KUALA LUMPUR: Engineering student Wan Muhamad Amirin Sofi, 21, from Kelantan, can drive home in style to his hometown for the year-end holiday after winning the Live Android Mobile Game Tournament: World War III.
He walks away with a brand new Peugeot 208 1.6 Allure, beating other players who competed in the online game on the Celcom network.
The Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka student says he played the games six times, spending about 45 minutes per game.
"I didn't expect to win it because there are many people playing it," says Wan Muhamad Amirin.
10 players walk away with exciting prizes, which include a Naza NX125R motorcycle, Panasonic 50-inch LED TV, and Apple and Samsung premium products.
The online tournament was launched on June 16, 2015 by game developer Techninier Sdn Bhd, in collaboration with Celcom Axiata Berhad.
Developed by Techninier, the World War III game is a flashback to the retro plane shooting video arcade genre. It's a revival of the popular 8-bit arcade game, where gamers have to dodge and weave their way through battle zones filled with enemy bomber planes and bullets.
Techninier's CEO Datuk Lion Peh says with the rising number of gamers subscribed on Celcom's network, the potential of tournament-styled games like Wordl War III is big here in Malaysia.
"This is just the beginning, we will be bringing more mobile games soon. Our future planes involve a permanent mobile gaming platform that allows gamers to generate actual money," he says at the prize-giving ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, Celcom Axiata's head of brand management, Masdiana Sulaiman says that seamless network garnered the attention and interest of many youth today who love to play mobile games continuously.
"Via a fast and reliable network, we look forward for partnerships that would enable customers to play online games to their heart's content," she says, adding that Celcom may organise more game tournaments in the near future.
The Malaysian games industry is currently at nascent stage with a room to grow.
Based on the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media outlook 2013-2017, Malaysia's game market worth RM727 million in 2013 and expected to grow 20 percent to RM868.70 million by 2017.
Based on Satista's statistic, the country's mobile gaming user penetration is at 19.77 percent now and is expected to hit 26.50 in year 2020.