Esports in Southeast Asia is fast growing, and global organisations are taking note.
We could soon see an OG squad based in Southeast Asia, though what game they will be competing in is yet unknown.
But before that happens, OG’s CEO JMR Luna told Yahoo Esports SEA that he would be moving to the region to “better understand and create the foundational structure” for the org.
While he did not say which country he would reside in, he did say Singapore was “expensive”, which is unsurprising given the country is the fifth most expensive city globally.
Luna joins Team Secret’s CEO John Yao in moving to Southeast Asia as European esports organisations look towards the east for new business opportunities.
“I can’t tell you exactly our plan. But what I can do, what I can tell you is that Dota is still our priority. We want to captivate and tantalise the Dota audience that we have in this region. And once we do that, I think entering into other titles could be something that we looked at, but it’s not going to be our entrance,” said Luna in an exclusive interview with Yahoo Esports SEA.
And first up on Luna’s list is to hire business development people and experts in the region.
By uprooting himself and coming to SEA, Luna said he would be able to get a “first-hand impression” of how locals communicate, share stories and the storytelling.
Once the OG CEO gets enough data, he plans to have macro and micro level strategies for each country, and then decide on which one to enter first.
When asked about what considerations he and the organisation would factor in, Luna said he would be picking the country that best creates impact and traction. Operation costs would also be another factor.
Luna also revealed plans to travel all around the region, so he could have “face-to-face time” with locals.
He shared that he would be looking at how people in the region were consuming content, and identify opportunities for OG to break into, citing the diversity of Southeast Asia’s population as a reason for him wanting to spend more time to gain an understanding.
Luna explained he would be looking into things such as what sort of contents do people in the region consume, whether they prefer competitive content, or if they liked blog or shows.
Or perhaps, if countries here are mobile first — and they mostly are — then OG needs to produce shorter content to hook its audiences.
“Nobody watches 20 minutes or 30 minutes on their phone. So I will say first, appetite. Second, our ability to carve our own path into the market,” said Luna.
“Then we need to figure the cost versus the revenue or the opportunity. Not everything has to be cash positive, but we need to figure out if we’re gonna spend money, what is ultimately the business strategic foothold that we were trying to achieve. If I’m trying to own Dota in this region, that could be just by itself a great thing.”
Aloysius Low is an ex-CNET editor with more than 15 years of experience. He’s really into cats and is currently reviewing products at canbuyornot.com
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