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| (Image Source: Gadget Pilipinas/Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines) |
As part of its thrust to bring the best mobile gaming experience to Filipinos, mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has announced its continued partnership with Shanghai-based international gaming developer MOONTON Games as its official telco partner for all Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Pro League (MPL) Philippines tournaments in 2022. The year’s partnership - which covers MPL-PH Season 9; Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup; MPL-PH Season 10 in August; and the M4 World Championship - marks half a decade of collaboration between the two companies, who share the same mission in cultivating the Filipinos’ passion for gaming through amazing experiences.
“Our partnership with MOONTON Games over the past five years has resulted in the tremendous growth of eSports in the Philippines as well as the recognition of Filipino eSports athletes in the global arena. As such, we embrace this opportunity to continue our collaboration and enabling our subscribers to enjoy the country’s most popular mobile game powered by the country’s fastest mobile network,” said Smart Communications Senior Vice President and Consumer Wireless Business Head Jane J. Basas. “We are glad to be partnering once again with Smart. We believe that our values and mission to grow the eSports scene in the Philippines are aligned with them," said MOONTON Games Philippines Head of eSports Logan Shaw.
Smart’s partnership with MOONTON Games officially kicked off with MPL-PH Season 9 which began on February 18. This season's theme, ‘Lakas ng Pinas’ showcases eight of the country’s best Mobile Legends: Bang Bang teams - Blacklist International, Bren Esports, ECHO Philippines, Nexplay EVOS, ONIC Philippines, RSG Philippines, Smart Omega and TNC Pro Team. The ongoing MPL-PH Season 9 - from regular season matchups all the way to the playoffs and finals - is available to stream on Smart’s official Facebook page, enabling mobile gaming fans and enthusiasts to catch the matches on the go and root for their favorite ML teams. As a treat, Smart is also giving away special prizes to those watching the games. As the country’s top eSports patron, Smart also enables subscribers to pursue their passion for gaming with GIGA Games, a data pack that gives Smart and TNT subscribers 2 GB of data every day for seven days to access their favorite mobile games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, plus 2 GB of open-access data for only Php99. Smart subscribers can register to GIGA Games via the GigaLife App, which is downloadable on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Huawei Mobile Services. Subscribers can also avail of the offer by dialing *123# and choosing GIGA Games.
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Eplayment, Smart Hold All-Female MLBB Tournament For "Strays Worth Saving"
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| (Image Source: Smart Communications/Eplayment Entertainment) |
eSports events organizer Eplayment Entertainment, which organizes the all-female eSports tournament league Liga Adarna, has partnered with mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) to hold a charity Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) tournament titled ‘Love For Strays’ for the benefit of ‘Strays Worth Saving’ (SWS), a nonprofit animal rescue organization for stray street dogs in the Philippines. The tournament, which was streamed on the Liga Adarna and Smart Sports Facebook page last January 31, featured eight all-female teams in a one-day single-elimination round format. The charity tournament became an avenue to promote animal welfare as viewers were able to send their donations to SWS via the Eplayment App.
Team ‘Bren Victress’ emerged victorious with player ‘Taro’ claiming the Smart Most Valuable Player award with six kills, one death, and four assists with her epic gameplay as Brody against fellow finalists Team ‘Finesse Empress.’ As the champions, Team ‘Bren Victress’ took home a Php15,000 cash prize while SWS received the same amount for the food and shelter expenses of 200 dogs under their care. “We believe that eSports and players have a great potential to enact positive social change. As we can see from Liga Adarna's very successful project, eSports is a great avenue to raise much-needed funds for strays in need, while at the same time providing relaxation and entertainment for the players.” said Strays Worth Saving Vice President for Marketing Julianne Co.
“SWS is known for its charitable acts and dedication to help and rescue stray cats and dogs. Eplayment, represented by Ely and her dog best friend Echo, expresses our passion for animals. It is such a great opportunity to extend our resources to them. Helping stray animals has always been a great purpose, and we are grateful to tie up with SWS in this charity event,” said Liga Adarna representative Queen Wasabi.
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FINAL FANTASY VI Pixel Remaster For PC Via Steam And Mobile Now Available In North America
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| (Image Source: IGN Southeast Asia/SQUARE ENIX North America) |
SQUARE ENIX®'s highly anticipated sixth release in the FINAL FANTASY pixel remaster series, FINAL FANTASY® VI, is now available for Steam® and mobile platforms in North America. Fans can embark on an enhanced journey in the timeless classic RPG with completely new graphics and audio as a 2D pixel remaster. Regarded as one of the most beloved games in the FINAL FANTASY series, FINAL FANTASY VI features a robust roster of playable characters, each with their own stories, goals and destinies. Players will be able to customize their party members’ abilities, magic spells and summons with the acclaimed magicite system.
For the first time, FINAL FANTASY VI pixel remaster will also introduce the beloved opera scene in reimagined majesty, including new vocals and animation. Fans can now enjoy the iconic scene with vocals in Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Korean (Voice track language will be determined by the language selected on the game’s configuration page. For those who have selected a non-supported language, the vocals will default to English or Japanese.). In addition, players can look forward to many improvements and updates for FINAL FANTASY VI, including: universally updated 2D pixel graphics, including the iconic FINAL FANTASY pixel character designs created by Kazuko Shibuya, the original artist and current collaborator; a beautifully rearranged soundtrack in a faithful FINAL FANTASY style, overseen by the original composer Nobuo Uematsu; improved gameplay, including modernized UI, and auto-battle options among others; and supplemental extras like the bestiary, illustration gallery and music player.
Those who purchase FINAL FANTASY VI on Steam on or before March 9 PST (Pacific Standard Time) will receive early purchase bonuses, including four wallpapers, five music tracks, and a 20% discount. The wallpapers, the instrumental music track, and the timelapse special tracks (which transition from the iconic original versions to the new arrangements) included as early purchase bonuses are also available via the bundle on Steam. The music tracks include The Decisive Battle (Timelapse Remix), Terra’s Theme (Timelapse Remix), Searching for Friends (Timelapse Remix), Locke’s Theme (Timelapse Remix), and Aria di Mezzo Carattere (Instrumental).
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Unipin Ultimate Plays Series Returns Anew
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| (Image Source: Reimaru Files/UniPin Philippines) |
UniPin, a leading digital entertainment enabler in Southeast Asia, announced the launch of UniPin Ultimate Plays, an esports tournament series in partnership with CLiQQ by 7-Eleven. Following the success of its first event in 2021, Ultimate Plays returns anew with a series of MLBB and CODM tournaments to be held this year. For the first series, Ultimate Plays will feature MLBB tournament from March 18-20, 2022.
Ultimate Plays is open to all Filipinos, registration for the first tournament featuring Mobile Legends Bang Bang is February 14 and will be closed on March 11. The teams will compete in this series, for the total prize pool of Php13,000 in UniPin Credits, and CliQQ Credits that can be used in the CliQQ App and 7- Eleven stores. The tournament will be held online and will be available to stream at UniPin Philippines’ Facebook page (www.facebook.com/UniPinPhilippines).
Cynthia David, Country Manager of UniPin Philippines, explains that Ultimate Plays is conducted as an activity to foster various gaming communities in the country. “Ultimate Plays is here not only to showcase the different games that UniPin carries, but we also want to create a platform for the local community as a support to the local players," David said.
