By Jasper Arcalas
THE P11.5-million pot for a Defense of the Ancients (DotA) multiplayer electronic game, the biggest for computer gamers in Southeast Asia (SEA), is expected to entice local businesses into eSports.
“It’s going to be very exciting, especially this is the first [time that] there’s going to be an event of such magnitude that will happen in the Philippines,” Ronald Robins, CEO of Mineski Corp., told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of a news conference in Makati City. “At least, we are going to open possibilities for the business to see eSports as a whole—to attract people capable of investing more into growing the sport.”
Robins led the announcement on April 7 that Germany-based eSports company Turtle Entertainment Inc. will be organizing its first Electronic Sports League (ESL) One DotA 2 tournament in the SEA region at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena, Pasay City.
The organizers expect a combined 18,000-audience attendance for the two-day event, which has a prize pool worth $250,000 (P11,525,500 at current exchange rates).
Robins said he also expects the tournament would provide an opportunity to prove to possible investors that eSports is a growing industry.
“Honestly, not everybody knows about it yet,” Robins said. “This is a way of showing the Philippines’s economic sector [that] there’s something in eSports that they should look into.”
The eSports tournament will be held on April 23 and 24 amid a booming global gaming industry.
eSports or competitive gaming refers to the play of mind sports and video games competitively, according to the Philippine eSports Organization. DotA 2, in particular, is a multiplayer online battle arena game that pits two teams of five members with the goal of destroying the opposition’s central structure called “The Ancient.”
The global eSports market revenue grew by 67.4 percent to $325 million in 2015, from $194 million in 2014, according to a report by Newzoo, a games research firm.
The total amount of eSports tournament prize pot for 2015 reached $61 million, a 70-percent increase from 2014’s $36-million total prize pot. The biggest eSports tournament in 2015 was DotA 2 “The International,” which had an overwhelming $18-million prize pot. The champion of that tournament by game publisher Valve took home $6.6 million.
The Amsterdam-based Newzoo estimates the global eSports market will hit $463-million revenue or a 42.6-percent increase this year.
ESL One Manila 2016 will feature eight DotA 2 teams from North America, Europe, China, SEA and Russia. Team Mineski.Sports5 will represent the Philippines.
Mineski.Sports5, which is sponsored by Media5 Marketing Corp., is the oldest eSports team in the country founded in 2004. Mineski.Sports5 emerged at the top of the multilegged nationwide qualifiers that gathered teams of gamers in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao and Manila, according to Ariel P. Fermin, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. consumer business head.
Reyes said his network will broadcast the two-day DotA 2 tournament “on its entirety” with the grand finals being televised on Media5’s main channel. This is the first time that an eSports event will be televised locally.
Global sports media, such as ESPN and Turner Broadcasting System, have also shown their interests in covering eSports in their respective networks, Robins said.
NewZoo estimates eSports will have a worldwide total audience of 256 million this year. That is 30 million more than the 226 million total audience last year, according to NewZoo’s estimates. About 44 percent of this year’s eSports audience or at least 112 million eSports enthusiasts are from the Asia-Pacific region, the same report said.
Robins said ESL One is an opportunity to prove to the world that Filipino gamers are not just mere “keyboard warriors” or hateful people in online gaming.
He encouraged reporters to cover the tournament his company organized, “so we can show the world the Philippine eSports community has something good in it.”
“Mapapakita natin na tayo ’yung best crowd in the world; na ang Pinoy gamers ay mababait at passionate sa laro. [We can show them we are the best crowd in the world and that we are friendly and passionate with the game],” Robins said.
The two-day ticket pass for the tournament costs from P500 to P5,000 depending on the section. The VIP seating has been sold out, according to Robins.