3 minute read
CYBERPORT
Hong Kong
Esports in Asia’s World City
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AUTHOR Cyberport @cyberport_hk
hile Asia’s esports scene continues to boom, Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to build on and establish a lucrative esports ecosystem. Hong Kong’s first government-funded venue for esports is set to be launched at Cyberport in July. The inaugural event to be held at the esports arena at Cyberport will be a business conference, the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum (DELF), on 16th July. W
Cyberport Hong Kong is a digital technology community entity wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR government. It’s committed to becoming a leading force in developing the digital tech industry as a key economic driver of Hong Kong, and as such focuses on three major application clusters, FinTech, smart-living and digital entertainment.
Echoing the government initiative to boost Hong Kong as the Asian esports hub and kicking off the operation
of the esports arena, DELF will gather major industry stakeholders and technopreneurs, amplifying impactful discussions around the ecosystem, opportunities, challenges, technologies, entrepreneurship and talent cultivation.
DELF 2019 will present a comprehensive full-day esports focused programme. The principal forum will examine the global scene, regional and local dynamics, as well as breakout tracks to discuss technologies, career development, talent cultivation, and also entrepreneurship behind esports. It will also feature a highly anticipated Celebrity Invitational Game, and there’ll be backstage venue tours to boot.
On top of engaging the local esports community, Cyberport is also bringing international industry brands to Hong Kong. The global mobile games industry conference “Blockchain Gamer Connects (BGC)” will be on the same stage as a satellite event of DELF over 17-18 July. BGC is the first dedicated B2B blockchain games event spun off from the worldrenowned Pocket Gamers Connect series which has been well received in Helsinki, London, San Francisco and Jordan. It units thousands of professionals from the games and blockchain ecosystem to share insight, and ultimately generate business opportunities to grow the industry.
Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport, said: “Esports is already disrupting and revolutionising several industries around the globe and Cyberport is dedicated to advancing Hong Kong esports potential and help Hong Kong to thrive on its positioning and develop into a regional esports hub.
“With a series of upcoming engaging events, led by DELF 2019, alongside with different competitions, exhibitions, training, etc., I am confident that Cyberport is on its path to becoming a local esports and digital entertainment node.”
The HKSAR government has strengthened its support of the esports industry with HK$100million (£10million) allocated to Cyberport to promote esports development in Hong Kong, including equipping the Cyberport Arcade as a dedicated esports venue and implementing initiatives in nurturing technologies, talents and entrepreneurs.
Cyberport has rolled out two schemes to facilitate the development of the esports industry in April 2019. For nurturing esports talents, Cyberport initiated the Esports Internship Scheme to provide work experience for current students, new graduates or eligible young persons. Under this scheme, participating employers will be allocated up to HK$7,500 per month per intern for a minimum term of eight weeks, and up to a maximum duration of 12 months as an incentive to provide various internship placements. Cyberport will also arrange relevant training activities for the interns at regular intervals.
Another scheme is the Esports Industry Facilitation Scheme. The aim of this is to provide financial support for a variety of industry activities, including esports competitions and events, training activities and educational programmes, as well as outbound business exchanges and development activities.
The Esports Journal readers can enjoy complimentary admission to DELF (limited quota available, first-come-firstserved). Register now with discount code “mediacomp” at https://app.eventxtra.com/ registrations/67f64c16-31a6-4147-82ba0c70378dca0e
