Today, Indonesia’s largest gaming payment gateway UniPin penned an exclusive partnership with leading homegrown convenience store chain KK Super Mart. The convenience store chain is now the exclusive retailer for UniPin’s payment gateway, to meet the demands of the growing mobile gaming market.
After Indonesia and the Philippines, Malaysia is the third country in the Southeast Asian gaming market that UniPin is venturing into.
Through the partnership, gamers who do not own credit or debit cards can pay cash for game credits at all KK Super Mart convenience stores and KK Concept Stores across Malaysia. Customers can also choose to top up their UniPin e-wallet. As part of a launch promotion running from 7-21 September 2019, for every top up of the UniPin e-wallet at KK Super Mart touch points, customers will receive an additional 10 percent credit.
The partnership couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. The local eSports industry is growing, fuelled by the support of the government; MYR10 million was allocated in Budget 2019 to foster the growth of the industry. Leading gaming brand Razer subsequently pledged an additional MYR10 million to help spur the local eSports scene.
Malaysia, alongside countries like Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are known as the “Big 6” in the region’s eSports sphere. It is estimated that there are over 2.4 million eSports enthusiasts in Malaysia (2017).
As a whole, the eSports industry is worth some USD180.1 billion (Edge Markets, 2018), and growing.
After a demonstration run at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, eSports will be included as a full medal event at the upcoming SEA Games in November and the 2022 Asian Games, reaffirming the nascent sport as a “real sport” and its growing mainstream appeal. The International Olympic Council (IOC) is currently mulling over its inclusion in the 2024 Olympic Games in France.
At the press launch, Ashadi Ang, CEO of UniPin revealed that the company started its journey nine years ago, armed with the mission to solve payment hassles for Indonesian gamers. Indonesia’s online games industry is huge, generating an estimated USD1 billion in revenue this year alone.
UniPin enables various payment methods including online banking and credit cards, mobile payment, and bank transfers. Gamers can also buy physical vouchers at Indomaret, one of Indonesia’s largest grocery store chains, with over 17,000 outlets to date.
The company also partners with more than 300 game publishers worldwide, with a repertoire of 10,000 game titles. Today, it serves a 50 million-strong gaming community.
The company identified Malaysia as among the fastest growing mobile gaming markets in Southeast Asia. With three countries under its belt, UniPin also has its sights set on Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.
For KK Super Mart, the partnership is in line with its continued efforts to provide the ultimate convenience to each customer that walks into its stores. The 24-hour convenience store chain currently serves over 9,000 daily essential products across 400 outlets. As a progressive outfit, the company has continuously responded to current consumer trends and the modern lifestyle. The most recent undertaking was the launch of the KK Concept Store in Kuala Lumpur. The game-changing store offers over 100 food choices of ready-to-eat and fresh food, as well as a cosy cafe for customers.
Calling Malaysian mobile gamers
Pushing the partnership further is the announcement of UniPin KK Super Mart Cup 2019 (UKK Cup), a local e-sports tournament targeted at Malaysian mobile gamers. The UKK Cup will be held at select KK Concept Stores from September through October 2019.
The winning team from the UKK Cup will be automatically granted the opportunity to compete at the South East Asia Cyber Arena (SEACA) 2019, one of Southeast Asia’s largest gaming tournaments organised by UniPin. Pro gamers will be competing for the overall prize pool of MYR600,000.
The tournament, back for its second year running, will be hosted at Balan Kartini, South Jakarta, from 8 till 10 November 2019. Main competition games include Dota 2, Free Fire, PUBG Mobile, and Tekken 7.
For more information about KK Super Mart, visit www.facebook.com/kksupermart. For more details about SEACA, visit www.seaca.gg.
