This year’s E-Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS 2018) aims to focus on fostering growth to a budding gaming industry in the Philippines. As one of the biggest gaming conventions in the country, #ESGS2018 finds itself in the position to give gamers and enthusiasts the opportunity to get to know the local and international gaming scene better through various exhibitors, presenters, and guests. Thanks to a press conference earlier today, Oct. 25, members of the media got a few hints to what should be expected this year at ESGS.

Rhenn from What’s A Geek! will give you a sneak peek as to just what you should expect from the convention this year.

ESGS 2018: The Prelude

If you’re the kind of gamer who wants to prepare for all of their encounters, you’re on the right track. Aside from our social media posts, this article will pretty much put you up to speed with what to expect with your ESGS 2018 journey.

Bigger, Fuller Gaming Experience

Gariath Concepts’ Joebert Yu and Chad Ramos kicked off the press conference at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. This year’s ESGS will get to use all the halls on the first floor of the convention center. The change shows off the continuous growth of ESGS from it’s humble beginnings back in 2015.

“We’ve started small, but thanks to the brands that started coming in, we’re now able to offer a fuller experience with the entire SMX [Convention Center] ground floor,” Ramos said.

However, there’s more to it than just utilizing the convention halls. More than 50 brands will be coming in this year, ranging from both tech brands and gaming brands. Big presenters such as Capcom, Ubisoft, and Kojima Productions will have their respective booths this year. Meanwhile, gamers more oriented towards hardware have a lot to look forward to with ASUS, Acer, HP, and Logitech booths, among others. These brands will have their own slate of offerings as well, such as HyperX offering discounts and previews of some new releases that will first launch in the Philippines.

A Focus On Growth: Independent Developers, Other Communities

Ron Muyot of Playbook Esports highlighted the significance of a better gaming presence for all sorts of players in the country. Muyot, an avid fighting game (FG), said the FG community can benefit from such a resurgence.

“It’s (the FG community) has been striving for the past decade. It’s been considered ‘underground,’ but also self-sustaining,” he said. “We have tourneys of our own, especially for players of the same game. As such, it makes our hearts happy when players get recognized, and newcomers are being inspired to reach certain levels of skill.”

Meanwhile, Mobile Esports Arena’s John Esquitin also elaborated that games being “mainstream” in the gaming scene takes more than just prioritizing players.

“If we want to be mainstream, we can’t just focus on the players. We need to focus on what’s behind the market. We need to focus on developers as well,” he said.

Gwen Foster of the International Game Developers Association in the Philippines said ESGS offers a good opportunity for local developers to get exposed. ESGS has been helpful in that regard, given a lot of developers and their unique works did get exposure ever since the convention started a few years ago.

Connecting Gamers In A Bigger Network

PLDT’s Carlo Ople also took the time to applaud Yu and the rest of the organizers. “I want to honor Joebert and the guys who organized this (ESGS 2018). As not a lot may know, we’re guildmates before, and Joebert has been planning these events even a decade ago.”

Now a part of PLDT, Ople said he’s in a position to finally make a change in the plights of a lot of gamers nowadays. If you’ve ever experienced lag in a first person shooter, your guess is right. A lot of people complain about the country’s internet speed, and Ople said he’ll try to make a change on the matter given his position.

“One of the best ways to fix things is to be a part of the system,” he said. “In this case, we’re going to try to build the best networks for eSports and gaming in the Philippines.”

It’s not just about the connection, though. For instance, this year’s tournament offerings remain an ESGS staple. However, The Road To Nationals push will have a Tekken 7 and DoTA 2 tournament to scout players that can be drafted to the first ever Nationals tournament this year. As the name implies, Nationals serves as the first country-wide esports league, and as such the largest of its kind so far.

ESGS took particular care to organise fighting game tournaments this year as well. Moreover, winners of various fighting game tournaments this year will be the Philippines’ representative for this February 2019’s EVO Tournament in Japan.

Tapping Into A Global Audience

Fans going to ESGS this year might raise an eyebrow at the sight of booths belonging to networks and companies such as PLDT, Smart, and TV5. However, representatives in the conference clarified their presence leverages the strength of the country’s strong gaming audience in their networks.

Aside from the Road to Nationals focus, networks in the country have started pushing for a means to have gamers access premium gaming content as soon as they touch remote controls at home. ESports content can now be viewed through AksyonTV UHF Channel 41 thanks to a partnership between eGG Network, Tamago LIVE, and ESPN.

This particular partnership might interest viewers. TV5 will be airing eGG Network’s esports content for half a day per week through AksyonTV. This comes just in time for the Kuala Lumpur (KL) Major, which is the first in the DoTA Pro CIrcuit season for 2018/19. Localized and international casts will show up as well, depending on the content.

Michelle Oh from Malaysia’s WESG said the Philippines is one of the best countries in Southeast Asia when it comes to gaming. Yubin from Tamago said the partnership is a good way for growing the eSports ecosystem in the country, especially for athletes and players in Southeast Asia.

ESGS 2018: What To Expect

The Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018 (ESGS 2018) will be held on Oct. 26 to 28, 2018 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Philippines. Adventurers and gamers interested in participating ought to get your tickets now or on the venue. Stay tuned for our comprehensive What’s A Geek! coverage on the three-day convention!