ESL One Manila Is Well Underway And The Future Is Bright For eSports In The Philippines
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We attended the press conference for South East Asia's first ever Premium DOTA 2 Tournament. It's really happening - as i write this, the first few matches to determine the brackets for the weekend event is currently underway. The hype is real, and everybody is excited. The 8 teams are all here and ready to compete, and we can't wait to experience ESL One.
As I listened to the speakers at the the press conference in Nobu Hotel, City of Dreams, it dawned on me that this very well could be a huge stepping stone for eSports here in the Philippines.
The Philippines Is Growing, eSports Style
for the organisation ESL, ESL One Manila is considered one of the fastest selling events that they ever had. This is coming from Ulrich Schulze, ESL VP Pro Gaming, as he was on stage addressing the crowd. This shows as a good sign ESL might consider making Manila a standard slot for premium events in South East Asia in the future. The conclusion and reception of ESL One will cement that as a possibility.
Support and recognition from the Philippine national government for an eSports event is something I never heard of. It was announced that ESL One Manila was recently included in the Tourism Promotions Board as one of the month's bigger tourist attractions. It might not sound like a big deal, but support like this is something that the eSports community needs moving forward, and knowing that they are finally getting it makes the future bright.
Just in case you want to watch the event but sadly don't have tickets, there are many ways to watch the event. TV 5, which is slowly being known as the network spearheading eSports coverage in the Philippines, will broadcast the grand finals of ESL One Manila. All the games leading up to the grand finals will be covered live on AksyonTV.
It's literally a great time to be a gamer in the Philippines.
Good stuff, but let's be honest here - The folks at TMG are not that familiar with the players nor the teams participating. Casually playing the game during our college days is pretty much the only thing we did when it comes to DOTA. Watching? Staying updated with the teams? If only one of us was an avid player/watcher in this game to guide the rest as we enter this side of eSports. When we were invited to cover this premiere event, we didn't jump right away at the opportunity, we were cautious. But then we realized what we had, we had the opportunity to experience DOTA 2 eSports at its best. So we are excited to see what will go down this weekend.
ESL One Manila gathered eight of the very best teams from across the world. Twelve countries are being represented, with our very own Mineski raising the Philippine flag. The event is expecting 10,000 fans to watch the matches unfold in front of them.
Will and Miggy will be on the scene checking out the event happening on Mall of Asia Arena April 22-23 to expereince DOTA 2 eSports at its best. It's currently underway and you can watch matches LIVE right now.
