OTO signs Xerxia to strengthen its Valorant e-sport team
One to One Contacts (OTO) has signed Thai national e-sport team Xerxia to Phygital Space Development, which it owns 49 per cent of through OTO subsidiary Inno Hub, to strengthen the company’s fleet of Thai e-sport teams.
OTO president and CEO Khanawut Wattanathirach said Phygital Space Development (PSD) is a leading games and e-sport platform developer that aims to promote e-sport teams with high potential in popular games such as Valorant, PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) and Free Fire.
“The Xerxia team is highly successful in Valorant and has received several awards, including the Community Champion title in the FPSThailand Tournament, the first place in the Valorant Champions Tour: Thailand Stage 1 Challengers, and subsequently second place in the Asia Pacific round of the Valorant Champions Tour in March,” he said.
“The team finished in 9th place in the Valorant Champions Tour: Master 1 in Iceland last month, which is the last round of global tournaments of the game.”
Valorant is a highly popular online team-based shooting game with player bases worldwide. In each match, two teams of five players are pitched against each other in various environments and use tactical techniques, skills and team efficiency to beat the opponents.
“PSD is also planning to promote e-sport teams of other multiplayer games such as PUBG and Free Fire, aiming to build professional teams in five games within the year and another seven games within 2023,” said Khanawut.
“Our target is to see our e-sport teams ranked in the global top 20 with a combined market value of more than US$200 million [THB6.84 billion] by 2025.”
Xerxia was established in October 2021 for the PUBG contest and has become well-known in Thailand’s e-sport circles thanks to top player like Rungrattanachai “HoN_BoYa” Sungsuk, who serves as the team’s coach.
The team switched to Valorant in January this year after scoring all players from the X10 Crit team that came fifth in global world rankings, as well as 17-year-old hotshot Thanachart “Surf” Rungapajaratkul.
A mere 15 days after switching to Valorant, Xerxia claimed the Community Champion title at the FPSThailand Tournament.
“As a leading tech company, OTO is committed to propelling the e-sport industry forward in both Thailand and at the global level. We believe we can expand our revenue base in e-sport to reach the same level of international e-sport clubs, which have a market value of between $200 million and $500 million,” said Khanawut.
“E-sport is a new S Curve industry that has strong growth potential and can generate sustainable returns on investment for shareholders in the long run,” he added.
