The Answers With... Carlos Alimurung

The CEO of One Esports on the appeal of esports, Singapore’s advantages as its hub and the impactful twist in the 1986 game Metroid.

- Ho Yun Kuan

It’s reasonable to assume that as CEO of One Esports, Carlos Alimurung has been in his chosen field of work for a long time. But he hasn’t. In fact, his industry is one without true veterans. That’s because esports as a profession wasn’t even a thing until about 10 years ago.

“When I graduated, there was no concept of esports as a profession,” Alimurung recalls. “I think it only started becoming a credible job around the time that I joined, which was between 2015 and 2016.” According to him, that was when esports teams began to realise the advantages of recruiting business talent and professionalising their management. Now a billion-dollar industry, its exponential growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Although he may not be a veteran CEO, Alimurung is definitely a veteran gamer. “I have always played games,” he reveals. “My first video game console was – and this is really going to date me – the ColecoVision. (Editor’s note: ColecoVision was launched in North America in 1982.) I grew up gaming and it has always been a part of my life.”