We are introducing Raveen Wijayatilake, the president of “Sri Lanka e-Sports Association (SLESA)”. SLESA is the sole and representative e-sports federation of Sri Lanka, which newly joined as one of the respectful IeSF members. We would like to share his vision and passion toward e-sports with you all.
- How long have you been working in e-sports field and what motivation brought you into this field?
I have been following international e-Sports from 2004, but only took an active role in developing Sri Lankan e-Sports in 2007. I was passionate about both video games and sports from an early age ? leading my school teams in Tennis, Football and Cricket and being very active in local gaming cafes at the same time. The overlapping of competition and video games came naturally to me. I used to watch events like WCG and ESWC and fantasize about the day that Sri Lanka would hold similar events. During the 2007 and 2008 period, I reached a point where I was in position to start setting the foundation for what e-Sports in Sri Lanka is today.
- Please tell us briefly about beginning, history, and current status of e-sports market in Sri Lanka.
The e-Sports phenomenon came very late to Sri Lanka, with a lot of barriers. There existed gaming cafes, where youngsters would get together and play Warcraft III and Counter-Strike 1.6 over LAN. At this point, e-Sports didn’t exist in a proper format ? but cafes used to hold mini-tournaments for their members with ad hoc rules and regulations. In 2007 we formed the online community “Gamer.LK”, which was the catalyst for bringing proper e-Sports to Sri Lanka. It started with organized online weekend sessions called “Weekend Gaming” where about 15 ? 30 members would login and connect to a home-hosted Counter-Strike 1.6 server. This was at a time that dedicated gaming servers didn’t exist in Sri Lanka. From there, with weekend gaming growing at a rapid pace, Gamer.LK introduced the first 32 slot dedicated Counter-Strike 1.6 server. This proved to be hugely popular, and with that came more interest in the game-server hosting business. The first official inter-clan online Counter-Strike 1.6 match was played in December 2007. This was the beginning of the clan scene in Sri Lanka.
Fast forward 4 years and we have several large and established clans with members exceeding 500+ with hundreds more smaller active clans. Frequent gaming tournaments held to international standards, and one large scale regional tournament held annually. We have participated in WCG, IeSF and other national tournaments abroad (ICGC etc). We have made significant strides in getting e-Sports noticed by Sri Lankas marketing industry and Governmental organizations. The Sri Lanka Cyber Games 2011 tournament was opened by Secretary to the Ministry of Sports of Sri Lanka, where he promised his full support for pushing e-Sports forward as the sport of the future.
- Please give us introduction of “SLeSA” and major projects of it.
The Sri Lanka Electronic Sports Association (SLeSA) is Sri Lanka’s only association dedicated to the growth and development of e-Sports in the country. It consists of a number of Sri Lankan organisations involved and contributing to the Sri Lankan e-Sports scene today. SLeSA oversees the organization and conduct of all major LAN and online tournaments in Sri Lanka, with plans to introduce a Gamer-ID for Sri Lankan gamers. It is also the sole association pushing for e-Sports to be recognized as an official sport in Sri Lanka.
- What are the policies of Sri Lanka government towards e-sports in the country? And how do these policies effect on the e-sports in Sri Lanka?
The Sri Lanka e-Sports Association has been working closely with the Sri Lankan government in making it aware of e-Sports and the e-Sports situation in Sri Lanka. Previously, we made significant progress in educating the Sports Ministry as to what e-Sports is and what our plans for e-Sports is in Sri Lanka. The Sports Ministry was eager to learn more about this new sport and did extensive research into the subject of e-Sports world wide. SLeSA also produced a proposal which contained all information about e-Sports internationally and in Sri Lanka, along with the cognitive/social/economic benefits of supporting the sport. We took a large step forward this year by inviting the Secretary to Sports Ministry, Mr. Udaya Seneviratne to open the Sri Lanka Cyber Games 2011 championship. He pledged his support to push e-Sports forward as the sport of the future.
- what do you expect ‘SLeSA’ can contribute to global e-sports?
As the e-Sports scene in Sri Lanka grows, our capability to get involved in international e-Sports will increase greatly. Greater participation in international tournaments will be a first step for us. With more emphasis and exposure given to e-Sports, the quality and skill level of Sri Lankan cyber-athletes is expected to increase. We already have talented cyber-athletes today. That way, we can contribute in the form of increased participation and more competitive matches at international e-Sports events.?On a more long-term basis, SLeSA along with the cooperation of other South Asian countries, plan on developing e-Sports in South Asia. e-Sports has a long way to go in South Asia, if compared to other continents such as Europe etc. SLeSA has spoken to several e-Sports leaders in South Asia and have made plans to get together and work towards improving e-Sports within the continent ? a realistic and reachable goal.
- What do you think should necessarily be taken to raise and develop e-sports in Asia or boarder countries of Sri Lanka?
Regional cooperation will play a key role in improving e-Sports in Asia. However, true improvement can only be seen when put against other countries in the region. A regional tournament that involved all South Asian countries is something that should be established and organized collectively by all South Asian countries. The geographical proximity and overlap in large company presence in some of the countries should be taken advantage of when considering funding of large-scale tournaments. This is something is lacking at the moment, but the first steps have been taken to create change.
- If there is any recommendation or supplement point that you want to comment on IeSF for being the global leader of e-sports, please tell us.
The IeSF has taken great initiative in consolidating international e-Sports with the formation of a governing body. Once the countries that already support e-Sports have been registered as members and the IeSF membership is at a stable state, it is important to push forward to spreading the joy of e-Sports to countries. Introductory workshops and establishing local organizations with interested youth will go a long way in spreading the word. This is where the IeSF should step in introduce and educate people about e-Sports. Enlighten them that the past-time they enjoy can be pushed forward and taken more seriously that it can be more than just a waste of time as perceived by the general populous.
