Even though it’s a little-known market in Puerto Rico, electronic sports (also known as e-sports) have enjoyed a boom among the geeks in the island. This has been proved by the wide participation of gamers and fans at the First Attack PR event.

For Ricardo Román–who organized this event at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan, and is known among gamers as ‘Mono’–these last two years have brought an exponential growth for the local professional gaming industry.

‘There is a lot of promise [for e-sports in Puerto Rico],’ said Román, who also owns the company Esports Puerto Rico.

The e-sports industry is highly powerful in countries such as Japan and South Korea, where videogames originated. Nonetheless, through various events and conventions, the United States started delving deeper into this market, which continues amassing thousands of followers. Its presence is so huge, that even the Olympic Committee is considering including a gaming event in the next Olympic Games.

‘They need to let go of the concept that we’re people living in basements […] These are professionals, and this is already considered a sport,’ ‘Mono’ asserted in an interview with us.

‘I would like to be part of an e-sports team for the Olympic Games,’ the professional gamer revealed.

Even though First Attack PR is a private event, it is endorsed by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. According to Román, his event is key to promote Puerto Rico’s image among gamer circles all over the world.

‘We throw ‘pavas’ (straw hats) at the players, and we do our best to make them feel welcome,’ the gamer said, adding that this has helped give a good impression of the island among the many international players that attend the First Attack year after year in a bid for the winner’s cup.

It may be hard to believe, but there is such an occupation as ‘professional gamer’: people who work playing video games at these types of competitions with the help of sponsorships and donations.

For Ray Santiago Rosario, a professional gamer from the Dominican Republic, more and more players have been cropping up in Puerto Rico, with loads of potential to become professionals.

‘They are gearing up to be professional rather than casual gamers,’ stated Rosario, best known in the community as ‘DRRay’.

‘Now you always see Puerto Ricans in the Top 8,’ Rosario assured, claiming that this is a great achievement for professional gamers.

Rosario was also thankful for the support Latin America has gotten from big video game companies, such as Capcom, producer of the world-famous Street Fighter, and Warner Brothers, which produced Injustice and Mortal Kombat. He said it is thanks to them that this region has become better recognized worldwide, even though it does not receive as much support in this industry as the United States and Asia.

‘These companies are helping people who do not have the resources to participate in these events,’ Santiago confessed.

Gaming Opens the Way for Unexplored Niche Market in Puerto Rico

Video games are complex programs that need big teams to make them work, and companies have started emerging in Puerto Rico with the objective of creating these products. Such is the case of Meephead, the company that created Bunny Madness: Anarchy.

This game, which was designed and programmed entirely by a team of Puerto Ricans, pits players against each other in the form of men carrying guns and dressed up in bunny suits.

‘It can take two to three years to make games like this, but our team managed to do it in eight months,’ revealed Jonathan Martínez, president and head designer of Bunny Madness.

Bunny Madness is already available for purchase in the Steam platform, and a tournament will be held soon. Martínez also hopes to promote his product in the e-sports circles in Puerto Rico.

Fans and people interested in learning more about this growing sports industry can access the Twitch online platform, where gamers upload videos of their playthrough sessions on a daily basis. To follow First Attack and all its events, you can visit their page on Twitch.