IT shopping mall Pantip Pratunam has collaborated with the public and private sectors to support the Thai e-sports industry, aiming to encourage the younger generation to become more competitive on the global stage.
The shopping mall is investing in developing an e-sports competition venue because it received great feedback from branded partners the past two years after hosting many gaming events.
Veerarit Somboonsub, general manager of Asset World Estate, said Pantip Pratunam is hosting Pantip E-Sport Academy X U-League 2018 to encourage Thai students interested in e-sports to accelerate their gaming skills for further competition on the global stage.
Mr Veerarit said Pantip E-Sport Academy X U-League 2018 is the largest e-sports event in Thailand at the higher education or university level.
The upcoming U-League event will provide both information and workshops to Thai students to give them a better understanding of the e-sports industry, he said.
"The event would be good opportunity for every participant and beneficial to them in the future as they can work in the industry and earn money from gaming," said Mr Veerarit.
Support from partners is important for a sustainable e-sports industry and it will help strengthen e-sports in higher education, he said.
Mr Veerarit said Pantip Pratunam is widely acceptable and renowned gaming competition organiser in terms of staff and venue. Investing more in the upcoming event will help the shopping mall secure Thailand's reputation as a gaming hub.
The U-League 2018 is jointly supported by Pantip Pratunam, Lenovo Thailand, JIB IT store and Thailand's leading out-of-home media operator Plan B Media. The competition will run from July to November.
The event has been supported by global brands such as RAZER, Corsair, Antec, Sennheiser, GALAX, NZXT and Tt eSports together with teams managing servers and live broadcasting such as ByteArk as well as professional gamecasters from Dota 2 and CS:GO.
He said e-sports also creates more job opportunities, such as for gamecasters, designers and also creators.
"I believe Thailand's e-sports industry will take a leap in growth thanks to support from the public and private sectors," Mr Veerarit said.