Gaming
New avenues open for aspiring esports athletes
Brands are going all in!
Competitive gaming has been around for quite a while now and in the Philippines, aspiring to be a professional gamer might not be too far fetched of a dream anymore.
The Nationals
Inspired by the PBA or Philippine Basketball Association, brands have come to together to form The Nationals — the first franchise-based esports league in Southeast Asia. The inaugural season will feature five teams and three games.
Here are the five teams:
- Bren Epro
- HF Emperors
- Cignal Ultra Warriors
- PLDT-Smart Omega
- Suha-XCTN Punisher
These five teams will compete in three games on three major platforms: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on mobile, Dota 2 on PC, and Tekken 7 on PS4. A sixth team — STI — will join the league on June 2018 after the Dota 2 competitions.
Each game will have two conferences. The two conferences will comprise a double round-robin group stage and single-elimination playoffs. Winners of the two conference will then face off later on for the season finale.
The Nationals will be run like any other professional sports league. Commissioner Ren Vitug is hopeful the league will provide a platform where talent can be nurtured.
“The players will be provided with training and facilities, their health will be monitored, and they will have proper structure.”
– Ren Vitug, #TheNationals Commissioner #GadgetMatchLIVE pic.twitter.com/9ur2uImBtu— Rodneil M. Quiteles (@rodneilquiteles) March 8, 2019
A tested league model in the Philippines
The franchise-based approach might be alien to international observers whose participants comprise of either clubs or city-based teams. However, it’s a tried and tested formula in the Philippines.
The PBA, which was founded in 1975 and is the longest-running professional basketball league in Asia, is also franchise-based and has been the model for other sports leagues in the country.
While that league is experiencing some issues in gate attendance, it is still running thanks in large part to the financial backing of its member franchises. It stands to reason that this league model might prove to be successful in the Philippines.
The Esports Center
Elsewhere, major Philippine telecommunications company Globe has launched The Esports Center or ESC. It’s a pop-up that will run from March 9 to 24 at Play Nation in UP Town Center, Quezon City. Globe says the ESC hopes to provide a venue where the entire esports community can come together.
The ESC also welcomes those who are into gaming and want to break into the esports industry but are not exactly sure where to start. Globe SVP and Head for Content Business Nikko Acosta says the ESC hopes to serve as the “venue to upgrade [the gamers’] knowledge and gauge their skill levels with others through peer learning.”
Present during the launch was Team Liyab — Globe’s own esports team which was built in partnership with professional gaming organization Mineski.
Other than mobile and PC arenas, the ESC will also have a place called The Studio. Here, those who are more interested in becoming streamers instead of esports athletes will have a place and the tools to learn more about the craft.
Brand support key in esports growth
Esports has seen a major rise in recent years and brands in the Philippines are going all in. The proclamation of overall support which include not only the athletes’ training and finances but also their emotional, mental, and physical well-being all sound very promising.
All of these are still in the infancy stages, but the prospect for growth and the continued support by brands and fans alike could push the industry to heights once reserved only for traditional athletes. If this continues, it might not be long before we’re having debates about who the G.O.A.T. esports athlete is.
The trifecta is complete. Almost a year after announcing their new hardware, Valve has finally unveiled the price tag of the Steam Frame, complementing the Steam Machine and Steam Controller revealed a few months ago.
Whereas the Steam Machine is a console of its own, the Steam Frame is a traditional VR headset with a pair of controllers for both hands. Unfortunately, despite being in a different segment, the headset is not immune to the rising prices of technology. The Steam Frame will start at US$ 1,059 for a 256GB model and can go up to US$ 1,299 for the 1TB model. On the plus side, each box will come Half-Life: Alyx packaged along with the headset.
Here’s a more detailed rundown of what you’re getting. The Steam Frame will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM. Each eye comes with a 2160 x 2160 LCD screen, putting out images at up t0 a 144Hz experimental refresh rate. As mentioned above, the headset will start with 256GB of storage but can go up to 2TB. It will come packaged with SteamOS 3 and a rechargeable 21.6Wh battery.
This might be a hard buy for some. The industry currently has more affordable options, for one. Also, virtual reality isn’t the most thriving segment of gaming today.
If you’re still decided on buying one, however, Valve is using its lottery system. Interested customers can sign up from now until September 17. The company will then randomize the purchasing order. Those who draw the first ones in the lottery can get a purchase email as soon as September 18. Meanwhile, anyone who registers after September 17 will automatically be put at the back of the queue.
