SEA Games preps for e-sports in full gear

Alan Peter Cayetano- PHISGOC Chair, Sebastian Lau – Director General of Asian E-Sports Federation, and Presidents of the 8 E-Sports National Sport Associations from Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines participated in the SEA Games 2019 E-sports National Federation Planning Workshop held on March 6-7, 2019. This is in preparation for the inclusion of e-sports as medal sports in the 30th SEA games. (PNA Photo)

MANILA — A planning workshop for SEA Games 2019 e-sports National Federations was conducted by the Philippine SEAG E-Sports Union (PSEU), the Philippine South East Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), and Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF).

The workshop was held to finalize the details, games structure and mechanics of the e-sports events, as part of its historic inclusion as a medal event in the 30th SEA Games.

Under the leadership of PSEU and PHISGOC Chair, former foreign affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, the Philippines will be the first country to ever stage an e-sports tournament as a medal event in a multi-sport competition sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.

“We need to prepare. That’s why my challenge to them was: We plan as one and prepare as one, so that we can win as one,” Cayetano said in an interview after the workshop.

Razer, the 30th SEA Games e-sports official partner, sponsored the workshop that discussed the games structure and teams participation guidance, local qualifier status, Razer bootcamp and training structure, test event before SEA Games and venue walk-through for SEA Games 2019.

Key personalities in e-sports gaming, including PSEU’s Co-Vice Chairmen Ramon Suzara and Chot Reyes; Sebastian Lau – Director General of Asian E-Sports Federation; David Tse – Global E-Sports Director of Razer; Cherry Xia – Vice President of Moonton; Allen Hsu – Regional Head of Garena; and presidents of the 8 e-sports National Sport Associations from Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines participated in the workshop.

Participants will compete for six medals in the e-sports events, which will include five shortlisted games: Dota 2, StarCraft II, Arena of Valor, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Tekken 7.

The sixth game is still being discussed by the Committee.

The e-sports titles included have been split evenly between the three major gaming platforms; the PC, console, and mobile.

This historic move by the PHISGOC is expected to set a precedent for the possible incorporation of e-sports as a medal sport in future Olympics Games.

“This is a major milestone to boost the global status of e-sports. With billions of people into e-sports now, and with almost 500 million avid viewers, it brings in such a new perspective and is a breath of fresh air to the SEA Games,” Cayetano said.

He expressed hope that, with a majority of viewers between the ages of 18 and 34 years, the Philippine-hosted SEA Games will positively influence the youth to value sportsmanship and discipline, and to live a vice-free life.

To ensure the success of this “milestone initiative,” PSEU, PHISGOC and AESF invited experts and resource persons to discuss the technical aspects of the e-sports games.

Late last year, PSEU and PHISGOC partnered with Razer, a leading global brand in e-sports, to seek its expertise and ecosystem of hardware, software, and services to support the tournaments.