ESGS 2019: Business Day, Talks On Esports, Brands, Streams

Folks from Gariath Concepts gathered members of the media and business partners for a dedicated business day, and for a quick briefing regarding the ins-and-outs of the 3-Day ESGS 2019. That’s right, folks! It’s that time of the year again. Organizers and sponsors peg this year’s ESports and Gaming Summit (ESGS) to be bigger and better than last year’s. And, honestly, we’re already feeling the hype.

Our gamers here at What’s A Geek! and Play Without Apology have been expecting ESGS for the past few months. So while we squeal as we wait for the awesome gaemzz tomorrow, we begin this year’s coverage with Day 0: Business Day. What happened, though? And what’s in it for the fans?

ESGS 2019: Let’s Talk Games, Esports

Various VIP guests provided various insights to members of the media, exhibitors, and presenters across their different fields of expertise. The first batch of speakers focused more on the overall esports landscape in the country. 

Ralph Aligada, Gariath Concepts’ VP for Business, talked about esports in the Philippines in general. In his talk, he spoke to members of the press regarding today’s perception of gaming. Among the main points in his pieces include: 

• Esports is vastly different from gaming and e-games. Whereas esports falls under the general umbrella of gaming, e-games pertain to gambling. Instead, esports is competitive, has a specific prize pool, and is in a tournament format. 
• In theory, there are 4 kinds of gamers: socializers (plays to meet people), habituals (plays when there’s time), achievers (plays for goals), and explorers (plays to expand horizons). Esports players fall under the explorers category. 
• He clarifies main misconceptions: gamers aren’t weird, aren’t fat, aren’t exclusively male, and games don’t make people violent. 
• Content creators who want to get into gaming should consider audience, type of content (gaming or esports), potential partners, and authenticity. 

Alan Chou of Meta.US talks about game development, especially for the context of brands and marketers. Chou put focus on the following points: 

• If brands keep on believing the stereotypes on gamers, they won’t get in the market. 
• Brands should pay attention to esports, especially in the Philippines, as market projections indicate potential. 
• Gaming is a business, yes, but they should always prioritize what makes gamers happy. Chou says: “Always focus on what gamers happy. You can’t go wrong with that.”

Jaba Orellana of Tier One Entertainment talks about the growth of esports as a form of entertainment. In his talk, he focused on points such as:

• The concept of livestreaming has gotten to the mainstream since 2012, and has grown ever since. Aside from Twitch, we have Facebook Gaming, among many others, as sources of esports entertainment. 
• Streamers appeal to crowds because they’re entertaining, have their own style and personality, and have their own approach to their streams. 

Streamers, Esports events are here to stay

The next batch of speakers for the business day focused on livestreaming as a means for brands to reach their audiences. They also focused on the rise of mobile esports.

Emile Tanglao and Philip Sebastian of Rumble Royale talk of livestreaming as a growing phenomenon. Rumble Royale, their team, has 180+ talents and millions of views and interactions. Points of their talk include:

• The main appeal of livestreaming would be its capacity to link gamers and streamers in one platform. 
• Streamers themselves can be distributors of content in and of themselves. 

Lloyd Manaloto of TV5 talks of esports as sports content. Manaloto emphasizes that they took their approach to #TheNationals in the same way they approach traditional sports events. Other points include:

• Doing coverage on #TheNationals should have the same hype as traditional sports coverage, in order to foster the same intense communities we have in sports like basketball. 
• #TheNationals was likened to local sports leagues, where recruitment of teams started from the grassroots or small tournaments, and then grew to regional tournaments, until reaching The Nationals. 
• Manaloto says: “Esports and sports are the same thing. If you understand sports, then you understand esports.”

Jab Escutin of BenPro Inc. talks about the rise of mobile esports in the Philippines. Among his talk’s main points include:

• It’s projected that around 14M Filipinos will be playing mobile games. 
• Mobile esports has been rising due to easy accessibility to phones, better and FREE competitive games, more tournaments and events, and better connectivity. 

Games and Branding, Events

The last batch of speakers talked about branding in the context of esports, as well as in events. We’ve also been given an insider’s view on how the esports segment of this year’s SEA Games was organized.

Rd Rogacion of Overdrive Studios talks about branding and design in esports. Rogacion, who designed quite a lot of logos for brands across the local esports scene, actually started his business as a freelancer. He gave some insightful points on design and branding, especially for esports, including:

• Branding has more to do with “how does it make you feel?” instead of “how does it look?”
• Aside from appearances, design has a lot to do with solving problems, and telling stories. 

Mark Navarro of MET Events, the same team that organized the esports segment of this year’s #SEAGames2019, talked about the behind-the-scenes of event organizing for esports. Some points include:

• They organized the esports segment of the #SEAGames2019 from an ecosystem perspective. 
• From this perspective, they had gamers participate in local events to aspire to reach regional tournaments. They made sure gamers remain inspired to reach new heights in their gaming journey as well. 

ESGS 2019: Prepare for Take-Off!

This caps our business day coverage. It was a relatively quick press con, but a juicy one nonetheless. With the above points in mind, ESGS 2019 gears up to be quite the exciting summit. That’s on top of the exhibitors, artists, game devs, and presenters that will grace the stage for this year’s 3-day convention.

And we won’t miss telling you folks all about ESGS 2019 in this year’s coverage. While you can read everything about ESGS in What’s A Geek!, Play Without Apology, and from other media partners, we still recommend you attend the actual convention. You don’t necessarily have to pre-register to enjoy ESGS to the fullest! You and your friends can still buy walk-in tickets tomorrow at the SMX Convention Center.

ESGS 2019 will be open to the public beginning tomorrow, October 25, Friday, until October 27, Sunday.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re doing a joint coverage with Play Without Apology! You can see this article on their site, and they have a lot more awesome stuff on gaming and other industries! Give us a beep when you see us in the convention halls!