From being a demo sport in 2018, esports is now a full-fledged medal event.
It's going to be a challenge for SIBOL, the Philippine national esports team, to spring out and break into the podium for the Asian Games. It's the first time that esports will be a full-fledged medal event at this level, after serving as a demonstration sport in 2018.
Most of the titles that the Philippines medalled in, such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Valorant, and Crossfire are not offered in the Hangzhou edition.
SIBOL previously picked up gold in League of Legends: Wild Rift, the mobile edition, at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games. But Hangzhou has only greenlit the PC mode.
Here's what happened so far and what to expect in the coming days for the esports team.
EA Sports FC Online
Formerly known as FIFA Online 4, this is a multiplayer online football game developed by EA and published by Nexon.
Jorrel Aristorenas, a professional football player made the transition to virtual football but fell to Bahrain's Rashed Khaled Alrowaihi in the round of 32, 2-0. He also bowed to India's Jot Singh Charan in the losers' bracket, 2-0.
Arena of Valor
AoV is a multiplayer online battle arena game, an international adaptation of China's Honor of Kings, and published for mobile.
The Philippines struggled in the Southeast Asian seeding in Arena of Valor with a record of 1-5, finishing in sixth place.
In Group D of the main event, SIBOL fell to Thailand in the best-of-one match. One of the players, Cedrik Santos, conceded that the late finalization of the roster played a crucial role in their lack of experience.
Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
This is a fighting game developed by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and for PC.
The Philippines has fielded Ross Jhan "Noob" Villarin and he will be taking on Sitta Chantasriviroje of Thailand in the round of 32 on September 26.
Dream Three Kingdoms 2
Here's the thing. This is a 3D multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game featuring PvP and PvE combat. It's not actually available in the Philippines.
So SIBOL tried to have fun with it. They sent Zen Esports comprised of Robert Neil de Guzman, Manjean Faldas, Mark Adrian Jison, Caisam Nopueto, Shin Boo Ponferrada, and John Agustin Karl To.
If those names are familiar, that's because these are MLBB shoutcasters Midnight, Manjean, Butters, Wolf, Sh1n Boo, and Rockhart.
So they have played together before for MLBB. They also competed in the Road to the Asian Games, but went winless.
In Group B of the main event, SIBOL will take on Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan on September 27 in a bid to reach the quarterfinals.
Peace Elite Asian Games Version (PUBG)
Peace Elite is the Asian Games version of battle royal shooter PUBG: Battlegrounds.
Abdul Barode, the bronze medalist at the SEA Games, will be leading the charge for SIBOL, along with a mix of Playbook Esports and Infamous PRO players Jon Michael Cabig, Francis Carl Fusingan, Alen Dale Origenes, and Florenz Anthony Taleon.
The squad ended up sixth in the Asian Games seeding, while Thailand finished first. In the preliminaries of the main event, SIBOL will be taking on Macao, Sri Lanka, and Chinese Taipei in Group B starting September 28.
DOTA 2
DOTA 2 is by far SIBOL's biggest shot at a medal in the Asian Games.
To recall, SIBOL won the gold medal in the 2019 SEA Games held in the Philippines. Bryle Jacob "Cml" Alviso, Marvin "Boomy" Rushton, and Nicholson "Mac" Villanueva of Polaris Esports were part of that roster.
Now they're competing at the Asian Games level along with Eljohn "Akashi" Andales and Michael "Enryu" Ladines.
But SIBOL will have its own version of Gilas Pilipinas' Jordan Clarkson for DOTA 2.
They're bringing in Djardel Jicko "DJ" Mampusti as a powerful reinforcement. He's playing for Bleed Esports now but he has top-tier DOTA 2 experience, having played for Fnatic multiple times at The International.
Can't get any better than that.
SIBOL will take on India and Kyrgyzstan in Group A starting September 29.
(CF)