by Kirby Marquez
Gaming has taken a big part in today’s generation, especially in times of the COVID -19 pandemic. It makes it possible for those people to connect and hang out with their friends during the quarantine. During the quarantine, gaming makes it possible to interact and hang out with their friends.
The purpose of gaming is not limited to entertainment. Now, it can be someone's source of income, job, or career path. The most common way is through game developing, streaming, and professional play. People like Alodia Gosiengfiao, ChooxTV, AkoSiDogie, CH4KNU, and Cong TV made their way to be one of the Internet’s most famous personalities because of gaming. From just entertainment to a life-changing career, gaming continues to evolve as it is about to become a college degree.
Electronic Sports, also known as esports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports could be played competitively, either by team or individual. Through its evolving popularity, gaming developers and designers are providing more funds for tournaments and events, making the prize pool bigger every tournament. The most common types of video games associated with esports are Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), First Person Shooter (FPS), Battle Royale, Card Games, Fighting, and Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games. The most commonly known games in esports are League of Legends, VALORANT, DOTA 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, and Mobile Legends.
Tier One Entertainment CEO Tryke Gutierrez collaborated with the Lyceum of the Philippines University to develop the curriculum of the four-year college degree on Bachelor of Science in Esports. As of May 2021, the LPU Manila Campus has officially launched the said degree. Gutierrez said that the degree program would have two tracks, such as game development and esports management. Esports management generally focuses on organizing esports businesses, while game development centers on programming, design, and concepts on fundamental knowledge of esports. Gutierrez also stated that the whole college degree would not just be fun and games.
The Bachelor of Science in Esports has the potential to be successful. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most competitive events and tournaments are done virtually, such as Mobile Legends, Call of Duty, VALORANT, etc. Since then, esports has gained popularity in a wider audience. On social media, most announcements posted are about upcoming tournaments and live esports events funded by famous companies and organizations in the Philippines, such as Acer, PayMaya, SMART communications, and TV5.
Esports was also part of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held at Filoil Flying V Centre, San Juan from November 30 to December 11, 2019. The Philippines got a gold medal at Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and DOTA 2. These are the good factors that can secure the future of Philippine esports.
One of the Philippines’ esports competitors is the TNC Predator, formerly known as TNC Pro Team. TNC Pro Team is known to make a historical event in esports in 2017 when the team joined the DOTA 2 tournament on The International 6. From being an underdog, they made their way to the top by defeating the two-time major champions OG, finishing Top 8 at TI6. TNC earned the tournament’s $500,000 prize pool equivalent to around 24 million pesos. Up until now, they are still competing in tournaments and are still one of the country’s greatest esports teams. The team now has a total earning of $4,643,343.
If a person wants to be an Esports player, this degree might help them. However, age matters in the esports industry. The retirement age of normal employees is around 60, while esports has 25. Esports managers pick their players who are young to maintain a player’s strategic thinking. An esports contract ends when someone reaches the age above 31. As esports players age, their high reflexes are reducing, their hand and eye coordination are decreasing, and their reaction time is getting poor. To avoid these factors, esports managers always choose a younger player to fight against their opponents. Furthermore, an esports career is not a thing someone will enjoy until they grow old.
In your opinion, do you think a Bachelor of Science in Esports is worth it? Is it going to be successful?
Kirby Marquez, 21 years old, BA Journalism Student from Cavite State University-Main Campus in Indang, Cavite. He loves photography, filmmaking, and traveling. “You can change what you do, but you can’t change what you want.” – his favorite quote from the Netflix series Peaky Blinders.
YSPACE is a platform open for young writers to contribute their worth-sharing thoughts and stories to the world. It is a space for young people and by the young people which aims to promote a strong sense of empowerment and inspiration to young Filipinos.
