THERE HAVE BEEN theories swirling around as to why the MPL’s viewership declined with the majority saying that the lack of trashtalking and the toxicity from Blacklist Agents as the primary culprit.
However, Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio revealed on his vlog that these theories aren’t the case.
“Ang daming nagsasabi na, ‘Walang trashtalkan.’ Basically hindi sa trashtalkan ang nagpapababa sa viewership. Tapos yung mga tao sinasabi na, ‘Toxic yung mga agents’ hindi dahil doon,” he said.
“Yung mga nagsasabi na toxic yung mga Agents fans, no guys mas toxic pa noong Season 1 kase may banters, may trashtalk, mas aggressive yung mga fans noon.”
“Trashtalk is only 1%. Pampa-hype lang talaga siya," he emphasized.
As he went on, he looked at other possible explanations. Looking back at the MPL, Dogie believed that Season 11 doesn’t have any notable rivalries compared to previous seasons.
“When I say rivalry, yung dalawang team mag-rival na gusto talagang panoorin ng tao. Wala na sa atin sa Pilipinas.”
“Kumbaga noong Season 1 may Aether vs. OBS, tapos Season 2 Aether vs. OBS, tapos Season 3 Aether vs. No Limit, tapos Season 4 Onic vs. No Limit (Sunsparks), Season 6 Nexplay vs. Execration, Season 7 Nexplay vs. Execration, Season 8 Nexplay vs. Smart Omega, tapos Blacklist nandoon din.
“Season 9 Smart Omega vs. Blacklist, Season 10 Smart Omega vs. Blacklist, may RSG din doon. Ngayong Season 11...wala.”
Based on what he said, would this mean that the lack of rivalries this season is the main reason for the decline? According to his ratio, this isn’t the case.
“Yung rivalry na iyon, nagte-take yan ng 5% ng viewerbase. Fanbase, it takes only 5%.”
So, what contributed to the decline in viewership? According to Dogie, the return to normality from the pandemic is the primary factor.

With things going back to normal, what happened?
“Ang natitira is what happened noong pandemic. 89% pandemic.”
“So 89% noong nasa pandemic, na-enganyo sa esports. So ngayon hindi na pandemic, nagkabuhay na, may mga taong nagka-sense sa isipan nila na two years na yung pandemic, gusto ko nang lumabas...”
But as he went on, it wasn’t just the MPL scene that got affected as Dogie realized that the other regions were also affected.
“Ang dami kong nakakausap na org from NA to EU, tinanong ko sa kanila, ano nagaganap diyan? Sabi nila, matumal yung esports dito after ng pandemic.”
“Ano epekto nito guys? Noong natapos yung pandemic, nag-drop yung viewership, which is sa NA bumagsak ata ng 60% yung viewership, dito sa atin almost 70% sa Indo almost 50 to 60%. So lahat ng esports nagsa-suffer sa drop ng viewership.”
“Akala ko din magiging stable na ganoon (increase) eto na ito, sabi ko. Hindi, noong nawala yung pandemic, yung tao nag-explore.”
While this may seem like an alarming trend, Dogie reiterated that the drop in numbers doesn't necessarily mean that esports is on a decline, as it signalled that everything just went back to normal.
“Ang kulang talaga is paano mo maibabalik yung viewership noon? Ayun yung biggest question. Kase yun nga, bagsak e! Bagsak talaga! Kung ico-compare mo sa pandemic time, bagsak time! Pero kung ico-compare mo ito before pandemic, bumalik lang sa dati.”
He added: "It’s not about na, mamamatay na ML, namamatay na yung ibang game, pero ang laki talaga ng binagsak."
And given this trend, Dogie’s decision to invest in Honor of Kings may be a massive risk, but he reiterated that none will bar him from pursuing his passion.
"Kung babalik sa dati? Hindi ko alam. So tinatanong niyo sa akin, bakit ako kumuha ng HOK (Honor of Kings)? Sa akin kase guys, passion e, passion of the game, kahit hindi ako mag-ROI, hindi bumalik sa akin yung pera, mahilig ako sa esports, sa mobile games, sa PC games, natutuwa ako."
Dogie believes that Dota 2 is more stable
With esports viewership suffering, Dogie explained how this would affect the industry, saying: "And what happens kung nag-drop yung viewership? Less brand deals! Yan kase ang bumubuhay sa company."
And looking at the bigger picture, he realized that the MPL orgs might be affected. He then hinted that Nexplay EVOS might pull out of the professional scene and Minana will be taking over their slot.
"So now hindi ko alam kung sino sa Season 12 sa MPL kung sino magco-continue ng contract nila for franchise. Nagpull-out na ata si Nexplay, nandoon na si Minana. Baka sa Season 12 wala ng Nexplay sa MPL, full Minana na yun."
Then he compared the MPL scene with Dota and concluded that the latter is more stable due to betting sites investing heavily on teams.
"Ang buhay na buhay na esports ngayon and stable siya is Dota, kase si Dota guys kapag may team ka sa loob, pwede mong makuhang branding si Casino/gambling site," said the popular streamer.
"Maganda magbigay yung mga Casino/betting sites sa mga org so mapapaikot mo yung organization."
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