Yearender: Philippine esports grabs bigger spotlight

MANILA, Philippines – From shining in different esports titles to showcasing our culture as tournament host and content inspiration, the Philippines took center stage in esports—inside and outside the game.

Let’s take a look back at what happened in esports for 2025.

Rise of Filipinos in FPS

The year 2025 saw a new type of game take over in terms of Filipino esports athletes’ achievements. Known for their multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) prowess, Filipinos proved that it’s not only about playing in the lanes of a battle arena but also about finding their target.

Filipinos turned back to their roots and pulled off different achievements in first-person-shooting games (FPS) such as Valorant, Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) and Crossfire.

In Valorant, Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza cemented his name in the history books by being the first Filipino to win an international Valorant trophy—ruling the Masters Toronto and VCT Pacific Stage 2 with his team Paper Rex. Mendoza also nabbed two year-end individual awards, the Rookie of the Year and the Initiator of the Year.

Though it fell short of its Golden Road and title defense in the CODM World Championship, Elevate PuK still had a solid run this year with Garena Masters Season 8 and Summer Invitational crowns and runner-up finishes in Garena Masters Season 9 and the CODM World Championships.

Lastly, Team Stallions placed the Philippines back on the Crossfire map with a top-four finish in the Esports World Cup, and securing the top-most finish of any Filipino team in Crossfire Stars, with their runner-up result in the global Crossfire tournament.

Honor of Kings highlights the Philippines

The Philippines also became a hub for international events with the Honor of Kings global esports season beginning and ending in the country. The Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 kicked off the year at SM North Edsa in Quezon City while the culminating event, the 2025 Honor of Kings International Championship, concluded the year at the Ayala Malls By The Bay in Pasay City.

Though failing to secure the trophy, the country’s top team, Blacklist International, secured a top-four finish in both events, showcasing the developing strength of Filipinos in the title.

The country’s hosting of the 2025 Honor of Kings International Championship also introduced the game’s first Filipino inspired hero—Lapu-Lapu—with Tagalog and Bisaya voice packs now available for players.

Filipino Folklore finds its way in-game

Honor of Kings wasn’t the only one that saw Filipino-inspired content appear in the game.

The country’s own mythical creature, the Bakunawa, also made appearances in MLBB and in Genshin Impact.

MLBB’s hero, Kalea, released last April, took inspiration from the bakunawa, basing her powers on the strength of a legendary Great Serpent.

In Philippine Mythology, the Bakunawa is a dragon that devoured the other moons until only one remained, causing darkness and eclipses, as well as other calamities.

A more lore accurate rendition of the Bakunawa also appeared in the popular action-adventure game Genshin Impact.

Making its debut in the game’s 5.8 version released last July, the Bakunawa was that version’s boss that appeared alongside the version's primary new content, the new area of Mare Jivari. In the game’s story, the Bakunawa was created by Rhinedottir, one of the five sinners of Khaenri'ah and is an immortal creature able to regrow its limbs when needed. Players were able to face the fearsome creature during a world quest and can be rechallenged after three daily resets.

Sibol salvages year with SEA Games medals

It had been a tough year for the country’s national esports team as Sibol suffered early elimination in the World Esports Championship by the International Esports Federation (IESF), failing to qualify to the main stage of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Men and Women as well as in Dota 2. The team immediately shifted its focus, hungry to defend its gold medal in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

Though seeing a smaller delegation compared to previous SEA Games, Sibol secured two medals—a gold in the Men’s MLBB division and a silver in the Women’s MLBB class.

With a successful run, Sibol is now focused on its preparations for the upcoming Asian Games and hopes to compete in seven esports titles: MLBB, Honor of Kings, Puyo Puyo Champions, Naraka: Bladepoint, Identity V (Asian Games Version), Pokemon Unite and PUBG Mobile (Asian Games Version).

One step away from Golden Road

In the country's continued dominance in MLBB, Team Liquid Philippines (TLPH) elevated its status as the top team in the game as it won the Mid-Season Cup (MSC) last August. Triumphing over Malaysia’s Selangor Red Giants, Team Liquid Philippines broke the Filipino curse in the mid-year tournament and finally saw Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno cement his status as the greatest of all time in MLBB and be accepted as the “face of MLBB” having completed the MLBB trophy collection plus an addition two SEA Games gold medals.

While the team struggled at the beginning of Season 16 of the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 16, the Cavalry was able to book their ticket to the playoffs as the third seed.

In the knockout rounds, TLPH survived the play-in rounds, eliminating Team Falcons PH, sweeping ONIC Philippines, and outlasting TNC Pro Team to book their ticket to the M7 World Championship.

But the world stage wasn’t their only goal. Facing Aurora, which went on a 15-match win streak, TLPH defended its crown in true fashion, securing a 4-0 sweep to move one tournament away from the Golden Road as it won every single major MLBB tournament for the year.

With the TLPH roster fresh from winning the gold at the SEA Games, the upcoming M7 World Championship in January could bear witness to history with TLPH hoping to cement its legacy in MLBB and esports history.