If you are an avid gamer, you are probably familiar with Gamescom – an annual affair in Cologne, Germany that is also the world’s largest gaming event.
The festival is charting new territory with its first debut in Asia: Gamescom Asia, a hybrid physical and virtual three-day-long event in Singapore from Oct. 15 to Oct. 17, 2021.
Gamers can expect to hear from and interact with huge industry players and prominent fellow gamers from all over the world who will converge in what is set to be Asia’s largest gaming event in 2021.
Amongst them are two of Singapore’s very own homegrown gaming TikTokers and you can catch them speaking in an hour-long panel session between 5pm and 6pm on Oct. 17.
24-year-old gamer and anime voice actress
24-year-old Farah Nur Azra Binte Mohd Raffi, who is more widely known by her TikTok moniker @farah_azraaaa, is one of them.
Image from @farah_azraaaa/Instagram.
A full-time graphic designer, Farah started her TikTok account to showcase her anime voice overs (she even sang!) in November 2020.
@farah_azraaaa #duet with @ashlenite One of my favs when this song came out! Not a Naruto fan thou... Do like and share!! 🥰 #bluebird #animefyp #sing #naruto ♬ original sound - ashlenite
@farah_azraaaa #duet with @eekaru rip my neighbours HAHA #fireforce #tamakikotatsu #voiceacting #seiyuu #sgweebtok #animefyp ♬ original sound - ⓔⓔⓚⓐⓡⓤ - ( ͡¬ ₃ ͡¬)
Farah’s all-time favourite anime is Hunter x Hunter, while her current favourite is Kobayashi Maid Dragon.
She eventually ventured into sharing her streams on TikTok, where she amassed a strong following of over 140,000 users on TikTok in less than a year.
@farah_azraaaa Hey, we all make mistakes aight? #fypシ #squidgame #moneylisa #WhatToPlay #valorant #mentalhealthawareness #anxiety #motivation ♬ Calm LoFi song(882353) - S_R
First introduced to games by her father in her early years, Farah’s love for gaming, or more specifically first person shooter (FPS) games, has blossomed.
An avid gamer, Farah shares that she spends her free time gaming every day. Currently, her favourite game is Valorant.
In addition, she also loves retro role-playing games such as Harvest Moon, Mother Earthbound and Breath of Fire.
Looking back on her time spent on TikTok, Farah shared that she has since grown as a person, both online and offline.
“As a female gamer I still face negativity online, but I’m now better at dealing with any rude feedback about my gameplay,” she said.
@farah_azraaaa Even my duelist duo @danial_hsbllh passed down the duelist role to me 😌💜 #valorant #gamer #gamergirl #WhatToPlay ♬ not your typical gamer - kiki
Those who love Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege can keep a lookout for her content on TikTok as she might stream in future.
19-year-old gamer levels up on TikTok with gameplay walkthroughs
Five years younger, but by no means lesser, is 19-year-old gamer Lim Ray’En.
Image courtesy of TikTok.
Despite having created his TikTok account in August 2020, Lim only started uploading his streams regularly in Sept. 2020.
Better known as @hydrolink on TikTok, Lim saw a spike in the number of followers this year, where he gained 10,000 followers within the last seven months.
From bite-sized gameplay tutorials to funny and relatable character spotlights, Lim today averages tens of thousands of views on each of his TikTok videos.
@hydrolink "C'MON, LET'S GO!" #valorant#relatable#character#sgstreamer#whattoplay#tiktoksg#fyp ♬ It's Tricky - Run - D.M.C.
@hydrolink "You were a boulder, I am a mountain!" #valorant#relatable#character#sgstreamer#whattoplay#tiktoksg#fyp ♬ It's Tricky - Run - D.M.C.
At 13 years old, Lim started with the online multi-player FPS video game Destiny on his Xbox 360.
Lim continued to game on his gaming console for the next three years, until he was around 17, when he started playing PC games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
Just like Farah, Lim is an avid gamer who games almost every day. Lim has stuck to his roots and continued playing CS:GO, which is one of his favourite games.
His other favourites include Valorant, Phasmophobia, and the more recent Among Us.
@hydrolink Comment down below the type of player you are when the round ends #valorant#relatable#character#sgstreamer#whattoplay#tiktoksg#fyp ♬ original sound - hydrolink | SG Streamer
@hydrolink "SEEK THEM OUT!" #valorant#relatable#character#sgstreamer#whattoplay#tiktoksg#fyp ♬ It's Tricky - Run - D.M.C.
Because of TikTok, Lim said that he now has a better understanding of how to play his favourite games like Valorant, which Lim streams actively. He has also picked up a few tricks from TikTok for his own custom games.
That said, Lim, humbly shared that he does not possess a high rank on Valorant, and described himself as a “low elo player”.
TikTok’s gaming content on the rise
In recent years, TikTok has evolved as a home for gamers.
Beyond content like dance challenges and comedic lip-syncing, gamers on TikTok create content that is unique to them.
Through TikTok, gamers can connect with other like-minded gamers, find and develop their community, and even come away with professional careers.
Gaming content is on a rise with an impressive 1,170 per cent year-on-year growth in Singapore in 2020.
If you search the #whattoplay hashtag, you can find videos that have garnered about 467M video views since its inception in February this year, while #Gaming has over 165.6billion views on TikTok.
This is also where you can find the two local gamers, Farah and Lim, both of whom have gained a fair share of followers on TikTok in recent years.
They will be sharing about their experiences as creators at the TikTok and Gaming Content panel at Gamescom Asia, alongside other TikTok creators from Southeast Asia.
They include Sharina Richie (@sharinarichie) and Mohd Farouk (@faroukjer) from Malaysia as well as Aya Ezmaria (@ayaezmaria) and Archer Perez (@archerperezz) from the Philippines – all homegrown gaming creators that have established themselves on TikTok.
TikTok gaming creators from Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Image courtesy of TikTok.
Tune in to the TikTok and Gaming Content panel at 5pm SGT on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021 on Gamescom’s official TikTok channel.
Check out the full schedule below or click here for more information about Gamescom Asia 2021.
Image from Gamescom Asia website.
This sponsored article by TikTok made the author fall down a TikTok rabbit hole.
Top image from @farah_azraaaa/Instagram and courtesy of TikTok