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| (Image Source: The eSports Observer) |
In
a press conference held during the historic opening day of the 2019 Southeast
Asian Games eSports event last December 5, 2019, representatives from different
international eSports organizations have stated that they are fighting for eSports'
legitimacy as a sport, an industry and a viable career for the youth and adults
alike in each of their respective countries.
Razer,
the official eSports sponsor for the 30th SEA Games, brought together representatives
of various eSports organizations from participating countries Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines to field questions from the
media about the trials of joining the SEA Games, the preparations for the
historic affair and various interactions between eSports federations. The most interesting
of these fields was the panel's various responses when asked about how to best
deal with the negative stigma or perception accompanying eSports in every country.
Education was the common denominator in all of their answers but each of the
countries have weaved them in different ways.
First,
Assistant Secretary to the President of the Thailand eSports Federation Samart
Benjamin Assarasakorn stated that the federation has been conducting workshops
with the help of actual experienced teachers and motivational coaches which help
educate the people about eSports. It also talked to various Ministries of health,
interior and sports to draft guidelines towards fair practice in the budding
industry and coordinated with various international federations on determining
rules, regulations, what works and what doesn't. Furthermore, Assarasakorn
specified that education in communication forms a crucial necessity especially
in the universally linguistic middle ground of English.
Singapore
eSports Association secretary general Kelvin Tan divulged that the country has an
eSports academy for the youth where young people are taught not only on how to play
and get good on their respective games but also things parallel to the same
such as how to perform and manage high pressure situations as well as antecedent
industries endemic to the industry such as broadcasting and talent management.
Indonesia eSports Association Assistant Manager Perlangga Putra, meanwhile,
piggybacked the answer to say that it also aims to show people that eSports is
not just about playing games but business as well. In coordination with the
Ministry of Youth on including eSports on curriculums and inside the
classrooms, the federation's efforts focus on convincing the populace that
eSports is a full ecosystem with many different paths to take leading to one's
fruitful career in the industry.
Game
Developers Association of the Philippines president Alvin Juban chimed in to
say that the education route in the country has a foot in the door thanks to
the gradual integration of game development in the country's educational
system. Six schools across different parts of the country teach game
development which helped in bringing acceptance to eSports and gaming as a possible
career. Finally, for eSports Malaysia's Firdhaud Hashim, the Malaysian
government has been promoting the sport and helps educate the people to its
potential value through extending its educational campaign to schools,
tournaments with scholarships to various universities up for grabs and seeking
to promote healthy gaming habits to combat the effects of video game addiction
and lessen the worries of skeptical adults.
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Mineski
Global, one of top gaming and eSports companies in Southeast Asia, opened its new
global headquarters inside Santola Town Plaza in San Juan City. The enormously
new Mineski Global headquarters in San Juan is packed with offices, broadcast studios,
streaming rooms, and video editing, sound and production facilities as well as
a gaming area where they can hold tournaments and show matches. Mineski Global
stated that forthcoming offices across Southeast Asia will have the same
features as the San Juan HQ.
Mineski
founder Ronald Robins kicked off the program for the brand's San Juan HQ with
his opening remarks followed by a message from San Juan City mayor Francis
Zamora who eventually led the ribbon-cutting ceremony after the building's
blessing. During the main event, Robins announced the company's business units namely
Mineski eSports, Mineski Academy, Mineski Talents, Mineski Tech and Mineski
Spaces.
As
the marketing arm of Mineski Global, Mineski eSports hosts events and programs geared
towards gamers. Mineski Academy aims to drive communities into eSports as a
career choice. Mineski Talents was created to discover, develop, manage, and
maintain the country's top eSports athletes and influencers. Mineski Tech, on
the other hand, helps Mineski's partners drive innovations geared towards
gaming. Lastly, Mineski Spaces handles the cyber cafe business Mineski Infinity
which currently has 130 branches in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
Culminating
the event was a Tekken 7 show match between Mineski executives and executives
from partnered brands where the winner not only gets to take home a gaming
chair but will have the honor of drawing the lucky winner for the raffle. After
two best-of-three matches, coins.ph's Thea "Thea Mabangis" Santos won
the show match and the grand prize.
* *
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Following
a gruelling set of matches, Neon eSports and Miraculum Gaming have emerged victorious
in the Predator League 2020 Philippine Finals for DOTA 2 and PUBG, respectively,
which was held at SM City North EDSA and have secured a spot for the upcoming
2020 Predator League Asia Pacific Finals to take place in the Philippines on
February 22-23, 2020 where they will face off against the top DOTA 2 and PUBG
teams in the region. Joining Miraculum Gaming in the APAC Finals is TNC
Predator while Neon eSports will be joined by ArkAngel Predator. Aside from
advancing to the APAC Finals, Neon eSports and Miraculum Gaming each took home
Php150,000 cash for their Philippine finals win. Here are the full results of
the Predator League 2020 Philippine Finals:
DOTA
2: Champion - Neon eSports (Php150,000), 1st Runner-Up - LowKey eSports (Php50,000),
2nd Runner-Up - SG Dragons (Php35,000), 3rd Runner-Up - Cignal Ultra Warriors (Php15,000)
PUBG:
Champion - Miraculum Gaming (Php150,000), 1st Runner-Up - Angel Alliance
(Php50,000), 2nd Runner-Up - Gamer's Lounge (Php35,000), 3rd Runner-Up -
Excommunicados (Php15,000)
