Young student excels in fast growing ‘esports’
In the changing world in which we live, the esports industry has gained a great deal of appeal among younger participants and is even being considered for accommodation as an Olympic Sport.
Most sports fans might not know what actions per minute are about, but for esports athletes who “live or die” by the keyboard, it can be crucial. The faster you are, the better your chances of winning.
Some top professionals can get up to 500 plus actions per minute when playing StarCraft. It works out to about 8.3 actions per second. Park Sung-Joon (Republic of Korea) is noted for the record “APM” of 818.
Frik Augustyn, a young student at Tuks, admits that he is not that fast. Currently, he averages about 200 actions per minute. But then again, his studies are his priority. Esports is what he does when he needs to get some adrenaline pumping. His battlefields of choice are “StarCraft 2” and “League of Legends”.
“I don’t play to relax. I play to test myself against others. I want to win. But in esports, that does not just happen. You need to continuously work to improve your game. In StarCraft and League of Legends, everything boils down to strategy and micromanagement. At any given moment,
there is so much happening. You are basically a general of an army, and you are the one making the decisions. If you err, your ‘troops die’, and you can’t have that,” Augustyn explained when asked about the sport.
To be reasonably competitive, Augustyn believes a participant need to play at least three times a week. But if you want to be a champion, you need to play more.
“Luckily esports is very accessible. After you finish your studies, it is easy to play for up to three hours or more,” he said.
According to Augustyn, the esports industry is massive.
“I watched a video on YouTube in which it was stated that the annual profit of esports in the USA is more than the combined profit of gridiron, basketball and baseball. Their worldwide audience is 474 million. Last year esports market revenue worldwide was more than $1 billion. It is estimated that by 2024 that it could be more than $1.6 billion,” he remarked.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) indicated last year that there is a real chance that esports could become an Olympic Sport. It could already happen during the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
In light of this, it is no surprise that Augustyn wants the Tuks Esports Club to grow. Since he got involved in the marketing of the sport, the club’s membership has grown to more than 140. He is confident of convincing more students to actively start playing.
Another goal is to see if he can help establish an inter-university league linked to an outreach program to the high schools.
A definite highlight last year was when Tuks’s players took the top three honours in the USSA clash playing Clash Royale.
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