Following the Asian Games 2018, the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games just might see esports among its list of events after its inclusion was proposed by sports officials from the host country, the Philippines.
In the final list of proposed sports events, the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee or PHISGOC included esports in Category 3, alongside arnis, floorball, jiu-jitsu, and kickboxing among others. The list, however, does not specify what esports are proposed to be included in the annual sports event.
Esports made a mark in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia as a demonstration sport. Its success became one of the primary reasons for its inclusion in this year’s lineup for the SEA Games.
Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan, who recently committed a total $2.4 Million towards esports in Malaysia, visited Manila last week to meet up with the Chairman of the Philippines SEA Games Organising Committee, Alan Peter Cayetano to further the esports cause.
Esports was already included in the recently-concluded 2018 Asian Games, albeit as a demonstration sport and not as a medal event in hope of elevating the status of competitive esports in lieu of its inclusion in the 2022 Asian Games in Huangzou, China. The inclusion of esports as a medal event in the SEA Games would be a massive stepping stone in making it an official medal event in tournaments like Olympics, and Asian Games.