Publications
Partners
The word ‘e-sports’ did not officially exist when South Africa entered the age of democracy in 1994, and still does not exist according to the Collins dictionary, despite its definition having been coined in October 1972.
That’s when a group of computer science students at Stanford University in the US took part in what was widely regarded as the first video game tournament.
Called Spacewar, it was an iconic battleship game that pitted players against each other in a dogfight of sorts.
The grand prize at this tournament, christened the Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics, was a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine, with a sports reporter and photographer covering the “gala event”. Oh, and free beer was also on offer.
Fast-forward to 2020 and the worldwide lockdown, which has seen a spike in the number of people taking to online games – specifically, the Fifa football-based video game from Electronic Arts (EA).
Fifa is the most popular sports video game in history, having sold about 300 million copies since it first appeared in 1993.
Last month, South Africa’s top-ranked gamer, Thabo “YvngSavage” Moloi, was chosen to represent the country in a Fifa e-sports charity tournament – the inaugural Fifa eNations Stay n Play Charity Cup – alongside Mamelodi Sundowns star Sibusiso Vilakazi, rapper Cassper Nyovest and Proteas cricketer Andile Phehlukwayo.
Moloi (18), a matriculant from Gauteng, led the four-member eBafana Bafana team.
His gaming journey began in 2008, when he first picked up a gaming control at the age of six.
“My dad randomly brought home a console; it was a surprise. I was so bad that I would lose to the computer all the time, but I persevered,” Moloi told City Press.
In 2018, playing in his maiden tournament, Moloi beat more than 500 other gamers to claim the R400 000 prize money.
“All I wanted was to win just one game, to be honest. I certainly exceeded my expectations [by winning].”
What’s remarkable is that Moloi was up against e-sports athletes who had already won tournaments and were signed to big-name teams.
One of them was Zuhair Ebrahim, who had won the previous year’s competition and was part of Orlando Pirates’ e-sports team.
“In 2017, when I first started watching Fifa competitively, I didn’t have the latest console to practise on,” said Moloi.
“I saved my lunch money and asked my parents to help me. That’s how I got a second-hand PlayStation 4 [PS4],” said Moloi, who is ranked number one in South Africa.
Sam “Tech Girl” Wright, who has spent some time with Moloi on the gaming circuit and is a South African e-sports shoutcaster (commentator in e-sports speak), recalled how Moloi bought prepaid data each week so he could play online.
Read: Fifa rankings remain virtually unchanged as football grapples with pandemic
“Data costs and access are still issues for Fifa players locally,” said Wright, adding that the cost of consoles and a new game each year “leaves us at the mercy of international markets”.
It was also a struggle to fund players to travel overseas and compete against the world’s best, which was hampering the growth of e-sports here, she added. Add to this South Africa’s socioeconomic inequalities, and the struggle continues.
Many of the top global players supplement their prize money, which can amount to anywhere between $100 000 (R1.9 million) and $200 000, with sponsorship deals – which South Africa hasn’t seen much of.
Take one of Moloi’s opponents in last month’s eNations Cup: Mossad “MSdossary” Aldossary, who hails from Saudi Arabia. A former eWorld Cup champion and a multitournament winner, he has earned more than $550 000 in prize money alone over the past four years, according to esportsearnings.com.
In October, Aldossary became the first e-sports player signed to Jay-Z’s sports management company, Roc Nation Sports. This led to more sponsorship deals.
For his part, Moloi has signed with South African company Goliath Gaming, which helps with training camps and securing overseas funding for tournaments. But the road to securing local big-name sponsors is rocky.
Moloi lost against Aldossary 3-1 during last week’s tournament.
“I think the upper echelons of South African players can definitely compete against those guys,” said Moloi.
For him, though, travelling overseas has come with a series of challenges.
The first tournament he was invited to had to be turned down as his passport arrived two days late. He was unable to accept his second tournament invitation because of issues with EA Sports.
He eventually made it to the EA Sports Fifa 20 Global Series tournament in Dubai, but the competition was then cancelled because of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Despite these challenges, Wright believes Moloi’s story is compelling and that the lockdown has helped him as a gamer, as well as the development of e-sports in South Africa, in a major way.
For now, Moloi is focusing on the next season, when the new Fifa 21 game comes out and the qualifiers and league matches begin.
 |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
