SINGAPORE - When US mobile game Vainglory was launched three years ago, its maker chose to release it first in Singapore. One of the game's key artists is also Singaporean.

And on Sunday (Dec 17), a Singapore team will be battling for third place at game's second world championship, which is being held at the Kallang Theatre.

Calling themselves Team Impunity, the five Singaporeans are: Amos Ker and Tan Jing Yu, both 17; Nicholas Wong, 19, along with reserves Ng Jun Xian, 18, and Nigel Wong, 21.

They made it to the semi-finals on Saturday and played against ACE Gaming, a South Korean team. Although the Singaporeans put up a brave fight, they were defeated 3-1 in the battle that lasted more than two hours.

Team Impunity will be going against Cloud9 from the United States at 2pm on Sunday. The grand finals between ACE Gaming and another US-based team, Tribe Gaming, will be held five hours later.

Despite their defeat, the Singapore team's manager Fabien Ong, 24, said he was very proud of their performance. He said: "We are extremely thankful for the home crowd's tremendous support."

Amos, who is the team captain, told The Straits Times: "We have managed to prove that we can compete on a global stage. We will continue to work on our strategies, and be ready when the next world championship comes along."

Team Impunity is one of the top 12 teams from around the world playing for a prize pool of more than US$140,000 (S$189,000).

The Razer 2017 Vainglory World Championship is organised by the US-based company that created the game Super Evil Megacorp.

Vainglory is a multiplayer online battle arena game played on mobile phones and tablets, where two teams of three players engage in battle with a variety of characters.

Chief executive of Super Evil Megacorp Kristian Segerstrale said that organising the Vainglory World Championship in Singapore was like a homecoming for the firm.

He added: "Vainglory was developed in the US but was first released in Singapore in 2014 to critical acclaim. One of the important contributing artists to the game is also a Singaporean, so, Vainglory has strong Singapore links."

The other 11 teams are from countries such as Japan, Brazil and Germany. The 12 teams emerged tops out of more than 5,000 groups worldwide.

The game's first world championship was held in Hollywood last year with a smaller prize pool of US$120,000.

This year's event kicked off on Thursday and will end on Sunday.