TELCO giant Smart Communications has launched an online platform called Giga Arena, which will host tournaments for mobile multiplayer games.
Winnings for the tournaments, which will be held every day, every week, and every month, will be redeemable via GigaPay.
“Giga Arena is the first platform of its kind in the Philippines to offer regular online esports tournaments featuring today’s most popular games,” said Jane J. Basas, SVP and head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.
“Through the platform, you can simply match up with fellow gamers in daily, weekly, and monthly competitions for a shot at prestige and cash prizes.”
At the press launch, Smart executives promised that each tournament will have cash prizes.
Four mobile games will be supported at launch for Giga Arena
Four mobile games will be supported at launch: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and League of Legends Wild Rift.
An Arena Store is also integrated into the platforms for quick top-ups, with the ability to purchase in-game items to be integrated in a future update.
To join tournaments, users will need to access gigaarena.smart on their mobile or PC, then log on with their Smart or TNT number. Tickets to join tournaments can be purchased via GigaGames data packs, with each top-up corresponding to a certain number of tickets.
Users can also join as teams. It’s an open platform, with no matchmaking or ranking systems in place.
Registration for users begins on March 9. To kick off the occasion, the telecommunications giant also announced that there will be an exhibition match between Smart-backed Omega Esports versus a "Smart Dream Team", made up of influencers like Alodia Gosiengfiao, Dexie Diaz, Elyson "Ghost Wrecker" Caranza, and more.
Listed on the Giga Arena site now are tournaments for Wild Rift and Mobile Legends slated for March 14 and 15, with prize pools ranging from P1,000 to P3,000.
Beyond the revenue opportunities, Smart also looks at Giga Arena as a sort of grassroots league, a “pa-liga”, to discover rising esports stars.
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