In brief: SEA Games to feature esports as a medal event for the first time

Esports will now be included as a medal sport in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to be held in the Philippines.

The announcement was made by the Philippines SEA Games Organizing Committee (PhilSGOC), in partnership with the Philippine Olympic Committee and gaming hardware company Razer.

Source: Fox Sports

Razer revealed that its co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan visited the Philippines earlier to meet with the organizers and lobby for the inclusion of esports as one of the medal events in the games.

“This is especially meaningful for us at Razer. We’ve been one of the pioneers of esports, and we have always believed that professional gamers put in as much blood, sweat, and tears to achieve competitive proficiency in their field,” Tan said in a Facebook post.

As the official esports partner, Razer will draw upon its ecosystem of hardware, software, and services to support next year’s tournament.

It will also facilitate discussions between PhilSGOC and various game publishers to select the game titles esport athletes will play. The final line-up of titles will be revealed in the next few months.