Gaming
Riot Games PH launches Valorant Champions 2024 campaign
In partnership with PC cafes, esports orgs
Riot Games Philippines is back with another campaign. They have teamed up with local PC cafes and college esports organizations to bring the 2024 Valorant Champions Tour closer to the Filipino community.
Select PC shops nationwide have been transformed into Valorant community hubs throughout the month of August. The list of participating cafes are:
- Naos Esports Arena (Taft Avenue, Manila)
- Kadiliman Esports Cafe (Biñan, Las Piñas, Marikina, and Comembo branches)
- TNC Cyber Cafe (Quezon City, Malolos, Morayta, Dasmariñas, and Bacolod USLS branches)
These cafes feature month-long watch parties and pocket events where gamers can participate to win limited edition VCT Supernova merch and exclusive digital codes. Riot Games Philippines will also activate the GG Truck for a watch party specifically in Cebu.
Valorant Champions 2024 is the title’s biggest annual tournament and a culmination of a seven month-long competition featuring the top squads in the world. The last stop is currently ongoing in Seoul, South Korea.
Watch parties in these schools
Meanwhile, the following schools will be holding Champions 2024 watch parties as well, through their respective esports organizations:
- UP Gaming Guild (University of the Philippines)
- Enderun Gaming Guild (Enderun Colleges)
- Teletigers Esports Club (University of Santo Tomas)
- Romancon Gaming (De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde)
- Zenith Esports (University of the East)
- LPU Pirate Esports (Lyceum of the Philippines University)
- Wizards Circle Esports (National University)
- FIT іTamaraws Esports Club (Far Eastern University)
- LG Esports (Ateneo de Manila University)
Lastly, Riot Games is collaborating with the country’s hottest OPM and pop personalities. Included are SB19’s Josh Cullen, Zack Tabudlo, Al James, G22, and KAIA. This part of the campaign coincides with Champions 2024’s launch of its official anthem, “SUPERPOWER” featuring KISS OF LIFE and Mark Tuan.
Last month, Riot Games also held a campaign focused on League of Legends in a bid to revive the PC cafe gaming culture. It featured similar activations, with PC cafes being opened to enthusiasts to play the team-based game.
Gaming
Genshin Impact, Duolingo partner for limited-time quest
Win various rewards by going on a 3-day streak
Genshin Impact has partnered with Duolingo for a limited-time 3-Day Streak Quest in the Duolingo app.
The collaboration between the popular open-world RPG and the educational app features Teyvat’s travel companion Paimon.
Genshin Impact characters Tighnari and Cyno also make an appearance, as well as Duolingo’s beloved green owl Duo.
From December 8 to 27, players and learners from select regions can unlock the “Genshin Impact Quest” in any course on the Duolingo app.
Users who complete learning exercises for three straight days with receive the following in-game rewards:
- Custom avatar “Diligent Study”
- Themed namecard “Celebration: Dream Reader”
- Unique Sumeru-style dish “Spiced Fried Chicken” and recipe
- Collectible in-app statue of Paimon and Duo
- Primogems
The reward redemption code can be claimed from the “Shop” page in the Duolingo app before December 30 and redeemed on the title before January 31.
To make the challenges more exciting, all four characters will show up on each quest to cheer on learners.
The collaboration follows the recently released Genshin Impact Version Luna III, which introduced Durin, a new 5-Star Pyro character with dual battle forms. There is also a new story chapter set in Nod-Krai.
When I first unboxed the Razer Raiju V3 Pro, my brain immediately went: okay, this is exciting. It had that wow factor — that feeling of holding a piece of tech that’s meant to do something special. It’s the kind of controller that makes you want to jump straight into a game just to see what all the fuss is about.
Build and feel — familiar, but also very not
Coming from the DualSense, the first surprise is the weight. The Raiju V3 Pro is definitely lighter, but not in a cheap way. Holding it felt different, wider even, and my hands were a little more relaxed because of that added space.
The grip texture is great — no fear of slipping, and it feels particularly good on the bottom of your palm.
The face buttons? Smaller surface area, longer travel. Premium-feeling overall, though I’ll be honest: I’m not entirely convinced the Raiju V3 Pro’s feel matches its price tag. That’s mostly because I’ve tried some GameSir controllers that felt surprisingly similar for a fraction of the price. But still — this feels like a product built with intent.
Gameplay experience — where it actually comes alive
Most of my testing happened on NBA 2K26 because… well… that’s the game I always end up playing. And this was the moment the TMR thumbsticks flexed. I found myself doing more dribble combos and experimenting with shot styles using the right stick simply because I had zero fear of drift.
