E-sports in Hong Kong may get regular government-sponsored venue at Cyberport
The technology park has put forth a proposal for an in-house site with high-end facilities to boost rising industry
Hong Kong may get its first government-sponsored venue for e-sports, a growing industry seen as a potential growth engine for the city, if a technology park proposal is approved by authorities.
On Monday, Herman Lam Heung-yeung, head of Cyberport in Pok Fu Lam, revealed the plan to a Legislative Council panel. Lam said the park was exploring the idea of an in-house site equipped with high-end facilities. These include high-speed computers and multimedia broadcast systems.
Earlier this month, the government-owned park made the recommendation in a report to the Innovation and Technology Bureau. The aim was to provide a regular venue for holding more e-sports events – mostly video game tournaments – and related activities.
Is Hong Kong ready for e-sports and its economic growth?
As part of the plan, there was also a proposal to leverage on existing resources such as the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund, which offers HK$100,000 in seed money to eligible start-ups. The move was to encourage young industry entrants to develop games and apply emerging technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality.
“Cyberport will also join associations in the e-sports industry to discuss long-term development directions,” Lam said. “We will hold more activities to arouse interest in game development and to nurture young talent.”
The government has in recent years jumped on the e-sports bandwagon as annual revenues in the city’s video game industry were forecast to grow at a robust rate of 6.6 per cent and reach US$1 billion (HK$7.8 billion) by 2021, according to accounting firm PwC.
