‘First-of-its-kind partnership’ includes new content ventures, branded player kits DUBAI: Nasr eSports, one of the Middle East’s leading organizations in the gaming industry, has partnered with short-form mobile video platform TikTok. The collaboration aims to provide the TikTok community with high-quality gaming content from professional players and content creators. The partnership makes Nasr the first esports organization in the region and one of just a handful in the world to form a strategic partnership with TikTok. “We are delighted to have embarked on this partnership as it marks a first of its kind venture with an esports organization regionally. Already driving significant engagement on the platform, the Nasr TikTok page features dozens of videos, reaching millions of users across the Middle East’s gaming audience,” Hany Kamel, TikTok MENA content operations director, told Arab News. As part of the collaboration, the Nasr team’s newly redesigned kit will carry TikTok branding. Additionally, the two companies will work on new content ventures that will engage both parties with the region’s growing gaming community. Kamel added that esports has been gaining popularity worldwide and that this was reflected on TikTok, especially during the pandemic when many offline gaming events were canceled. “We are glad to see that TikTok has become an important gaming hub for such events and contributed in providing a massive window of different gaming opportunities,” he said. The Nasr eSports account on TikTok is already reaching millions of viewers, and “this partnership will ensure that we are giving our users access to exciting new content ventures featuring leading talent,” said Kamel. Arab News also spoke to some of the gamers to learn about their journey in the world of gaming on and off TikTok. Tekken Master How did you get into esports? I started my journey in esports in 2010 with the game Tekken 6 in Kuwait. I have always wanted to become one of the best in the world since I was eight years old. My brothers helped me a lot to achieve this. They believed that I had a talent for playing fighting games competitively, so they began flying me across the world, where I was able to become one of the best in history. And from there, Nasr eSports saw my full potential and signed me as a pro player in their team. After that, I have grown from strength to strength, as they understand exactly what support a player needs to focus on performing at competitions. Tell us about your journey and experience on TikTok When I saw the potential of TikTok, I started using it with the help of my team and Thaj, the marketing manager of Nasr. What I like about TikTok is that it helps creators a lot — the follower count doesn’t matter for the video to go viral as long as it has some creativity. I want to have more followers; people who see my true potential and create innovative esports videos. It helps me a lot in brainstorming more ideas and improving my content creation skills. SirSAN How did you get into esports? It started when my high school friends talked about the FIFA player status and who is better at FIFA. So, I decided to buy a PS3 and FIFA to play with them, and soon after, I got addicted to the ultimate team. That was when I started to get competitive. But FIFA didn’t fully fulfill my needs, so I switched to PS4 and purchased Destiny and Trials of Osiris. When I won a game against a much more experienced player, it was a moment of happiness or achieving a level of improvement to defeat a player and a team that you never thought of winning a single round against, let alone a whole game. That was when I realized how much I loved playing competitively and how deep I was into esports. Tell us about your journey and experience on TikTok It wasn’t a smooth transition from other social apps to TikTok. Still, when you learn how to use the app and see that good content gets appreciated and you’re not punished for posting boring content like what happens on YouTube, you get encouraged to post more entertaining and fun-to-watch content. I started using it mid-2020 when COVID-19 got to me, but I never really liked it. As time passed, I started using it daily, and it became an essential app that I needed to have on my mobile. What I like most about TikTok is the comments section. The creative comments on the viral videos take the fun to a whole new level. Also, I love seeing old fans commenting on my videos about the other content they’ve seen on TikTok or YouTube. I use TikTok to entertain and refresh my mind, de-stress, and get back to the game and make content. I know that I’ve had a productive day when I see a lot of TikTok notifications on my phone after work. Mark Tube How did you get into esports? My entry into the world of games, in general, was caused by the great love and passion that I had when playing and making gaming content. This developed when I took it to the level of professionalism. I began to discover the world of esports and its incredible impact in the field of games. My journey in esports started when I joined Nasr eSports, which enabled me to develop (my skills) a lot — they supported me immensely in all respects. Tell us about your journey and experience on TikTok I started on TikTok a year ago, and it was one of the best decisions I have made. To me, TikTok is the ideal platform for any content creator, as it helped me reach a sizable audience that is interested in the gaming content that I present. My fans and players on TikTok are outstanding — their reactions to my content give me great encouragement and joy, which motivates me to continue. My main goal is to add unique, helpful and enjoyable content on the platform and be the best gaming content creator with a variety of content. My goal was also to reach 1 million followers on TikTok, but now, I have raised the bar and aim to reach 5 million followers and then search for a new goal. Kakashi Gaming How did you get into esports? I started as a casual gamer playing my favorite games. Since the age of 14, I would record videos of myself playing video games and show them to my friends at school. Shortly after that, I started my gaming channel on YouTube and gained 45,000 subscribers. Just as I joined TikTok and started building my audience over there, Nasr eSports offered me a chance to enter the world of esports as a content creator, and I happily accepted. Tell us about your journey and experience on TikTok I joined TikTok in July 2020, and it didn’t take me much time to get comfortable with the app and come up with creative ideas. I like how TikTok engages the creators with the fans and how easily creativity gets rewarded by great exposure and support. The platform is an excellent way to widen my audience and the follower count, uniquely introduce myself to big brands and get noticed by the crowds. Big Bird How did you get into esports? It began when Nasr eSports contacted me to join their team. The following year the Red Bull competition came along. Before then, I would just play for fun and didn’t think I’d ever take it seriously. But Nasr eSports supported and guided me, and helped me launch my career in professional esports. Tell us about your journey and experience on TikTok I got into TikTok heavily once Nasr announced the partnership with TikTok. I decided to start investing my time in it as I kept hearing it’s the number one social media app — the growth potential is uncapped. My objective is to grow my brand, and TikTok is the best tool for that. I want people to know more about what I do, but also more about my personal life. TikTok is the best application for that job. Angry Bird How did you get into esports? My journey into esports was just for fun at the beginning. I didn’t expect myself to go pro or get sponsored and play at an international level. When my friend Big Bird got signed by Nasr eSports and started doing what we always hoped to, I got excited and started playing because I wanted to beat these guys on an international level. So, I stopped playing for fun and began practicing to be a pro player, and it worked out well for us, and we were able to become some of the best players in the world. Tell us about your journey and experience on TikTok TikTok is amazing. I first posted on it last year to test it, and then I stopped, but as time moved on, I was amazed by the gaming content on TikTok, so I was motivated to work hard on it. All of my friends were starting to get into TikTok as well. My goals are to upgrade my gaming fan base on TikTok as itseems to have a lot of people who are into games, so it’s way better to use the platform to attract these audiences and provide some fantastic content for them.