echo Written by: Hiba Azhari
Edited by: Gan Pei Zoe
On the 6th of march, the Sunway Esports Club held their monthly “Bondfire”, a meeting for all gamers of all genres, skill levels, and backgrounds to come together to share their passion for esports.
Esports events are relatively new with the first-ever event happening only in 1972. With the rapid development of technology and the growth of the internet, the events saw a massive surge in popularity in recent years turning them into a billion-dollar industry with a viewership rivaling that of traditional sports. Esports are no doubt making their mark in our culture and Sunway is no exception.
The room was lively with the discussions and excitement of Sunway’s gaming community – the old and the new. As the attendees walked in, they saw the game stations available namely: Tekken7, SmashBros, Fifa20, and CS:GO, all wildly popular competitive games. They had the choice to either join in or start their own groups to play other games of their choice on laptops and phones. The club’s committees were at the registration booth with the Tekken leaderboard and the club’s jerseys which were for sale.
All of the consoles were sponsored by local gaming communities and were made available to the Sunway Esports Club members for the entirety of the three-hour event. Community representatives and club committee members circled the room encouraging attendees to join the games and the conversations, creating a light-hearted and welcoming environment.
Among the event’s sponsors was INC or InfiniteCarnage, a gaming community from the nearby GamesFusion gaming lounge. According to Adam – the community’s representative – INC has become one of the largest organizers in Malaysia’s Fighting Games Community (FGC) and hopes to continue to garner more popularity for fighting games. They are working to grow the community by sponsoring events such as the BondFire in addition to organizing their own events. They provided PS4s, controllers, and screens for the event.
Many of the attendees were new club members who had recently joined the esports club. They had had a welcoming meeting one month ago where they were introduced to the club with a few ice-breaking activities. This was their first time attending one of the club’s gaming events.
Throughout the event, attendees shifted between game stations, either playing for fun or competing for a place on the leaderboard. A few were also enjoying snacks and friendly chats around the room.
According to Clarisse, the Sunway Esports Club’s PR representative, this is the club’s second-ever BondFire, the last having been in December 2019, and three new games have already been added to the mix. In collaboration with Monash & Taylor’s esports communities, they hope to secure more sponsorships and provide the club with more gaming options and exclusive benefits in the future. They also plan to establish the BondFire as a regular monthly event with the venue alternating between Sunway and Taylors, meaning members get to mingle and make friends with gamers across the three universities.
The beauty of sports, whether they’re traditional or esports, is in their ability to passionately unite groups of people in spite of differences in background. For this reason, the BondFire is a great place for all esports lovers to come together and simply have a good time!
More info on the club’s past and future events can be found on their Facebook page: Sunway Esports Club
