With their involvement, LoL tournaments in the Philippines have taken place with the Empyrean Cup and Liga Republika serving as the benchmark.
This begs the question, will Riot begin incorporating the Philippines into the World stage? Recently, the organization launched the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) event, allowing countries from the Asia-Pacific region to be involved in the biggest esports spectacle. The Philippines is one of the countries that has potential to be included.
How can the Philippines compete?
The LCP has already finalized their partnered teams for 2025 namely CTBC Flying Oyster, Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS gaming, GAM Esports, and PSG Talon.
Besides these teams, there were guest teams that were also listed namely Chiefs Esports Club, DetonatioN FocusMe, Team Whales, and Vikings Esports.
But it doesn't just end there as there is a promotion and relegation system, where the top teams of their respectic domestic Asia-Pacific tournaments (e.g. Pacific Championship Series, Vietnam Championship Series, and LoL Japan League) will be able to join the LCP.
In addition teams, the top team from the wildcard will also get a chance to join the LCP. Countries listed in the wildcard include Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia. More details will be shared soon.
Manifesting PH vs. Faker
And in order to prepare the Philippines for these upcoming plans, Riot Games aims to continue their current projects, hoping that the skills that they've acquired will translate to the desired outcome.
"For the Philippines, we started with Empyrean Cup and then Liga Republika and we do intend to continue these practices and activities for the Philippines and eventually find that team that in a way na, 'Manok natin,' when the time comes, when the path is open for us, when we're ready to compete against other countries," started Kimi Salazar, Brand Manager of Riot Games PH.
She elaborated: "We want to be strong. So it's a long journey for everyone and I know everyone has been wanting to get back into esports. The good thing about it is that we're starting from the grassroots and we're building that skillset."
The potential to grow the scene has already been engraved especially with the recent Worlds 2024 watch party in the Philippines gaining a huge traction. Fans stayed late in the Samsung Hall in BGC to show their love for League of Legends.
"The Worlds viewership, even in the Philippines, the fandom with T1 and everything, it's just crazy amazing. A lot of people attended the watch party and yes there is a lot of fandom here. Definitely Riot Games is there to help support and of course make the journey for our players and fans have a positive experience," reflected Joel Guzman, the Country Manager of Riot Games PH.
"Moving forward there's going to be a lot of offline and online activations, not just for esports fans but all League of Legends fans."
And perhaps these opportunities could open the doors for the dream matchup: Philippines vs. Faker.
"We want a team that can compete against the likes of Vietnam, Japan, Korea. Sana," added Kimi Salazar.
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