Gamer.LK has been promoting Esports in Sri Lanka since 2007, and a consistent fact has been that tournaments are dominated by male participants – both in numbers and performance. Over the years, Gamer.LK has established that this is purely due to a cultural perception of Video Games and Esports and not a physical or mental constraint on the part of the different genders. 2015 marked the year that Gamer.LK started women’s brackets at Sri Lanka’s largest Esports event – the Sri Lanka Cyber Games. Since then, female participation has grown to over 160 athletes in 2018.

This year Gamer.LK takes the next step in female Esports athlete empowerment with a dedicated Women’s championship – the SLT eSports Women’s Cyber Games to be held on the 20th and 21st April at the Colombo City Center.

Women’s Esports Ambassador

This year Ornella Gunesekera joins us as the Women’s Esports Ambassador. As ambassador, she will be promoting Esports as a sport for women and helping Gamer.LK shape perceptions about Esports. Ornella Gunesekera is Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2018 winner, and is a gamer herself.

Tournament format

The tournament includes 5 game titles that every participant will take part in. The performance at each game title will award a number of points towards the player, and the top 8 players will qualify for the Grand Finals held the following day. The top 8 players will then battle it out for a ranking where the Rs. 100,000 prize pool will be distributed according to rank.

• eRacer
• Mortal Kombat XL
• Call of Duty 4
• Subway Surfers
• Mario Kart

Take part

To register and for more information visit https://gamer.lk/womens

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/794580530901476

Acer Predator League Thailand welcomed Esports players from all over the Asia Pacific region in anticipation of the Asia Pacific Predator League 2019 which concluded in stunning fashion recently. The dual games PUBG and DOTA 2 competition titles were held during the 15th February 2019 to the 17th February 2019 at the Nimibutr Stadium Bangkok ,Thailand

Phoenix Gaming team Indomitus who were the Sri Lankan representatives that qualified during the leg of qualification held on the 13th of January. The team made their journey across to Thailand where they would meet even tougher opponents awaiting them in the arena. With a combination of senior players from Sri Lanka’s Dota 2 scene in the full roster and a lot of experience under their belt. The team roster was as follows:

PnX | indomitus

Viren Dias (c)

Munthasir Shiraz

Mohamed Shafras

Mirsab Hassan

Dinuka Perera

Mohammed Walid

The team was taking on a tall task having to take on teams such as TNC.Predator,BOOM ID,Signify,LOTAC etc. The first team our hometown heroes had to go up against was team yG who beat flash gaming in round 1.

Game 1

Game 1 saw Indomitus pick up some of their signature heroes in terms of Winter Wyvern,one of Hawkie’s best heroes as an opener along with heroes like Troll Warlord,Axe,Outworld Devourer and their last pick,a position 4 Batrider.Team yG went with Grimstroke a hero that has been extremely annoying to deal with on top of being a strong early game lane dominating hero,followed by Chaos Knight who has risen to become one of the most annoying offlaners in the patch with the insane amount of sustainability that he has with his passive third skill. Up next team yG picked up Razor to counter the Troll Warlord as well as lane against the OD which basically kills 2 birds with 1 stone,rounding up things by picking up a position 5 Sven to provide some damage mitigation and finishing up with a last pick Beast Master.

The early game did not fare too well for our home heroes as the safe lane was pressured immensely by an aggro tri lane with Grimstroke,Sven and Chaos Knight who went up against Indomitus composition of Winter Wyvern,Troll and Batrider who joined the lane later. With a lack of disables Indomitus found themselves in deep waters as the mid lane was hard picking as Razor was doing a good job of dominating the lane by draining most of OD’s damage.Things fell apart from there as yG did an amazing job of keeping up their aggressive pace while maintaining farm speed not allowing Indomitus to get back into the game. Ending the first game in 25 mins with some synergized plays coming out from the Grimstroke,Sven and Beastmaster which never really allowed Indomitus to get the footing they needed to make a comeback.

Game 2

Game 2 saw a very different type of draft in terms of the last game,the only common picks being the Grimstroke while all the other heroes were completely different in terms of synergy.Indomitus went with a composition of Disruptor,Lifestealer,Sven,Clockwork and to round things off was a last pick Shadow Fiend.yG took a much more aggressive positioning as they picked up Tiny alongside Grimstroke,Nature’s Prophet,Slark and Spirit Breaker.

Once again having a bad start on the lanes Indomitus found themselves in a tough spot early on in the game as the top lane was being pressure by the high base damage of Natures Prophet as well as diving potential that came out of spirit Breaker which allowed them to get ample amount of kills in the game.With Sven and Clockwerk not being able to apply the same amount of pressure on the Slark as it was difficult to man fight him with the essence shift stacks.The tiny took off going on a killing spree as soon as he picked up one of his core items using it to time and combine his spells well to keep the favor on yG’s side.Even with some resistance coming out of the side of Indomitus who showed some glimmer of hope towards the 18-20 min mark but fell short as they got caught out after a successful Roshan attempt made by yG which gave them the opportunity to finish up the game sending our home heroes to the lower bracket to face up against either Signify or LOTAC two top tier teams who have showcased some real talent and promise in the recent past.

