Razer launches warmup tournament for esports athletes in Southeast Asia

Gaming brand Razer has launched an esports tournament for national athletes in Southeast Asia.

Dubbed as the Southeast Asian Invitational 2020, it aims to help the region's athletes prepare for the SEA Games in Vietnam next year.

"We believe that there has been much development and increased training momentum since the completion of the first medal esports event last year at the 30th SEA Games," Razer esports director David Tse told GMA News Online in an exclusive interview.

SEA Invitational features three games: Defense of the Ancients 2 (DOTA 2) and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), which were both staged in the 2019 SEA Games, as well as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile.

Tse said they are considering to add games played in the console platform and games in the sports genre in the future.

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the event will be conducted entirely online. Athletes will compete from the safety of their homes and there will be no offline spectators.

The tournament will start on June 22 and will culminate in the grand finals on July 3 to 5. Only Timor Leste will not participate among Southeast Asian nations.

Vietnam has slashed its budget for hosting the SEA Games, but Tse is hopeful that esports will be included in the medal events in 2021.

"The strong development of esports through the esports federations and the significant growth on viewership of esports in the region will provide a huge advantage for esports to be included," he said. --MGP, GMA News