KUALA LUMPUR: A group of Malaysian electronic sport (e-sport) athletes created history this weekend when they won US$1.4 million (RM5.6 million) in the wildly popular competitive game Dota 2.
While the country awaits its first gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, local e-sport fans rejoiced after team Fnatic clinched fourth place at The International Dota 2 tournament held in Seattle, the United States.
The professional gamers, aged between 20 and 25, entered the competition as underdogs but exceeded all expectations when they defeated some of the top teams from Europe and Asia.
Despite performing poorly in the group stages, Yeik Nai Zheng (MidOne), Adam Erwann Shah (343), Chong Xin Khoo (Ohaiyo) and Chai Yee Fung (Mushi) miraculously clawed back from what appeared to be certain defeat and staged some of the biggest upsets of the tournament.
Fnatic's fifth player, Djardel Jicko Mampusti (DJ), 21, is a professional Dota 2 player from the Philippines.
Their Cinderella run, however, came to an excruciating end after they were defeated by North American outfit Digital Chaos in the lower bracket semi-final.
"How I wish this year would be my last. Sorry for disappointing you guys again. (I will) try harder next time," said 25-year-old team captain Chai on his Facebook page.
Chai, who has already earned more than RM1.9 million prior to this year's tournament, is a role model for many e-sport fans and is widely regarded as the "Lee Chong Wei" of Dota 2.
Despite the loss, Chai and his teammates will walk away with RM5.6 million, the highest prize money ever won by a Southeast Asian Dota 2 team since the inception of The International in 2011.
The last time a Malaysian team performed well in the prestigious tournament was in 2013 when Orange Esports, also captained by Chai, bagged third place, albeit with a lower cash prize of RM1.15 million.
For the uninitiated, Dota 2 is a multiplayer online video game in which two teams of five players compete to collectively destroy a large structure defended by the opposing team, known as the "Ancient", while defending their own.
The total prize pool of this year's The International is almost US$21 million (RM84.4 million), with the eventual champions taking home the lion's share of US$9 million.
The matches were played in front of a sold-out crowd at the KeyArena stadium in Seattle and were "streamed" live to millions of viewers around the world.
To put things in perspective, the Badminton Super Series Masters Finals offers a total prize pool of RM2 million, while the total pot of prize money handed out at Le Tour de France this year amounted to RM10.3 million.
With e-sport titles like Dota 2 gaining worldwide attention, a growing number of youths are making a living out of playing computer games. E-sports is slowly becoming on par with traditional sports.