Yet another esports programme has begun operations in Malaysia. Operating under the name Academy of Esports, the “school” offers a dedicated eight month Dota 2 training certificate. It also runs weeklong free bootcamps for those who want to find out what it’s like to seriously train at Dota 2.
There are two certificates available at AOES; one for aspiring pro-gamers, and the other for organising Dota 2 events. The Dota 2 certificate has the expected strategy and gameplay development classes, but also includes things like social media management, media ethics, and emotional control.
The Dota 2 event management course follows a similar path. Throwing in chapters on dealing with not only logistics, but also customer service relations. Overall, both look like a rather well structured courses.
AOES advertises that its training is conducted by esports professionals. Three are prominently featured on the website, although they appear to have been rather quiet on the competitive front for the last few years.
Courses at AOES are not cheap, running at RM8500 for locals. Foreign students will have to pay RM11250 to attend the same classes. It also happens to be located in the Iskandar Development region in Nusajaya, Johor. Which isn’t exactly near anything else at the moment.
In comparison, the next nearest esports course is in Asia Pacific University. Which charges about a third as much as AOES and holds classes in a brand new campus in Bukit Jalil.
Esports is becoming a very big thing here in Malaysia, even if our local teams have been underperforming on the international level lately. Whether formal coaching and talent development can change that is still up in the air. Especially considering that other countries haven’t bothered with dedicated esports courses and are doing just fine.
The curious can head on over to the AOES website to learn more.
