Esports Inquirer writer wins in 2024 PH Esports Awards
Esports Inquirer’s very own writer AC Coloma copped the Esports Journalist of the Year in the 2024 Philippine Esports Awards (PEA) on Tuesday, April 22, at the GT-Toyota Asian Center.
“I wasn’t expecting much when I was nominated because other nominees had been more active last year than I was. So when I won and received the notice that I did, I got surprised and I was in disbelief over the results,” Coloma told Esports Inquirer.
Coloma covers multiple esports and gaming titles for Esports Inquirer, most notably Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and other console-based titles.
‘I had to work twice as hard to catch up’
Fresh out of college with a journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas in 2018, Coloma was put into the fray in covering esports for ABS-CBN News.
“When I was assigned to cover esports in 2019 for ABS-CBN, I didn’t know how to play a lot of competitive games, so that gave me a disadvantage. I also didn’t follow the professional leagues. I was more of a casual gamer and wasn’t really into competitive titles,” they added.
With only her work in sports journalism from college as her background, Coloma worked vehemently on the task.
“When I started writing about esports, I had nothing—and knew nothing. I wasn’t a lifelong gamer or an industry insider. I had to work twice as hard just to catch up. Every article, every feature—I poured myself into this craft to a point where people called it a passion project, but it wasn’t,” Coloma wrote in a LinkedIn post.
A brief pause and return to esports journalism
Coloma once stepped back from esports journalism, becoming an in-house writer for companies.
“I guess that is the reality of being in the profession while doing things I’m passionate about. I came from a single-income family, so I had to bite the bullet and look for another job,” the awardee said.
Now a freelance journalist and contributor to Esports Inquirer, Coloma notes how the esports community has impacted the growth of the industry in the Philippines, despite it still being unstable.
“I would say esports in the Philippines grew exponentially during the pandemic and the rise will be steady going forward… esports in the Philippines won’t die down. I believe it will be a permanent fixture, but much has to be done to make it sustainable, especially for teams and players that are starting out,” they added.
Coloma—also an awardee of Alamat Awards for covering MPL Philippines—is now back in the esports field.
“To Esports Inquirer, thank you for giving me a space to write when the spark was there,” Coloma said in the same LinkedIn post.
“[INQUIRER.net] gave me the opportunity to write despite having a full-time job, which currently fits my priorities.”
INQUIRER.net Chief Content Officer Arlene Burgos congratulated Coloma on her milestone.
“We are proud of AC and congratulate them on this career milestone. It is a delight to learn that AC is being recognized for their work in INQUIRER.net, which supports the passion for esports of a segment of our audience,” Burgos added.
The Philippine Esports Awards, organized by Esports Prime Media PH Incorporated, started in 2023 and is the premier awards-giving authority in the Philippine esports industry.
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