Philippine eSports: The Past, Its Present and Our Future

If you spend any amount of time online, you surely have come across the term ‘eSports’. But before I delve into the details, let me tell you a story.

The Past

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been playing games. Dance Dance Revolution and Dance Maniax on arcade machines. Super Mario, Tekken and Final Fantasy on consoles. Counter Strike, Diablo, Battle Realms, Ragnarok, Dota and League of Legends (LoL) on computers.  Time spent playing these games were both bonding with and competition against me, my brothers, my cousins and my friends. During summer vacations, I still remember how we’ll take turns playing on just one console. We’d change the defeated player with another challenger and this goes on until a Tito, a Tita or Lolo drags us to sleep. If there’s class, I still sneak out of school just to play with my classmates and, I have to admit, I’ve been in trouble a lot of times because of video games. In my defense, computer shops were a lot fewer back then and, to play an hour of Counter Strike or Ragnarok means we have to queue for hours.

Why am I telling you these memories? Why am I boring you with the past? For most of my life, I’ve been playing games. If I’m not in class, if I’m not reading, writing or eating, I’m usually playing a game and, right now, I’m excited with the current state of gaming.

Wait, maybe I should use the correct term: eSports.

Its Present

Back then, holding a Counter Strike or Dota tournament meant having to physically meet in a computer shop. Internet connections were much more horrible back then so online matches were unreliable. If you know the terms “tunneling” or the joke “para kang host”, you know what I mean. Today, a few clicks and waiting several seconds is all it takes to play a game with people from places far, far away.

Back then, playing computer games are seen as nothing more than just a pastime. Or, if you’re a parent, a big waste of time, money and talent. Today, things are beginning to change. The recently concluded The Manila Majors saw a prize pool of $3,000,000. And the champions brought home the lion’s share of $1,100,000. Yup, that’s a staggering P51,000,000.00 for the champions of an eSports tournament. And that’s not even The Internationals, Dota 2’s annual championship. The current prize pool for that event is $17,000,000.00 and that amount will only get bigger.

Back then, few people made money out of computer games. The people who made the games, the organizer and the champion of the occasional tournament. Today, eSports has became a thriving industry on its own. Game publishers and creators, professional teams and their support staff, gaming peripheral and computer part manufacturers, event and tournament organizers, streaming sites, streamers, shoutcasters, analysts and writers have made eSports “the next big thing”.

How big you ask? Here is a chart showing the estimated total tournament prizes for eSports tournament from 1998 to 2014.

Graph taken from wikipedia

Now, imagine how that graph would look like with all the multi-million tournaments happening this year.

Even countries have already recognized the industry. In 2013, USA has granted visa to a League of Legends player that acknowledged him as an “internationally recognized athlete”. Korea, the first and the biggest influence in eSports, have been televising competitions on dedicated cable channels 24/7 since the 2000’s. China’s Sports Ministry have formally recognized eSports as a sanctioned and official sport. Trivia: One of China’s top 3 tech companies, Tencent, already owns Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends. Major networks, in traditional and online media, have also taken notice. ESPN and Yahoo! have dedicated eSports coverage on their sites since 2010’s. Inquirer recently renewed their efforts in covering local and international events via eSports INQ.

With all these exciting changes and advances in the industry, what’s stopping the Philippines? What’s stopping us from carving a significant part from this delicious, and lucrative, eSports pie?

Our Future

Remember how I mentioned that “things are beginning to change” when it comes to eSports’ acceptance? I lied, especially when it comes to our country. I’ve seen many children hunted and dragged out of computer shops by parents. I’ve seen many students go in and out of the guidance office. I’ve heard people being called “stupid” for dreaming of a career in the gaming industry. We can’t blame the parents and people who say video games are a waste of time. They have legitimate reasons and past experiences to draw conclusions from.

What can we do to show other Filipinos that eSports is no longer “just a game”? First and foremost, we should convince the parents. Parents are concerned that their child may focus playing online games and forgetting their academic duties. Doing so would most likely jeopardize their chances of getting a decent job when, or if, they graduate. Garena, League of Legends’ publisher in South-East Asia, is holding a league focusing on college players. LoL Collegiate League (LCL) is promoting responsible gaming by requiring all players in the league to be in good academic standing. It’s a great start and I’m sure many parents appreciate this effort. Other things I’d suggest are scholarships or job opportunities for student-players who can prove that they can excel both in school and in The Rift.

After the parents, we’ll have to focus on schools because I’m pretty sure a significant amount of players are still students. Again, LCL is a great initiative in this front. They’re encouraging school faculties to act as support staff for the school’s team. If they step it up and require each team to have a teacher-coach, it’ll be a lot better. I’d personally sign-up for a class where the top performing students in the class and in The Rift are recognized, appreciated and rewarded. This will also push students who’re already good players to exert more effort in their subjects or those who focus on their books to try, and surely enjoy, eSports.

After convincing parents and schools, after encouraging players to be more responsible gamers, will it be enough to boost our standing in the world stage? Maybe, maybe not, but just like everything else, it all starts with acceptance. Skill isn’t a problem, we’re a country of great talent. What we need, what the players need, is an environment where they can reach their full potential.

Philippine eSports is still in its infancy but even at this stage, it’s already exciting. We’ve hosted The Manila Major, one of our teams qualified for the LoL Season 3 World Championship and Garena is spearheading grassroots programs to promote responsible gaming. The international scene knows the Philippines is a big market and home of great talent, I think it’s about time we see the potential of our country in eSports.

The future is bright and we can take part in it, are you ready?

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