I also jumped into a few fighting games — TEKKEN 8 and My Hero One’s Justice 2 — then humbled myself in several Death Match sessions on Call of Duty Black Ops 7. I even swung through Spider-Man Remastered for a bit. Across all of these, the controller felt responsive, fast, and ready for whatever chaos I threw at it.
HyperTriggers and extra inputs — surprisingly useful
The triggers were most noticeable during my Call of Duty matches. I still sucked at it — let’s be real — but I can totally see how better players would squeeze more value out of the locked fast-trigger mode. The surprise twist was how useful the triggers were for fighting games. Having minimal travel made reaction-based inputs feel snappier and more controlled.
As for the back paddles and claw bumpers: I thought about taking some of them out, but ended up keeping everything on. Eventually, they became little fidget points that didn’t interfere with gameplay.

Mapped the extra trigger to Square to make it easier to hit the Triangle + Square combo for self alley-oops.
In practice, I rarely used them because I’m such a muscle-memory player… except in NBA 2K26. I mapped self alley-oops and flashy passing to the extra triggers, which helped because 2K moved those combos around this year.
Thumbsticks — the star of the show
The TMR sticks? Excellent. Smooth, accurate, fluid — all of it. I had fun abusing them without worrying about drift, and NBA 2K26 really let me push them to their limit. COD: Black Ops 7 was harder, but I think that’s more on me than the controller. Maybe a sensitivity tweak or two will fix that over time.
Customization — only what I needed
I’m not the type who loves deep tweaking, so I mostly skipped Synapse. I only used the mobile Razer Controller app to remap the extra triggers. And honestly? That was enough. The controller already felt good out of the box.
Wireless performance — HyperSpeed does its job
No lag. No hiccups. No difference between wired and wireless — seriously. HyperSpeed Wireless worked wonders and felt as reliable as any cable-connected controller I’ve used.
Pain points — minor, but noticeable
There are a couple of things worth noting.
The big one: no haptic feedback. The DualSense’s signature feature simply doesn’t exist here. Razer says this controller was designed with real pro players, and removing rumble seems to be one of those “it’s not needed in esports” decisions.
Honestly? After a while — especially during fast-paced games — I didn’t miss it. Haptics matter more in story-driven titles, and this controller isn’t really meant for those anyway.
One more thing: I couldn’t turn on the PlayStation with the Raiju V3 Pro. I still needed a DualSense for that.
Who is this for?
This controller is for people who play fast-paced, competitive games. Plain and simple.
But it’s also for players who want a controller built to take a beating — the kind that survives long sessions, intense button-mashing, and weekend-long gaming marathons. Its battery life is impressive, too, making it a great backup for when your DualSense suddenly taps out mid-game.
If you want a premium esports controller designed specifically for PS5, this is one of the best — if not the best — option right now.
If you want rumble, adaptive triggers, or a cinematic gaming experience? This isn’t it.
Is the Razer Raiju V3 Pro your GamingMatch?
If I had to describe the whole experience in one line: I’m swiping right because the Razer Raiju V3 Pro is an excellent piece of tech.
But it’s not for everyone, especially not for its asking price (EUR 209.99 / PHP 12,990). You can argue there are cheaper options — absolutely — but most of those lean heavily toward PC.
In the PS5 space, especially for competitive players, this is probably the strongest contender you can buy today.
The problem with games today is how big they are. Try installing Call of Duty today and see how much of your hard drive it obliterates. This problem is most apparent with live-service games. Unfortunately, one unlikely suspect of this is the critically acclaimed Helldivers 2, which currently clocks in at around a whopping 154GB. Thankfully, Arrowhead Game Studios has done some cleaning to reduce the game’s phenomenal file size by an impressive 85 percent.
Released last year, Helldivers 2 presents an enjoyable third-person shooter which pits players, solo or in a group, against hordes of hostile aliens or rogue robots. Despite being difficult, the game wants players to have fun. However, because of new content getting added constantly, the file size can get to big for modern machines.
Today, in a new update currently in beta, Arrowhead, with the help of PlayStation port specialists at Nixxes, has reduced the required file size of Helldivers 2 to only around 23GB. That’s a gigantic reduction, swirling around 131GB of savings.
Despite the huge reduction, Arrowhead says that performance does not take a backseat. At most, the new file system can cause only a few seconds of more loading times, and that’s only for the few who still use HDDs.
Currently, the new file size is an opt-in beta update. Players will need to change their settings a bit, as guided by Arrowhead’s blog post. They also advise anyone who uses mods to take caution since the new files might break compatibility.
Ultimately, the main goal is to make the new file size the default state of the game. If you don’t want to opt into a beta, hang tight for the more definite update.
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