Razer announced that it will be the official partner of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games or SEA Games for eSports titles. E-sports will be added as part of the upcoming SEA Games 2019. Razer co-founder and CEO, Min-Liang Tan led the campaign for eSports to be recognized as a medal event by meeting with the Philippines SEA Games Organizing Committee(PhilSGOC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee(POC) to achieve this goal. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano announced on his facebook page the possibility of E-sports being a medal event last April 17, 2018.

Through the help of Razer with their track record of pioneering in the E-sports industry as seen in Singapore and Malaysia, the Philippines will be the first country to host an E-sports tournament as a medal event, marking a milestone for the PH and SEA. Razer will spearhead in facilitating hardware, software and services required to support the esports tournament at SEA Games 2019. This includes connecting PhilSGOC and game publishers to select games the the tournament will feature. “Expect atleast 2 games from PC, 2 games from mobile, and 2 games console” said by Alvin Juban, Game Developer Association of the Philippines President.

In addition, Razer will support Philippine esports athletes who will make it to the finals, representing the host country. “Esports has been the essence of Razer ever since we were founded, and we have supported countless global events, tournaments, teams, and athletes over the past decade and a half,” said Razer co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan. “The sportsmanship and fighting spirit seen in esports is no less than that of other sports, and we’ve fought hard for its inclusion in an international sporting event like the SEA Games 2019.”

PhilSGOC and Razer are already in talks with different game publishers to provide a diverse roster of esports titles that will be featured in SEA Games 2019. PhilSGOC and Razer have announced their partnership with Moonton, to present the first game to be featured on SEA Games 2019, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Justin Yuan, CEO and co-founder of Moonton Games, said, “SEA Games 2019 is the perfect platform to propel Mobile Legends: Bang Bang into the big leagues, given our strong user base here as well as the region’s fast-growing youth and millennial population. Razer’s role as the official esports partner gives us confidence that the tournament will be nothing short of phenomenal. We look forward to seeing Southeast Asia’s best Mobile Legends: Bang Bang players face off against each other.”

Other game partners will be announced in the following months. More information and updates will be available at http://razer.com/sea-games-2019/

B2G Says: It is indeed a step up in the esports gaming industry for esports titles to be included as a medal event. With the Road to the Nationals franchise esports league having the same timeline with SEA Games 2019, we might see esports teams being supported by top brands such as San Miguel, Purefoods, KFC as seen on NBA. Hopefully this growth and recognition will continue to reach globally, especially the upcoming Olympics. We expect DOTA 2 and League of Legends to be featured in the PC category, and Arena of Valor will accompany Mobile Legends in the mobile segment while NBA 2k19 and Tekken are the titles for console.