Esports careers loom in Philippines with college league

MANILA, Philippines – The Collegiate Center for Esports (CCE) is set to open multiple doors as it plans to establish itself as a full-fledged gaming competition between colleges.

Not only offering opportunities to aspiring esports student-athletes, the CCE will also lay down career paths in the field.

From shoutcasting and streaming to graphic design, editing and game development, the CCE will exponentially grow the esports community across all its roles.

Brimming with opportunities, many are seeing the logic behind chasing esports-related programs like those offered in DLS-College of Saint Benilde and Lyceum of the Philippines University.

"There's an array of careers in esports and shoutcasting is just one of those," said veteran caster Caisam "Wolf" Nopueto, who is set to be one of the casters for CCE.

"Esports is really becoming a career path. There is really a goal here [not just from a gaming standpoint]. You can be a video game designer, producer, or programmer in the future," quipped St. Benilde athletic director Dax Castellano.

One of the young prospects already been given an opportunity through the CCE is 20-year-old student Santie Magcalas, who will be casting with Wolf and Shin Boo Ponferrada.

"Napakalaki ng esports community at lumalaki pa. Hindi na lang siya tungkol sa mga players, binubuo siya ng iba't ibang tao," said Magcalas.

"Mas maraming opportunities, mas maraming trabaho," he added.

With CCE only starting out, the Tourism Management student out of Capiz can only see the community growing bigger and bigger that will help not only the athletes, but the people behind the scenes as well.

"Kung walang esports, wala kami. But as long as it continues to be successful, it would be a really lucrative career," said Magcalas.

According to the caster, with CCE bringing in the top schools in the country to the realm of esports, the industry will grow at a faster pace.

"The exciting part here is the idea of bringing the schools in. It bridges the gap between the academe, traditional sports, and esports," said Magcalas.

"Imagine the possibilities of combining that together through CCE," he added.

The CCE has already kicked things off with 1-on-1 MLBB exhibition matches featuring varsity players from different schools throughout the country.

In October, it plans to roll out a 5-on-5 Varsity Cup before shifting to a regular season in the coming year where they will pit regular esports players.