Kohai officially goes live as the first Malaysian platform that matches eSports enthusiasts to experienced players, with the ambition to propel the nation’s eSports industry to greater heights. By uniting our eSports community on the Kohai mobile apps, gaming enthusiasts of all levels will now have a common stage to connect with players, have a more enjoyable match experience, hone their skills, and ultimately elevate the standard of eSports players to a higher and more competitive level.
With the global games market recording tremendous growth over the past decade, eSports has been widely regarded as one of the key reasons for this success.
The platform and apps were first released for public beta testing in May 2021 and have since recorded a user base of 43,000, demonstrating healthy interest and demand from the Malaysian eSports community. The platform also currently features two popular mobile eSports titles, Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, with more titles and platforms to come.
Kohai sources inspiration from the Japanese social relation system of senpai-kohai, translating to senior-junior, capturing the spirit of mentorship which it seeks to cultivate in Malaysia’s eSports community. The Kohai platform puts this philosophy in practice in the form of Gamers and Partners, allowing Partners to earn while they play and for Gamers to interact with players of a higher skill level, redefining the co-op experience for eSports. Kohai categorises Gamers and Partners by the following definitions:
- Gamers – Players of any level looking to connect and game with seasoned players
- Partners – Players who are experts or at a professional level with high in-game rank/tier
To catalyze the eSports industry, Kohai utilizes pay-to-learn and play-to-earn models respectively for Gamers and Partners, where Gamers can be matched with a wide selection of Partners to game or train with for a fee; and Partners can earn a side income playing with or coaching Gamers, championing the concept of a community-powered platform and empowering players to elevate the general eSports gaming experience and each other’s standards to the next level.
Over the beta testing period, Kohai was able to improve their platform from user feedback, and introduced several measures to deliver a better experience for its users.
A key feature is to allow Gamers to have the option of real-time or scheduled gaming sessions. In a real-time session, Gamers can select the rank/tier they desire to achieve and get paired with a Partner to begin gaming or training right away at a fixed rate of RM10.00 per hour. Whereas in a scheduled session, Gamers have the flexibility to pre-schedule and game or train at a future date and time with his/her Partner. The rates will depend on several factors such as desired ranking, character requests, match length and others (please refer to the pricing guide below for further details). To ensure fair user practice, Partners are allocated a maximum of 72 hours to complete a Gamer’s match or training request. Both options will give Gamers the opportunity to connect with their Partner prior to the training session, to allow a personalized experience that works best for both parties.
Partners will also be able to earn while they play or train on the Kohai platform, where 80% of total fees from every session will be paid to the Partner via direct bank transfer by Kohai.
To ensure all users can enjoy this platform, Kohai’s system is programmed to allow Gamers to be randomly matched with Partners via its own matchmaking algorithm. This was implemented to create a fairer and more enjoyable Kohai experience, allowing Gamers’ exposure to the diverse playstyles and skills of Partners and establishing fair and equal opportunities for all Partners on the platform.
In the spirit of elevating the standards of Malaysian eSports players, Kohai is also announcing its partnership with the professional eSports team ‒ Geek Fam. Starting today, this exciting collaboration will see Geek Fam players participating as Partners, giving all Gamers the opportunity to play with, learn or train with Geek Fam players on MLBB and PUBG Mobile through random matchmaking.
Kohai has also organised its very own eSports tournament, the Kohai Championships, for MLBB. This tournament, which started on 4 September 2021 and will continue until 26 September 2021, features 64 teams competing for a total prize pool of RM11,000.00. Although registration has closed, more information can be found on Kohai’s social media channels.
Although still at its initial phase, Kohai has already set its sights on the future.