Video gaming in the Philippines is an emerging industry and pastime that includes the production, sale, distribution, and playing of video games.
Video gaming in the Philippines is an emerging industry and pastime that includes the production, sale, distribution, and playing of video games.
NIKO Media Research projected the number of PC Gamers to rise from 21 million in 2012 to 28.72 million in 2014. [1]
The Philippines is a minor player regarding the game development industry. In 2011, it was reported that the local industry only has a 0.02% market share of the $90 billion global industry. The majority of the game development industry is focused on outsourcing to foreign companies rather than creation of local content. [2] According to the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), there are about 4,000 professionals representing about 60 companies involved in the game development industry as of 2013. The Philippines' primary competitors in this field are China, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. [3]
The first Filipino-developed commercial computer game was Anito: Defend a Land Enraged which was released in November 2003. [4] 2 months prior to the release of Anito, in September 2003, a free and open source Solitaire card game named Drac was also released by Rico Zuñiga, which makes Drac the first Filipino-developed computer game and game development framework. [5] Drac was also used to create another card game based on the rules of the popular Filipino game, Tong-its which was released in November 2003. [6] [7]
In 2016 the French video game development company Ubisoft announced plans to establish a subsidiary in the country, which opened on March 28, 2016, in Santa Rosa, Laguna in partnership with De La Salle University. [8] [9] [10]
The University of The Visayas New School (UVNS) offers esports and game development through their Senior High Arts and Design track. [11] UVNS offers subjects like game theory, mechanics, strategy, and game awareness. Students can also pick up game design, branding, and shoutcasting as well as entrepreneurship. [11]
After the return qualification of two Filipino teams for the world DOTA 2 tournament in 2017, esports backers like Sen. Bam Aquino see the potential of the online gaming industry to bring honor to the country while creating jobs and ushering in investments. [12]
Due to the popularity of video gaming in the Philippines, various outlets have conducted tournaments from local to international levels. In 2016 the Manila Cup held various gaming competitions with participation by local and international players, featuring games such as Mortal Kombat XL , BlazBlue Chronophantasma and Street Fighter . [13] Big name conventions such as the Asia Pop Comic Convention [14] [15] and eSports and Gaming Summit hold various video game tournaments as part of their programs. [16]
The surging popularity of esports in the Philippines has led to various Filipino teams competing in renowned eSports tournaments worldwide, [17] even producing champions over different tournaments. [12]
In 2017, a national eSports league was established which is called The Nationals. [18]
Esports was introduced for the first time as a medal event in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in which the Philippines hosted. [19] Esports would be subsequently featured in succeeding editions of the regional games.
The Philippine Esports Organization (PeSO) is an esports entity that is the official Philippine representative to the International eSports Federation (IeSF), which is one of the largest esports associations in the world. It carries the interests of the Filipino esports community in the international arena. [20]
On November 19, 1981, President Ferdinand Marcos banned video games in the country through a combination of Presidential Decree 519 [21] and later Letter of Instruction No. 1176 s. 81 [22] making the Philippines the first nation to ban video games. The decree was a response to complaints from parents and educators who alleged that games such as Space Invaders and Asteroids were detrimental to youth morals, viewing them as a "destructive social enemy" [23] and existing "to the detriment of the public interest". [24] [25] Marcos also decreed the ban of pinball machines, slot machines, and other similar gaming devices. Filipinos were given two weeks to either destroy their video games and devices or surrender the materials to the police and army. Violators had to pay a fine amounting to about $600 and face 6 months to 1 year of prison. Playing video games in the country went underground. The ban was effectively lifted following the 1986 People Power Revolution. [26] [27] [28]
Unauthorized distribution of video games is a complex issue in the Philippines. Despite legislation against copyright violation, enforcement and cultural factors remain an obstacle in the country. Bootleg video games, along with warez, contribute to the underground economy of the country where video gaming is a popular form of entertainment among Filipino families. The inability of many Filipino families to afford video game software and hardware at legitimate prices leads them to turn to unlicensed goods. The Optical Media Board in cooperation with the police enforces intellectual rights law in the country. [29]
Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart, is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provider based in the Philippines. As of November 2023, it is currently the largest mobile network with 55.2 million subscribers.
Anino Games is a Philippine third-party game developer for different platforms founded by Niel Nagondon who is often acknowledged as the pioneer of the gaming industry in the Philippines. It is composed of two sister companies – Anino Entertainment, which focuses on PC, console, and virtual reality games, and Anino Mobile, which develops mobile games. The company takes its name from anino, a Tagalog word meaning "shadow".
Ubisoft Quebec is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Quebec City. The studio was established in June 2005 and is best known for its work in the Assassin's Creed franchise.
Anito: Defend a Land Enraged is a role-playing video game based on Filipino mythology and folklore developed by Anino Entertainment, an independent video game company based in the Manila, Philippines. It was released on November 22, 2003 for Microsoft Windows.
