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(Eagle News) – E-sports events made their historic debut at the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Wednesday, December 5, at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, Metro Manila.
There are six medals to be contested in the events which should all conform to the standards of the International Olympic Committee that the selected games should not “should not promote the culture of violence and gambling.”
The games are under three categories: PC, console, and mobile.
These games are the following: Dota 2, Heartstone and StarCraft II are PC games, the ultra-popular Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Arena of Valor in mobile category, and Tekken 2 in console event.
The Philippines has a 27-man team for e-sports.
Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) chief operating officer Ramon Suzara said that the members of the Philippine team had to undergo a strict process, including a “doping test” before becoming part of the national team
“This is a sport of the mind and this is the first time also our e-sports athletes are educated, that they have to go to doping (test) where they have not experienced before,” Suzara said.
“They (the athletes) are now part of this multi-sport event. Like any other sport, they have to go to this process of becoming a national team (member).”
The team captain of the Philippine National e-Sports team, Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel, said he understood the concerns of Filipino parents about their children spending much time playing video games.
“We understand the concerns especially of the parents who think that their children’s life were ruined by playing video games because there are really some who just waste their time. But there are also some players who have a future in this game,” he said in Filipino.
So far, the Philippine bets for Hearthstone bowed out of contention Thursday night.
The e-Sports games in the 2019 SEA Games could be considered a leveling up of the sport which was only featured for demonstration in last year’s Asian games.
