High hopes for esports industry after launching new PeSO headquarters 

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Esports Organization (PeSO), the national governing body for esports in the Philippines, successfully opened its new headquarters at The Launchpad (TV5 Media Center), in Mandaluyong City, on Tuesday, July 4.

“This is going to be open to all our members, for those who would like to inquire, ask questions, so we open this headquarters to everyone for those who would like to know more about the organization, our mandates, our activities and projects,” said PeSO secretary general Jobert Yu after the organization’s office transfer to Metro Manila from Cebu.

“We hope that this can be the start of something much more that can grow big.”

Following a triumphant opening, Marlon Marcelo, PeSO executive director, mentioned that they are open to the idea of building other esports facilities – like a training ground for players – in the country.

“Definitely, that’s one of our visions,” said Marcelo.

“I’m really happy that our board is really supportive, they came from different esports organizations, but they gave us the liberty to actually perform this kind of push.”

He added, “We want that kind of facility, but what kind of partnership it would entail is going to be another venture we have to look forward to in the future.”

But for now, Marcelo wants to take advantage of the newly opened headquarters in Mandaluyong, “Now that we have a physical office, we will now focus soon on merchandising and of course, general fan experience.”

Fans of various Philippine esports teams will have the opportunity to see the professional players up close, “We can actually have meet and greet here in the office with the fans.”

Membership plans for individuals and various organizations and improvement of grassroot programs are two additional key goals that PeSO would like to accomplish in the near future.

Marcelo explained the difference between the 2 membership plans, “First is individual membership to PeSO for some who want to contribute individually, who want to help in doing operations and backend programs.”

He also indicated that the individual membership is open to regular gamers as well, “Esports enthusiasts who want to have their own esports thesis, so PeSO will actually help them. OJTs, those who want to referee, project management, that’s where we can actually put them in to give them legit esports concepts.”

“Then we have the organizational membership wherein some of our initial members are part like Tier One, Mineski, but that will be subject to stringent qualification.”

He continued, “Between the two, there are different sets of benefits that we will be pushing around and if you become a member, you have an access to different kinds of first hand esports knowledge that you will be doing part of.”

“There’s a lot of stringent requirements, specifically for the organization, but on the individual side, there won’t be any issues.”

Meanwhile, for the grassroot programs, PeSO, with the help of its numerous partners, is hoping to find players with potential that they can recruit and develop.

“Talking about DOTA, some of the talents, the best talents, are not actually in Manila, they came from Cebu. At the moment, we see Manila or NCR as the esports hub, but everyone must have the opportunity to become a national athlete and the grassroots programs will be the foundation,” explained Marcelo.

PeSO is currently coordinating with the Marikina city government, the city hosting the upcoming Palarong Pambansa, as esports will be held as a demo sport once an approval is finalized. – Rappler.com