SEE ALSO: Valve announces its own console called the Steam Machine
Gaming
BlizzCon 2026 announces World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V
StarCraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and more also get news
Blizzard Entertainment kicked off BlizzCon 2026 with a packed Opening Ceremony featuring new games, major expansions, updates, and other announcements across its biggest franchises.
Blizzard Entertainment President Johanna Faries opened the event at the Anaheim Convention Center, celebrating the community behind the company’s games and the teams that bring its worlds to life.
World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V
The biggest announcement was World of Warcraft: Forever, a new World of Warcraft experience launching November 5 AEDT, with its beta beginning September 18 AEST. The new experience will feature three zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids, and a new Skyborne race.
Blizzard also officially announced Diablo V, marking the next era of the franchise. The game is set to launch in North America in Spring 2029, with Sanctuary having fallen and Diablo having won.
StarCraft is also returning with a new story-driven, open-world shooter. The game is currently planned for a Spring 2030 release in North America.
Beyond games, Blizzard revealed that an animated series set in the Diablo universe is in development with Netflix. The company says this is only the beginning of its plans to expand its universes beyond gaming.
For Warcraft III Reforged, the new Forsaken Kingdom campaign is available today. It marks the Warcraft RTS series’ first new storyline in more than 23 years and explores the fall of Lordaeron and the origins of the Undercity. The accompanying 3.0 update also brings graphical improvements and a revamped World Editor.
Heroes of the Storm is adding Xal’atath as its newest Hero. She arrives in the Nexus on September 29 AEST, with her PTR release scheduled for September 15 AEST.
Existing games updates
Meanwhile, Diablo IV is preparing for its next major content drop. Season of Hell’s Legacy begins September 16 AEST and celebrates the franchise’s 30-year history with the return of the Prime Evils and Deckard Cain, alongside themed rewards and gear.
The legendary Amazon class will also arrive in the first half of 2027 as part of Diablo IV’s first class pack. The Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection is additionally coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 16 AEST with cross-platform play and cross-progression.
For World of Warcraft, Blizzard teased the next major update for Midnight. Eclipse (12.2) will see Xal’atath move closer to her goal of claiming Azeroth’s Worldsoul. Blizzard also offered another look at The Last Titan, the next expansion in the Worldsoul Saga and a major culmination of more than two decades of Warcraft storytelling. More information is coming early next year.
Overwatch is getting a major update with Season 5. The season introduces new Support Hero Doctrine, reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and the new Watchpoint: Grimsvötn map. It will also conclude The Reign of Talon, Overwatch’s first year-long narrative arc.
LE SSERAFIM & YOASABI
BlizzCon also featured performances from YOASOBI and LE SSERAFIM. YOASOBI will perform during the first-ever esports halftime show at BlizzCon, while LE SSERAFIM will return to the Main Stage to close the weekend. A new LE SSERAFIM in-game collaboration is available now, with another Overwatch Spotlight scheduled for February 2027.
Finally, Hearthstone is getting its first new class in more than six years. The Monk arrives in 2027, while the upcoming Reign of the Black Empire expansion takes players back to the earliest age of Azeroth. It introduces the Assemble keyword, which combines two cards into a new one. Battlegrounds is also adding Aberrations as a new minion type.
BlizzCon 2026 is now underway, with Blizzard promising more announcements and details throughout the weekend.
Gaming
Xbox saves Kojima’s PHYSINT after PlayStation drops support
PlayStation says the separation was mutual, but Kojima hints otherwise.
Things aren’t going well in the PlayStation camp. After two months of frankly questionable decisions, the company adds another to the pile by dropping support for Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT.
For a while now, Kojima and PlayStation were in a very productive relationship with the Death Stranding duology, a critically acclaimed collection of titles for the platform. When things looked like they were going well, Kojima announced PHYSINT, an espionage-themed game which reminded fans way too much of Metal Gear Solid.
If you were investing in a PlayStation 5 to play Kojima’s latest thriller, you might want to move your chips elsewhere now. PlayStation has just dropped support for the espionage game, meaning PHYSINT will no longer be a first-party title for the platform.
Though PlayStation claims that the decision came after “careful consideration,” Kojima himself has said that the move was “unexpected,” going against PlayStation’s assurance of a mutual separation.
Very quickly, Xbox has announced that their platform will support PHYSINT instead. It’s a big get for the competing brand because Xbox Game Studios is already supporting OD, Kojima’s other upcoming horror project starring Sophia Lillis.
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to say more. As is tradition, Kojima will not explain much more about his upcoming titles. In fact, OD’s trailer barely says anything. One thing’s for sure, though: we’re all in for quite a ride.
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