Tencent, has partnered local social enterprise SOOS OIO to organize a series of parenting webinar, workshops and community gaming tournaments to serve the fast-growing gaming community in Singapore that has been growing at an unprecedented rate. 

The companies will embark on the partnership at this year’s Digital For Life Festival, a two-weekend event hosted by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) between May 21-22 and May 28-29.

Singapore has been seeing an increasing number of people joining the local gaming community, with the number of video gamers expected to hit 3 million by 2026. Video and mobile gaming has touched the lives of many Singaporean people, serving as a conduit to form meaningful social connections and a platform to cultivate prosocial behaviours. 

The annual event, seeks to advocate digital wellness for the public, and more specifically support the growth of a healthy, inclusive and balanced gaming environment for everyone. The collaboration taps on SOOS OIO’s local networks and experience working with Singaporean parents and youths, as well as Tencent’s global expertise in shaping a positive gaming environment. 

“We are proud to be part of the Digital For Life Festival to drive greater awareness about the importance of digital wellness, and how the digital sphere, including online gaming, enables new possibilities and empowers the digital society,” said Stanley Sun, head of publishing technology services of Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) at Tencent. “As a game publisher, we continuously work to build a healthy and inclusive gaming ecosystem, in close collaboration with organisations like SOOS OIO in Singapore.”

SOOS OIO believes that video and mobile gaming serve go beyond being a social platform for community building, and even serves educational purpose to develop people's critical thinking and communications skills. “Play is an integral part of learning and we believe that video gaming constitutes play on a different playground. It offers development for every youth across cognitive, emotional and social aspects,” said Pauline Phoon, founder of SOOS OIO.

“Misconceptions around gaming often arise from a lack of understanding about the nature of games and the benefits it can bring. Together with Tencent, we hope to bring awareness among parents and community in Singapore about the various ways gaming can be leveraged for digital wellness, social and cognitive skills, and most importantly - as a means of connecting with children.”

“We thank SOOS OIO, Tencent and all partners for joining us to organise the parenting workshops and community gaming tournaments at the inaugural Digital for Life Festival, enabling our youths to learn the importance of healthy gaming, while strengthening social connections between family, friends and community,” said Dawn Low, Cluster Director for Digital Readiness and Digital for Life programme office at IMDA. 

Accompanying her sons to the community gaming tournament (TeleMatch Brawl Stars) on May 22, Anne Soh, mother of Jesse Tan and Jakin Tan, shared, “I am glad that my sons are now able to share their strategies for healthy gaming with others through various platforms like social media and casting for competitions. From having to adhere to time limits I set for them when they were young, they have now progressed to being able to self-regulate their gaming schedules. I hope more parents will be able to engage with their children on ways to integrate gaming into a healthy and balanced lifestyle.” 

Through the various activities planned for the event, Tencent and SOOS OIO will work to demystify gaming for parents, engage youths to form healthy gaming habits, foster healthy familial relationships through gaming, and help them realize the benefits of games for everyone. These activities include:

• Webinar on Understanding Games, Gamers and Game Dependency

During the webinar, parents are equipped with the framework needed to better understand games, gamers and game dependency, allowing them to better appreciate the motivations behind certain gaming behaviour. The participants can learn various communication strategies as well as a brief introduction to neurofeedback intervention - with the overall goal of improving parent-child communication and relationships.

• Parenting Challenge Workshops: Communicating & Engaging Gaming Youths at Home through Role Play

As a follow up to the webinar, participants put the learnt theories and communications strategies to good use by role playing some common scenarios in families. These practical sessions help to contextualize the learnings and deepened participants’ understanding of the theories through re-enactment in a safe environment. 

• TeleTrip Festival

Families and friends team up to battle each other in a casual and community-style gaming tournament, uniquely designed to be inclusive and fun for all. Two family-friendly game titles, Brawl Stars and Roblox: Super Striker League were featured in the telematches - albeit with a twist through a special rewards system that celebrates a myriad of accomplishments, beyond just achieving the highest score. This encourages participants’ creative, strategic gameplay and teamwork while ensuring that the games are accessible to every member of the family. 

Following the launch of Singapore office in late 2020, Tencent recently launched its global games publisher arm in Singapor, Level Infinite.

“Through our collaborations, we are also enabling the sustainable growth of the gaming industry by nurturing young talents, supporting local studios and investing in innovation in Singapore, and around the world,” Sun said.