BIGGER, bolder, stronger.
That’s the ultimate goal of the Dark League Studios (DLS) in Season 2 after the rousing success of the inaugural Estudyante Esports: National Championships, anticipating to double the participating schools nationwide.
Over 600 squads from over 200 schools vied in the breakthrough tournament aimed at bridging the academe and responsible online gaming with four schools reigning supreme – not only for prizes but of the future of the booming discipline.
For Season 2 in July, the cast is tipped to balloon to over 1,000 teams as Dark League Studious doubles down on the noble mission of championing the relentless growth of Esports from the academe and up for an end-goal of providing career paths in the digital world.
“What we wanted to make sure of is that we remove that kind of toxic stigma. Esports is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to create aspiration for us, for the younger generation, and it’s supposed to be an eye-opener as part of the digital age. But it’s not ready to become a career. So, we have to sustain it,” said DLS co-founder and Chief Executive Officer AC Valdenor.
The Estudyante Esports is the brainchild of co-founder and chairman Bobby Rosales, who also serves as governor of Terrafirma in the PBA.
DLS’ preparations, including the regional qualifiers all over the archipelago, is already underway but prior to that, the four inaugural champions over the weekend finally got their rewards at the DLS headquarters in Libis, Quezon City.
Novus Bravehearts from Faith Colleges took home P250,000 for ruling the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) tournament with Finals MVP Zywin Angelo Pedutem bagging an incentive of P20,000.
Our Lady of Fatima University Phoenix and Finals MVP Michael Jay Gawala also got P250,000 and P20,000, respectively, for the League of Legends title as similar incentives were given to Valorant champions De La Salle University Green Aces and Finals MVP Xavier Juan.
Jean Cyrus Villapana of City College of Angeles claimed P50,000 for the lone individual sport Tekken of the Estudyante Esports that featured a total of four Esports titles for its first season. — John Bryan Ulanday
