Tech talk: Singapore's surprising esports trends revealed

Chances are, you probably have a friend (or a friend of a friend) who doesn't sleep because they're focused on trying to climb the ranks in "Dota 2" or "MLBB" (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang).

The Singapore esports scene is big — let's not forget that our Little Red Dot hosted The International (TI) at Suntec in Nov 2022, the biggest esports tournament by prize money in the world — and getting bigger.

So, when YouGov released an analysis on the local esports scene, I was extremely interested with their findings:

59 per cent of Singaporeans aged 18-34 follow esports

That percentage makes up just over half of millennial and Gen-Z Singaporeans. Of this number, 67 per cent are male, and 71 per cent are working full-time. That probably means that the majority are working adults (like myself) with disposal income to spend on in-game items and power-ups.

It's also awesome to see that 33 per cent are female, and I'm sure that's not just with regard to gamers, but also those involved in esports through casting, coaching, or even game development — like these women around the world making their mark in the video game industry.

30 per cent of Singaporeans generally spend >1 hour and <7 hours gaming on mobile/handheld console weekly

With the number of teens and young adults tapping away on their screens on the MRT, I thought this number would be way higher. According to the report, 17 per cent play >7 hours and <14 hours, while 27 per cent of Singaporean gamers play under one hour a week.

FIFA (now EA FC) is the most popular esports game in Singapore

You'd think it would be "Dota 2", "League of Legends" (LoL), or "MLBB" that would top this list, but no. YouGov's survey found that 24 per cent of Singaporeans love "FIFA" aka "EA FC", with "Call of Duty" (23 per cent), "League of Legends" (21 per cent), "Call of Duty: Mobile" (20per cent), and "Dota 2" (17 per cent) following suit.

It's odd that "MLBB" did not even make the cut, considering the number of Singaporeans who make up the top spots in the game's ranks. I asked my non-gamer wife, and she can name friends who play "Dota", "LoL", or "MLBB" but not a single person who plays "Call of Duty". AFAIK, it's a more popular game in the US.

91 per cent of Singaporean followers of games are aware of global leagues and events, while 82 per cent are aware of regional leagues and events.

This isn't a surprise, especially with the number of esports tournaments getting mainstream coverage.

What's shocking about the results of the YouGov study are the global tournaments that Singaporeans surveyed listed: "Call of Duty League" (21 per cent), followed by "Call of Duty: Mobile World Championship" (21 per cent), "League of Legends World Championship" (19 per cent), "FIFA Global Series" (16 per cent), and "Apex Legends Global Series" (16 per cent). "Call of Duty", again? I understand "FIFA" making the list, as Singapore did reach the knockout rounds of the FIFAe Nations Cup last year.

The survey results for regional tournaments paint a more familiar picture: "Esports Championships East Asia" (18 per cent), "League of Legends Championship Series" (17 per cent), "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League" (16 per cent), "League of Legends Champions Korea" (14 per cent), "Garena Challenger Series" (14 per cent). These are mainly tournaments for "LoL" and "MLBB".

It's great to see support for Singapore's own "MLBB" pro league. But where is "Valorant" in this list? Our homegrown team Paper Rex finished 2nd in Valorant Champions 2023, the game's annual world championship tournament (winning US$400,000 (S$532,400)) so I thought that that achievement would hype up the "Valorant" scene here.

Singapore's fav global esports team is Cloud9, while our fav regional esports team is EVOS.

US-based teams dominate the top five global teams Singaporeans support. At the top is Cloud9 (13 per cent), followed by Complexity Gaming (10 per cent), Evil Geniuses (10 per cent), T1 (nine per cent), and Counter Logic Gaming (nine per cent). The only non-American team is unsurprisingly T1; the South Korean side is undoubtedly one of the best "LoL" teams in the world.

On the regional side, no.1 on the list is Southeast Asian EVOS Esports (13 per cent), then Damwon Esports (11 per cent), DetonatioN Gaming (10 per cent), DRX (nine per cent), and Sandbox (eight per cent). "LoL" teams dominate the list, and rightly so — but none of the pro "MLBB" SG teams made the list.

These low percentages might mean those surveyed shouted out a mix of teams. "Esports" could mean a variety of games, each with their own pro teams. Some top teams I can think of that didn't make top five include Sentinels, Fnatic, JD Gaming, PSG Esports… the list goes on.

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This article was first published in Wonderwall.sg.