ESL Gaming Vice President Ulrich: ESL One Manila “going to be one of the best”
ESL One Manila conducted their pre-event press conference on April 21, 2015 at the Nobu Hotel, City of Dreams in Paranaque City.
Ulrich Schulz, Electronic Sports League (ESL)’s Vice President for Gaming, as well as Ronald “Rhom” Robins, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mineski and Ariel Fermin, External Vice-President (EVP) and Consumer Business Head for PLDT and Smart, were present at the press conference.
The captains of the participating teams also appeared at the event for the traditional T-shirt turnover-turned photoshoot with members of the media, with renowned host and comedian Eri Neeman hosting the press conference.
Schulz: The Philippines as a country is excited about eSports
Schulz took the floor first at the press conference, stating his thoughts about the Philippines as an excellent venue for eSports events. He said that ESL One Manila has been a record-setter in event sales, with “the turnout being one of the fastest sold-out events in ESL history.”
In addition, he mentioned that “virtually everyone here in the Philippines knows what Dota 2 is, what heroes are there in the game and which players are important in the scene”, which made Manila into “the right choice” for a large-scale ESL event.
READ: TV5 to Broadcast Finals of ESL One Manila
Robins: It is a great event for the community and fans here
While Schulz talked about the significance of the event to the company and his overall thoughts on the event, Robins talked about the significance of the event in the eyes of the Filipino Dota 2 community. Robins stated that “he never thought that this day will come where global teams will participate in a huge event on Philippine soil”.
He continued by saying that “the industry of eSports here in the Philippines has been lagging behind in comparison to other regions” and that the scene here in the Philippines and Southeast Asia in general has improved steadily in the past few years.
READ: Philippines’ Tourism Department Officially Supports ESL, Places it on Official Events Calendar
Fermin: We are not new to these events
Fermin talked about their delight and excitement in hosting ESL One Manila in collaboration with Mineski and TV5, stating that while this has been one of the largest events that they have supported thus far, they already had a portfolio of past events from all over the country.
ESL One Manila will be held at the SM Mall of Asia (MoA) Arena on April 23-24, 2016, featuring teams such as Team Secret, Team Liquid and EHOME, among others.
The Philippines will be represented by Mineski.Sports5 at the event, going up against Team Liquid, Wings Gaming and compLexity Gaming in Group A.
Follow Inquirer eSports on Twitter at @eSportsINQ and on Facebook: eSports at Inquirer.NET. #ESLOne and #ESLOneManila
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
