Have you seen young and adults alike glued to their mobile screens playing PUBG? Well, for years PUBG, a mobile game, has been popular in the country and around the globe. While many play the game for leisure, a group of six Bhutanese women have taken PUBG battles to the international stage. The group has so far played in six international tournaments under the Bhutanese flag.
D6D Queens, a group comprising working adults and students, are part of the Bhutan Mobile Gaming Association.
The players train daily in international unranked matches. Despite being engaged with their everyday tasks, the group manages to train at least an hour a day.
The D6D Queens recently came in 5th out of 16 teams in an international tournament.
Three of the six players in the group are residing outside Bhutan.
“There are not many female players in Bhutan. We competed and started as the first Bhutanese female clan to go out of Bhutan and participate in different countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives, Malaysia, and the Philippines’ lobby. And then we got invited to a lot of tournaments, a lot of free platforms where we can play,” said Tenzin Dema, a player.
For the three players who live in Bhutan, their biggest challenge is Internet speed.
“The challenges we face while playing the game is we get lots of Internet issues and device problems. The Internet speed is slow compared to others and it lags a lot,” said Tshering Dema, a player.
“For me here, I play below 100 MS. MS is a ping which means how fast your internet is. So, I play below 100 MS but my friends who play in Bhutan, their MS is like 160. Sometimes it goes up to 200. It becomes so hard to play,” said Tenzin Dema, another player.
“The second challenge is the society, the acknowledgement that there are girl gamers in the society that exists by trying to represent the country at their very best level as they can with humility,” said Gaziel May Togonon, Player and Coordinator of D6D Queens.
Esports players earn a living through prize money from tournaments. A professional gamer can also earn by signing contracts with organisations or teams that provide a salary on a monthly basis.
Sponsorship from people and companies that want to promote their products also provides them with financial aid.
Moreover, streaming their gameplay can also lead to revenue from subscriptions and donations from viewers.
The D6D Queens says that the team is taking baby steps at the moment. They believe that through prize pools and sponsors, Bhutanese gamers can also make a career out of esports.
Singye Dema
Edited by Sherub Dorji
