Top Five eSports Games in the Philippines
Online gaming is extremely popular in the Philippines, especially among young adults. According to one survey by Rakuten Insight, around 40% of the survey participants played at least one video game in the previous month. According to the same survey, around 3% of the participant played VR and AR games. The most popular genre of video games in the Philippines is role-playing, which leads us to the thieving world of eSports.
Popularity of eSports in the Philippines
The eSports popularity has grown massively following the Southeast Asian Games 2019 tournament which was held in the Philippines. The Philippines is also home to quite a few successful eSports teams, including the TNC Predator team, Mineski, Execration, Rave, Cignal Ultra, DeToNator, Renovation I, and Neon eSports. Speaking of the most successful eSports teams from the Philippines, Filipinos can bet online on their favorite teams and they have many sites to choose from. Some of the most popular sports betting sites catering to Filipino players cover all the major eSports tournaments and leagues. In the following sections, we take a look at the top 5 eSports games among Filipino players.
Fortnite
According to this Statista report released in May of 2020, Fortnite was the most popular eSports game among Filipino players. As estimated back then, Fortnite had over 250 million Filipino players. Fortnite is equally popular among eSports fans residing in other Asian countries. Fortnite was released in July by Epic Games. Like most other popular eSports releases, Fortnite is a battle royale, survival game. In every gaming round, up to one hundred players can participate and the winner is the ultimate survivor.
Fortnite can be played on most gaming devices, including those powered by macOS, Windows, Nintendo, PlayStation 5, Xbox, Android, and iOS operating systems. The most popular release remains Fortnite Battle Royale. Fortnite Save the World is also very popular among Filipino players.
Valorant
Valorant is one of the most popular Riot Games eSports titles. The game was released in June of 2020. As estimated in July 2021, Valorant had almost fifteen 15 active players. In addition, every month of 2021, the game was played by around 12 million active players and many of these resided in the Philippines.
Unlike Fortnite which is accessible on almost every gaming device, Valorant is only accessible on Microsoft Windows devices. Valorant is mainly inspired by the legendary Counter-Strike series. Avid Valorant players recognized that the game borrowed some Counter-Strike mechanics and they are not complaining.
Dota 2
When discussing the most popular eSports games among Filipino players, we have to mention Dota 2. Dota 2 was released in July 2013 for Windows and Linux devices. The game is developed and published by Valve. In Dota 2, two teams consisting of five players battle each other across different maps and regions. One of their main objectives is to defend their bases. Every Dota 2 player has his character or hero. Every different hero possesses different abilities.
The Philippines has several high-profile Dota 2 teams that compete in the biggest Dota 2 tournaments. Some of these are ArkAngel Predator, Gamers Lounge, Reckoning Esports, Neon Esports, and TNC Predator. One of the most successful teams is definitely TNC Predator which has players who compete in League of Legends and Fortnite. Aside from winning several major titles, the team competed at The Internationals.
League of Legends
Fourth on our list of the top eSports games in the Philippines is League of Legends. League of Legends also known as LoL is yet another iconic multiplayer game that Filipino players enjoy. League of Legends draws inspiration from Dota, so the rules are very similar to those in most Dota games. At the same time, League of Legends has an interesting steampunk, fantasy vibe that clearly shows in its characters and design.
Some of the top League of Legends teams based in the Philippines are TNC Predator, Steelwolves Gaia, Liyab Esports, and ArkAngel. TNC Predator competed at the PGS Spring and Summer tournaments held in 2018 and 2017. The team also competed at the PPGL Season 1 2019, LST Spring 2019 National Minor, and many other League of Legends tournaments.
PlayersUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
We finish this list with PlayersUnknown’s Battlegrounds or simply PUBG. Developed by PUBG Studios, the game was released in December 2017. Like other games that appear on this list, PUBG is a battle royale, online multiplayer game. It draws inspiration from Battle Royale, a Japanese movie released in 2000.
In every gaming round, up to one hundred players compete against each other. As players arrive on a remote island, they look for various equipment and weapon to eliminate other players. Encounters are forced as the map decreases in size. The PUBG Philippine Series held every year is the most popular PUBG tournament of this kind.
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