For the world finals, which were set to be held later in 2018, the winners would receive approximately US$800,000 Sadiq said.
"eSports are getting really popular and there is a lot of money being invested into it."
In 2015, the global audience for eSports was 226 million people, while in 2017, the global eSports market generated US$660 million in revenue.
The NBA has seen it's growing popularity and partnered with Take-Two Interactive to produce an eSports league for the NBA 2K game series, which will debut in 2018, with the NBA hoping to have a team partially sponsored by all 30 of its franchises.
It's not about the money for six-man team ICLEN, whose ages range from 19 to 24, Sadiq said.
"I tell my guys that it shouldn't feel like a grind. We should be having fun with this," he said.
In the Asia-Pacific finals, they'll be squaring off against teams of fully professional gamers. With everyone in the team also either working or studying, Sadiq said they were proving a point.
"We can compete to their level, and it just goes to show it's just about how hard you work."