After speaking with Andrew Hou, President of Acer Asia Pan Pacific and Darren Simmons, Oceanic Managing Director of Acer it’s clear that Acer views esports as something much more than simply games and hardware. They might be the fundamental cornerstones of esports, but for Acer, esports is something more.
Hou describes Acer’s view of esports as an ecosystem.
This ecosystem can provide a lot of potential for young people and their careers. In this case, Acer, as a brand, not only wants to sell more porducts, but to help young people get to know the industry and where they can start and which area can become their long term career.
To that point, Hou describes how Acer’s esports position is one of three pillars;
- Young Talent
- Government Support
- Platforms
Acer Esports
Regarding recruiting young talent and seeking out the best players, Acer, especially in the APAC region, works with schools, colleges and universities, to source players. That’s not all though.
Acer is so invested in esports that it works with these educational institutions to create gaming classrooms, gaming societies and even to assist the school in the creation of esports/gaming departments.
“That way we can have young people and young talent getting into the industry and knowing they have a clear career path,” Hou said.
Hou went on to explain that Acer will work with local governments in each region to understand the policies of the country regarding esports. It goes further though, with Acer helping these governments create and build the esports ecosystem within their region.
The third and final pillar of the ecosystem is or Acer to provide a platform for the young talent to use their esports skills.
In different countries we [Acer] have supported many, many esports competitions. And that’s why the Predator League is in its second year – Andrew Hou President of Acer Asia Pan Pacific
Hou explained that in the first year of the Predator League there were far fewer countries and teams involved, but due to Acer’s support of esports as an ecosystem, in its second year, there are 16 countries and over 3500 teams who have competed.
“We [Acer] don’t only want to sell PCs. We want to be responsible for helping young people find their way and help this ecosystem to grow and become bigger,” Hou said.
Acer also ensures that the Predator League is open to all players and not restricted to professional esports athletes. Hou said that in the early stages of planning the Predator League there were discussions around separating Pros from Amateurs, but he felt it was too difficult to achieve and went against what Acer was trying to achieve.
When it comes to Australia, the three pillars were basically already in place. Simmons explained how Acer had long been involved in education and had recently broadened that by working in VR with schools. To add a focus on esports to that was a relatively simple step.
It’s certainly a noble goal and Acer’s dedication to esports, not just as entertainment, is an excellent sign of the future that esports has.
Thanks to Andrew Hou and Darren Simmons for their time.
Leo Stevenson travelled to Bangkok, Thailand as a guest of Acer. All transport, accommodation and meals were provided by Acer.
