Hatten Technology, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Hatten Land, has entered into two separate collaborations with Kitamen Holdings and the Melaka eSports Association (MEA), two leading eSports organisations in Malaysia.
A joint venture agreement (JVA) was entered into with Kitamen where both parties will leverage on their collective resources and networks to promote eSports and work together in specific eSports-related activities.
Under the JVA, Kitamen and Hatten Technology will set up a joint venture company (JVCo), where Kitamen will hold 40% of the shares. Hatten Technology will hold the remaining 60%. The JVCo will collaborate and organize a series of events such as community and youth eSports tournaments and events. It will also conduct eSports coaching to support and develop the eSports community, reads the statement released by Hatten Technology.
To promote eSports and community building activities in Element X, Hatten Land’s large-scale integrated eSports hub, Hatten Technologies will put in RM1 million ($320,898) to the JVCo in a 12-month time frame. Hatten Technologies will then put in a further RM1 million to the JVCo for the further promotion of eSports and community building activities in Element X.
Separately, Hatten Technologies had issued a letter of implementation of the eSports area, hub and hotel at Element X to reiterate the key implementation details that were agreed during the meeting held between MEA and Hatten Technologies. The details include terms such as Hatten Technologies hosting official and community tournaments and events organised by the MEA.
Kitamen is a Malaysia-based boutique gaming organization that’s in the business of competitive gaming, entertainment and retail. Some of the notable eSports events organized by Kitamen include Utopia unifi, Malaysia’s biggest eSports and gaming conference.
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MEA is a registered sports body in Malaysia that was established under the sport development act in 1997. It has organised various official eSports tournaments for notable titles such as Mobile Legends, PUBG and FIFA.
Y.B Datuk Rais Bin Datuk Wira Yasin, EXCO of Education and Technology of Melaka Chief Minister’s Department says, “In Melaka, we are focusing on various initiatives to raise the status of Esport as the benefits of eSports have shown to facilitate education learning and technology adoption. Hence, we are encouraged that Hatten Land is undertaking an active role in fostering a vibrant eSports system and to catalyse the growth of other companies within this ecosystem.”
Dato’ Colin Tan, executive chairman and managing director of Hatten Land, says, “eSports participation and viewership are catching up to the biggest traditional sports leagues, hence there are still tremendous growth areas for eSports in terms of ticket sales, advertising, licensing, sponsorships and merchandising.”
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“Our respective partnerships set the cornerstone to creating new eSports initiatives, gain access to monetisation models and work together closely to realise our shared ambition of growing the eSports ecosystem in Southeast Asia,” he adds.
Shares in Hatten Land closed 0.2 cent higher or 4.76% up at 4.4 cents on April 19.
