Tecmo claimed that Hangzhou Jedi Technology Co., Ltd. has continually used copyrighted images and music from the Dynasty Warriors, Nobunaga’s Ambition, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Taikō Risshiden game series for its game apps’ web advertisements without permission.
  • Lowkey Esports owes their Vietnamese League of Legends team 57,620 USD since November 2019.

International cooperation

  • UK-based developers Double Eleven will open a new studio in Malaysia.
  • Riot Games announced that it has chosen Redd+E, a subsidiary of the Singapore-based Reddentes Sports, to handle broadcast distribution rights for the 2020 Pacific Championship Series (PCS) in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
  • The Indian Government has allowed Chinese company Huawei to participate in 5G trials. This comes as a clear statement to the US who has been pressurizing its allies and India to bar China from 5G deployment in their respective countries.
  • VNG announced that it plans to go global

Other

  • Rumble Royale, a local esports content creator group, called for their community to come together in support of the Taal volcano eruption victims in their #GamersforTaal charity stream in the Philippines
  • Garena cooperated with Department of Cultural Promotion of Thailand’s Ministry of Culture to bring a more Thai aspect to Arena of Valor.
  • Razer’s financial technology arm Razer Fintech and Sea (owner of Garena and Shopee) applied for a digital full bank license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore

The flow of news from the Asia games market is essential for companies that have an interest in the region. But language barriers, censorship, and the nuances of government-generated information make it difficult to determine the information that is critical to doing business. Niko’s Value Added News Analysis is a curated news service sent directly to your inbox. We provide critical news information, customized to your strategic areas of interest, along with our analysis on why it’s important. Learn more