As of 2019, Malaysia’s 20.1 million gamers spent an impressive $673 million on games, making it one of the biggest games markets in Southeast Asia (in terms of absolute revenues). Out of this 75% play games on mobile. The Liveatpc team speaks Chow Tuck Mun, Head of Yoodo (TM), Kevin Wong, Manager Yoodo Gank (KW) and ManParang, Team Captain Yoodo Gank (MP) on how on Yoodo has been supporting the growth of e-sports and teams involved in the industry in Malaysia.

• How is Yoodo supporting the Malaysian teams?

TM: When it comes to support there are two ways to look at it. The first one is specifically for our team of e-sports players – whether it is Yoodo Gank or Yoodo FV. Secondly, is our support for the gaming community as a whole.

When it comes to our rosters of e-sports players, we put all of our resources into empowering them to be the very best they can be and to providing them with access to all the opportunities to showcase this talent. Whether it is sponsoring the team financially, providing allowances, jerseys, travel costs, accommodation, mobile data plans and more, we are 100% behind our teams.

For instance, Yoodo together with the team from Gank Asia, worked together to establish Yoodo Gank, evolved its squad make-up and skills to ultimately create the region’s best PUBG MOBILE team. This is the kind of results you can expect when Yoodo gears up its support to their home team.

But it isn’t just about our group of players, we want to help every gamer out there to achieve their best as well. This is why we have invested heavily in so many esports tournaments. We are committed to unearthing new talents and improving the level of competition across the country.

Competition breeds success and by making the competition better we are indirectly pushing our players to rise to the occasion and better ourselves as well. This is how the industry will develop; this is how we will fortify Malaysia’s position in the global gaming landscape. And one of the reasons why Yoodo will continue supporting all Malaysian gamers through more unique experiences and tournaments in the future.

• What were the personal experiences of the team like in winning the PUBG MOBILE Pro League SEA Finals and what was the process for the preparation?

 KW: The Yoodo Gank boys were absolutely ecstatic about their win. This is certainly the teams’ biggest victory to date and to be able to be crowned the best in Southeast Asia was truly special.

They had been training incredibly hard in the weeks leading up to the PUBG MOBILE Pro League SEA Finals with long-hours of training on a nearly daily basis. But all that hard work has paid off and now the team is looking forward to making Malaysia proud on the world’s stage during the upcoming PUBG MOBILE World League.

MP: We were beyond excited about our win. Day 1 had started very promisingly with a chicken dinner right out of the gate simultaneously racking up 15 kills in match 1.

We just put our heads down and got down to business from there. Our goal was to be as close to the top for every match and I think for the most part we succeeded.

The weeks and months of training on new tactics and communication amongst the team really paid off.  It was a huge stage for us, with the stakes so high – getting to represent Malaysia in the World League, nerves were also high. But thanks to our training we focused on the task at hand and took it one match at a time.

• How was the team formed and how has it evolved throughout the journey to winning the League?

 TM: We formed Yoodo Gank by collaborating with Gank Asia in 2019. Back then the team went by the name Gank FTY; they had just come off the back of being crowned Malaysia’s first-ever PUBG MOBILE National Championship (PMNC) winners – a tournament wherein Yoodo served as the Official Digital Telco.

This offered us first-hand knowledge of the skill and potential of the team. As soon as they were crowned champs, our team got to work in contacting their representatives. We had been searching for our next step forward in the gaming segment and after witnessing their amazing performances we knew what we needed to do.

Less than 2 months later, we unveiled Yoodo Gank as our very first e-sports team. We worked tirelessly to help empower the team in every way possible, whether it was honing their skills through trainings or increasing their presence through online profiling through videos, vlogs and more.

Today there is no questioning that Yoodo Gank is the country’s most popular PUBG MOBILE esports team and after their win at the PMPL SEA Finals they are official the region’s very best PUBG MOBILE team as well.

KW: When the boys won Malaysia’s very first PMNC, we knew that we were headed for bigger and better things. We just needed to find the right partner to support our ambitions and match our desire for growth.

So when Yoodo approached us after the win and we saw their hunger to achieve big things within the esports scene – we knew that they were the right fit for us.

Thanks to Yoodo’s backing, we have managed to invest significantly in the team. Whether it was coaching, gear, travel arrangements or even participating in previously less accessible tournaments. All of this has paved the way for the team to continuously improve and grow.

This desire for greatness has also seen the team roster evolve over the past year. With our strategic scouting and connections coupled with Yoodo’s backing, we believe we have handcrafted the most well-rounded team. ManParang and Draxx bring with them a great deal of experience in top level tournaments and of course are long standing members of Yoodo Gank bringing with them that Yoodo philosophy and culture.

Meanwhile, Fredo and Jumper have added a new dynamic to the team bringing with them a huge following as well as new skills and tactics.

The current team line-up gels very well together and this chemistry has already paid-off with the amazing win at the PMPL SEA Finals. With this approach and Yoodo’s backing, we are confident of achieving great things during the World League.

• What are Yoodo’s other e-sports investments and why is the industry seen as a valuable market space for Yoodo?

TM: Yoodo’s e-sports involvement covers many aspects. Yoodo has gotten involved in developing e-sport teams, sponsoring or organising tournaments and providing high speed data connectivity buckets for specific games. In terms of e-sport teams, we are well known in the industry for Yoodo Gank who is the nation’s most popular PUBG Mobile team.

This team made the country proud by winning the PUBG Mobile Pro League Southeast Asia Finals. Besides Yoodo Gank, we also announced Yoodo FV that is our very own roster of competitive fighting game players.

As for e-sports tournaments, Yoodo started with being the Official Digital Telco for the very first PUBG Mobile National Championship (PMNC) 2018. This continued with PMNC 2019 and also the PUBG Mobile Campus Championship (PMCC) 2019. We’ve also started being involved in the other popular mobile games, driving the success of various tournaments including the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Malaysia & Singapore Season 5 and ESL MY Championship 2020 – Call of Duty Mobile Season 1.

As we speak, we have 2 different Yoodo-led esports competitions on-going. First is the Yoodo FV Major Cup 2020 where the winners of our Tekken 7 and Street Fighter V tournaments gets a chance to represent the country on an international stage at EVO 2021 in Las Vegas.

Then we have the recently announced Yoodo Stay at Home Cup which is encouraging gamers to have fun even while staying at home with community level tournaments for some of the most popular games including Mobile Legends and PUBG Mobile. I am also excited to share with you that Yoodo will be taking our investment in gaming further in the near future by leading Kejohanan E-Sukan Kampus Semester 3.

•  Is Yoodo looking to nurture any other e-sport games in the country?

TM: While we may have started with PUBG MOBILE, our commitment to gaming goes much deeper. In terms of e-sports tournaments, we have already ventured out to drive the success of Mobile Legends and Call of Duty Mobile tournaments with the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Malaysia and Singapore Season 5, ESL MY Championship 2020 – Call of Duty Mobile Season 1. These gamers will also be featured in the upcoming Kejohanan E-Sukan Kampus Semester 3.

We are equally supportive of competitive fighting games as reflected in the recently announced Yoodo FV Major Cup 2020 as well as the launch of our very own roster of competitive fighting game players in the form of Yoodo

In the coming months, we will continue to look into new ways to support the eports community while bringing in even more unique experiences for our fans.