Video gaming in India is an emerging market since India is experiencing strong growth in online gaming, making it one of the top gaming markets in the world. Over the past few decades, the Indian gaming industry has gone from close to nonexistent in the 1990s to one of the top markets globally in the late 2010s. In 2019, the online gaming market in India was estimated at ₹6,200 crore (US$780 million) with an estimated 300 million gamers, a 41.6% increase from 2018. As of 2021, it is one of the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. By the third quarter of 2020 there were more than 7.4 billion mobile game downloads. According to the "State of India Gaming Report," released by venture capital firm Lumikai with Google, as of November 2023, there were 568 million gamers in India. Additionally, it was reported that in FY23, 41% of gamers were female and 66% were from non-metros, with each user on average spending 10–12 hours per week on video games.
Video gaming in France is one of the largest markets in Europe. The French government gives special tax breaks to video game companies. In 2014, the French diplomatic service released a report which calculates the profit generated by the French video game industry at €2.7 billion. It states that there are 300 video game companies in France. It estimates the number of jobs directly related to the video game industry at 5,000. It estimates the number of indirect jobs created by the video game industry at 10,000. The report found that in 2013, around 8 out of 10 people had played a video game in the last 12 months. In 2018, the number of players was estimated at 32.8 million. In France video games have equal status as an artform, alongside more traditional formats like painting and theatre. In 2016, the French Minister of State for Digital Affairs, Axelle Lemaire, held talks with various French video game industry figureheads to find solutions to the problem of misogyny in video games. She mooted solutions like removing tax credits for publishers who publish games with misogynistic content, and creating a label which would identify video games with positive representations of women.
CIIT Philippines - College of Arts and Technology is a private, non-sectarian educational institution in the Philippines that at provides specialized and practical education with a focus on arts, technology, and business.
Gambling in Metro Manila has been regulated since 1976 when the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) was created through Presidential Decree 1067. Under its charter promulgated in 1983, the 100% state-owned PAGCOR, running under the direct supervision of the Office of the President, serves three crucial roles: to regulate and operate all games of chance in the country, particularly casino gaming; generate funds for the government's infrastructure and socio-civic projects; and boost local tourism.
Video games are a rapidly growing industry in Thailand, with an average growth rate of 15% per year since 2017. In 2021, the Thai games market generated over a billion dollars, making it one of the highest-profile games markets in Southeast Asia. The number of gamers in Thailand has reached 32 million according to a report by Newzoo, an international games and esports analytics and market research group. And in 2022, Thailand was ranked among the top Southeast Asian video-game markets, with a revenue of US$1.24 billion that is forecasted to reach $1.4 billion in the same year.
Video gaming in Indonesia is a growing sector, holding the 16th largest market in the world and about half the Southeast Asian market in 2017. Over 40 million people in the country are active gamers, with mobile gaming being the dominant sector in terms of revenue. The development of video games in the country began with imported consoles and arcade centres, prior to developments of online gameplay in PC games and increasing prevalence of the internet cafés. Mobile games began gaining importance as smartphones were introduced.
The Nationals is an electronic sports (Esports) league in the Philippines which had its inaugural season in 2019. It is the first franchise-based electronic sports in the Philippines. The tournaments are sanctioned by the Esports National Association of the Philippines (ESNAP).
Esports at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines was held at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, Metro Manila from 5 to 10 December 2019. It was the first esports contest as a medal event in a multi-sport competition sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee after the discipline featured as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Smart Omega Esports, formerly known as PLDT–Smart Omega, is a Philippine franchise-based professional esports team which competes in The Nationals, the top esports league in the Philippines sanctioned by the eSports National Association of the Philippines, and MPL Philippines. It was formed as a result of a partnership between esports team Sterling Global Dragons and corporate firms, PLDT Inc. and its mobile arm, Smart Communications.
TiMi Studio Group, a subsidiary of Tencent Games, is a video game development studio group headquartered in Shenzhen, China and offices in Singapore, Montréal, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chengdu, and Shanghai. TiMi generated an estimated revenue of $10 billion USD in 2020. Reportedly, TiMi is the largest video game operator and developer in the world by revenue. Founded in 2008 as Jade Studio, TiMi comprises several development divisions with different areas of expertise and develops games in different genres for PC, mobile, and Nintendo Switch, including Honor of Kings, Arena of Valor, Call of Duty: Mobile, Speed Drifters, and Pokémon Unite.
PUBG Mobile is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, a division of Tencent Games. It is a mobile game adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds. It was initially released for Android and iOS on 19th of March 2018.
The Philippines national esports team represents the Philippines in international esports tournaments. It is organized under the Philippine Esports Organization.
Poland is a major video game market and home to one of the largest video game industries in the world. In 2022, Poland became the world’s fourth largest exporter of video games and Polish publicly-traded gaming companies were worth over €12 billion. The game studios in the country employ around 10,000 people and release almost 500 new games annually.
PBA Esports Bakbakan is an esports league in the Philippines. It is organized by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in partnership with Dark League Studios. The league consists of the esport squads of the PBA's twelve franchise teams. The first tournament featured Mobile Legends: Bang Bang while the following competition had PUBG: Battlegrounds.
Esports in the Philippines refers to competitive video gaming or esports in the Philippines. This article covers both amateurs and professional levels.
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