ESL, the world’s largest eSports company, has officially announced South East Asia’s largest eSports competition, ESL One, that will be held in the Philippines.
ESL One Manila brings together the world’s best DOTA 2 teams to fight it out for a chance to take home part of the event’s $250,000 prize pool, the biggest prize pool for any eSports event held in the region to date. The event, which is co-presented by PLDT Fibr & Smart GameX, will be held on April 23-24, 2016, at the Mall of Asia Arena, one of the country’s biggest sports centers.
“Almost twelve million Philippine Pesos are up for grabs at our next installment of ESL One and we’re all hoping for a team local to the region to step up to the plate and take home the lion’s share,” said Ulrich Schulze, VP Pro Gaming at ESL. “The Philippines have a strong history with Dota 2, and so when discussing possible Asian events, the decision was an easy one to make. This is a country and community that loves Dota 2, and we’re honored to be able to say we’re making history with this event: it’s the first event of its kind in the region and we can’t wait to see fan reactions to what we have in store.”
Tickets for the grand event will go on sale starting December 8, 2015. There will be two types of tickets available – a Weekend Ticket and a Premium Ticket. The Weekend Ticket will give buyers general admission seating to the event for both of the event dates while the Premium Ticket will grant buyers premium area seating, free drinks and food, a goodie bag, exclusive signing sessions, a dedicated secret shop in the premium area, and a special Dota 2 in-game item. Additionally, three Weekend Ticket tiers will be available – Weekend General Admission, Weekend Ticket Upper Rank, and Weekend Ticket Lower Rank – which will determine which area of the arena the ticket holder will be allowed to be seated.
The tickets will be priced at and Php5,000 ($106) for the Premium Ticket and Php500 ($10), Php1,000 ($21), and Php1,500 ($32) for the Weekend General Admission, Weekend Ticket Upper Rank, and Weekend Ticket Lower Rank, respectively.
More information on ESL One Manila can be found on the event’s official website. Tickets can be purchased via SM Tickets.