Philippine eSports Organization opens own headquarters

The Philippine eSports Organization (PeSO) has its home as the governing body opened its headquarters in a bid to strengthen esports in the country.

PeSO unveiled its new offices at Launchpad in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday, which was highlighted by a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by officials from the federation and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

With its own physical office opened, the organization is also hoping to build its own training facility for members of the national team, also known as Sibol.

“One step at a time and we’re happy that our Board is really supportive [even if] they came from different esports organizations,” PeSO executive director Marlon Marcelo said in the press conference.

“Definitely we want our own training facility but what kind of partnership it would entail is another venture that we will look forward to in the future.”

PeSo also plans on establishing  more interactions between the fans and the players, stressing they are planning to have meet and greet events as well as selling of merchandise.

The building of the headquarters comes with only a few months left before the Asian Games, which will feature eight medal games across PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor, Dota 2, League of Legends, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Hearthstone, and Street Fighter V.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, an event in which the Philippines has been dominating on a world level in the recent years, is not part of the events lineup.

“We know coming into the Asian Games that this is going to be a more uphill battle for us because this is definitely a different ballgame,” Sibol general manager Jab Escutin said.

“These are different teams that we will be competing against. But one thing is for sure, our goal is to plan our foot firmly in that arena and make sure that we make our mark.”

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News