Revenge of the Nerds

Esports is now officially a billion-dollar industry. Here’s how video games are making it big in Asia, and why companies are rushing to get their head in the game

- Coco Marett

It was just one year ago that Yeh Man Ho, who is better known in the booming world of esports by the alias “hotdog29”, left his job in construction to become a full-time professional video gamer. He has already raked in US$60,000 in prize money on top of lucrative sponsorship deals and his beginner’s base salary as a team member of Talon Esports, a Hong Kong-based organisation that scouts and trains some of the most promising players throughout Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea.

Hotdog29’s game of choice is Street Fighter V. In November 2019, he came in first in the Capcom Pro Tour North American Regional Finals in Las Vegas, the premier league for the iconic game, which brings together its biggest fans and the world’s best players. Not bad for his first year. “Street Fighter, to me, isn’t a game. I don’t play it for fun,” he says. “It’s my career. I treat it very seriously and I train very hard”.