JOHOR BARU: Despite being a brand new team, a group of talented young gamers walked away RM10,000 richer after winning the Arena of Valor tournament held during the GegaRia Fest at Angsana Johor Baru Mall here today.
Team leader Chin Wei Song, 24, from Subang, said his squad’s strong discipline and ability to exploit their opponents’ mistakes granted them a relatively easy road to the championship.
“We formed this team barely four months ago after meeting via an online chat group.
“But our strong teamwork and understanding of the game really made the difference. That was the key and secret to our success,” said a jubilant Chin after sweeping aside other top competitors in the day-long tourney.
Arena of Valor is a smash-hit competitive mobile game that has over 80 million daily active players and 200 million monthly active players. It is considered an emerging Esport title that has spawned hundreds of competitions worldwide.
Besides Chin, team M8Hexa.Alpha is made up of Lim Yong Sheng, 24, from Melaka, Chan Choung Guan, 20, from Puchong, Chen Jing Jie, 23, from Pekan Nanas, and Foo Ce Yon, 22, from Batu Caves.
The team battled their way through the group stages and earned a berth in the final, which was held at the GegaRia Entertainment Zone.
By clinching first place, the rookie squad won RM10,000 courtesy of Media Prima Berhad.
The prize money was handed to the winners by Media Prima Digital Group General Manager Nicholas Sagau.
“The fest is truly something else as it promotes our youth to show off their talent in gaming. This is a positive way to change the general perception that online virtual gaming is only a waste of time,” he said after presenting the prizes.