The year is almost coming to a close and it’s no denying that it has been a hard one for most, if not all of us, because of the pandemic and the fact that we still cannot freely go outside to do the things we love. Despite this, a lot of us have learned to cope and thrive through different ways. Some ventured into new hobbies while others continued to pursue their passions from home.
Among these is esports, which have become quite popular during this period of lockdown since unlike other forms of competition, it can be done completely online. Several major esports tournaments are still being held all over the globe, which in turn, draw more people into this competitive and exciting world. In fact, Southeast Asia’s first-ever virtual gaming and esports festival and awards show, Super GamerFest (SGF 2020), was just recently concluded.
Everything we love about esports in one virtual event
SGF 2020 was a 5-day spectacle that celebrated everything great about esports especially in the Southeast Asian region. The event highlights include the SuperGamerFest Awards; celebrity-gamer showdowns in Among Us and Human: Fall Flat; interviews with some of the biggest names in the esports industry such as Team OG, Alex Albon, Kevin Lin, and John Yao; and the PVP Esports Community Championships.
Four Filipino esports teams were able to represent the country in the Regional Finals of the PVP Esports Season 2 Community Championships. These were the teams that came out on top of the Globe Virtual Hangouts Ulti Cup that was opened to both professional and amateur gamers as a way to make competitive esports accessible to all and even discover untapped potential in the local esports scene.
Representing PH in the SEA esports stage
In the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Campus finals, Faith Colleges’ Team Bravehearts showed tremendous grit and skill to advance to the grand finals as the first seed before bowing to Indonesia’s Gunadarma Tinfor and finishing first place. ArkAngel Esports, on the other hand, also fought a competitive best of 3 series against Indonesia’s HFX Elite Pro at the Open finals and despite losing the third game, it was still a good run for ArkAngel as they placed first-runner up on just their second international tournament to date.
“Congratulations to our boys for making this far! GG’s to HFX Elite Pro Indonesia. Battle well fought!” ArkAngel wrote on their Facebook page.
The Philippines struck gold when Bren Esports trampled the other Southeast Asian teams to become the champion of the PVP Esports Valorant Open Regional Finals, sweeping XcN Gaming from Indonesia in the finals with two games to none. When asked how they prepared for this tournament, Bren Esports’ coach and manager Gilbert “Gibo” Sales Jr. has this to say: “Since we have a lot of tournaments during the week of SGF 2020, we treat our past tournaments as practice matches since we don’t have much time to initiate scrims. That’s what we usually do.”
Despite landing on the fourth spot for the Valorant Campus Regional Finals, DLSU Viridis Arcus still showed commendable performance in the tournament over all. In case you missed the thrilling PVP Regional Finals at SGF 2020, you can rewatch all the action here https://www.facebook.com/globetelecom.ggwp/
Esports for all
It’s safe to conclude that with the success of SGF 2020, esports and its dedicated community around the world is continuing to grow despite the current circumstances we are facing. Here in the Philippines, Globe, in line with its goal of elevating Philippine esports into new levels, has provided a platform for both gamers and fans to have easy access to local and international major esports tournaments with Globe Virtual Hangouts.
With the Road to SGF 2020 on Virtual Hangouts, local gamers were able to join the Ulti Cup, the Philippine qualifier for PVP Esports Open Tournament for MLBB and Valorant, while the local qualifiers for the Collegiate Cup were held by AcadArena. Through these, Team Bravehearts, ArkAngel Esports, DLSU Viridis Arcus, and Bren Esports were able to represent our country in the finals.
Globe Virtual Hangouts also enabled fans and enthusiasts to watch the tournaments, get to know the participating local professional and campus esports teams, and rally behind our representatives, showing that no lockdown can dampen our competitive spirit and innate desire to win.
There are definitely more esports events and tournaments to watch out for in the coming year on Globe Virtual Hangouts! Make sure to keep your eyes peeled so you don’t miss any of the fun. To be part of these events, just open the GlobeOne app, click on the Discover tab, click “View All” to go to Globe Virtual Hangouts Page, choose your preferred event, and click “Join.” You can also tap the heart icon to save the event or share it to your friends.
Play more and win more when you register to GoPLAY10 Booster that gives you additional 1GB for gaming apps such as MLBB, PUBG, and Call of Duty on top of your current data allocation. Get this on top of your favorite Go promos only through the GlobeOne app.