Lower Bracket Game 1

The lower bracket game saw Indomitus take on LOTAC in a Bo3 series.Kicking things off we had Indomitus with a very laning stage dominant picks in heroes like Slardar,Tusk,Viper all who individually and together dominate their lanes.Having a tool kit that allows them to be aggressive and move around the map.Rounding things off with Hawkies Wyvern as well as an Ursa for more early game aggression if they get out of the laning stage well.

In response we saw LOTAC pick up Tiny and Undying during the first phase which spelt a lot of trouble for the safelane as Undying is usually a very strong laner specially with a hero like Tiny who has some decent burst damage.To finish up their draft LOTAC decided to go with Lion for lockdown Batrider as an Initiator and Phantom Assassin to bring that physical damage to the table.

The game started off pretty slow the only early game kills being the 2 on the top lane and it seemed like the game would be a long one.That is until the Tiny managed to pick up one core item and with the rest of his team LOTAC started dominating the map pushing their advantage and slowly crippling Indomitus who fought as hard as they could but with the tombstone and a lot of damage and control coming out from the Lion and Batrider put LOTAC in a dominating position to end the game at the 19 min mark.

Lower Bracket Game 2

Going into game 2 things seemed to not work out too well for our representatives from Sri Lanka so they brought out a new strategy drafting a combination of heroes like Skywrath Mage,Sven,Undying,Lich and Juggernaut a mix of synergies.Where as we saw much of the same from LOTAC picking up Elder Titan and Phantom Assassin along with Nature’s Prophet,Puck and Centaur Warrunner.

This game took a different turn as the top lane seemed to be more aggressive than it should have.Having a tri lane take on an aggro tri lane the spectators were in for a lot of blood in the lane but LOTAC danced around most of the movements made by Indomitus giving them the opportunity to turn and get return kills on Indomitus.When LOTAC hit their timing THEY HIT THEIR TIMING HARD!.Applying so much pressure that it was overwhelming and Indomitus could not find the space they needed to turn the game around and LOTAC coming out on top eliminating Indomitus from the tournament.

The team put in a lot of effort into the tournament and we managed to get a comment from the captain Viren Hawkie Dias who had a lot to say but could not sum up all of his experiences in a short sentence.This is what he had to say.

“We were definitely outmatched by our opponents, but we felt they were beatable if we had Mirsab. We spent the last 4 months practicing with him and having to swap him out for Walid just 2 days before leaving was tough. Even more so because it involved a role switch for Muntha, who had been practicing offlane, to mid.

We had put in a lot of effort into our practice sessions – over a 100 scrims and countless pubs, but our result wasn’t unexpected. After all, we are essentially part time Dota players playing against full time Dota players. We tried our best given our circumstances, and that’s what makes me feel fulfilled. But of course we would like to improve a lot more!

Aside from the games themselves, the experience was amazing! The tournament was brilliantly organised – we were all given local SIMs upon arrival, the hotels and the stadium were literally across the road, we had booths for each team with amazing PCs and a staff member on standby to attend to our needs, all matches were BO3 and there were minimal delays.

We met a lot of famous players – the legendary YamateH, the towering yet polite Ohaiyo, the fun-loving Xyclopz (if you thought his casting was funny, wait till you meet him) and of course, the entire TNC team!

Last but not least, I’d like to make a shoutout to our team buddy EM who was incredibly helpful and really good company!”

We congratulate PnX.Indomitus on their efforts as they have set the bar high and done our country proud but mostly proving that putting in effort and time to the things you love will always get you where you need to be.It may look like a small step but it is indeed a huge leap for Esports in general for Sri Lanka having an opportunity to represent the country in a tournament of this scale and someday soon we may even see ourselves as the champions in upcoming major International tournaments.

Sri Lanka Telecom organised the  SLT ZeroOne Awards for the year 2017/18 on the 11th of December. It is a unique ceremony dedicated to recognising digital excellence in brands, individuals as well as institutions who have made large strides and advancements with the assistance of digital technology. This awards program is a brainchild of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC.

The SLT Zero One Awards was first held in 2016 where it became a huge success as a centre of attraction in the business world. The 2017/2018 edition awarded businesses and/or individuals for the work undertaken during the period of 2017/2018 in the areas of Best Digital-enabled Product/Service, Best Digital-Integrated Campaign, Best Community Empowerment Programme, Best Digital Media Agency, Best Website or Microsite, Best Use of Mobile.

The award was won for the wide reaching digital campaign for Play Expo 2017 – Sri Lanka’s largest digital entertainment and technology expo

With roots in Esports and organising the largest video gaming championships in Sri Lanka, Gamer.LK consists of technology enthusiasts who are keen to see digital entertainment in Sri Lanka grow. Gamer.LK has become the flagship organisation for Esports in the country and boasts of a community of over 50,000 that follow and take part in our events and initiatives. With over 11 years of experience in the Esports and digital entertainment industry in Sri Lanka, Gamer.LK takes pride in leading the revolution to bring digital entertainment to the masses. Utilizing social media platforms such as Facebook,Youtube as well as Twitch, Gamer.LK continues to focus on digitally driven campaigns and promotions aimed at maximising user engagement and reach, thereby enabling the growth in the Esports community which resulted in Gamer.LK being awarded the Best Digital-Integrated Campaign in the Category for Media and Publishing.

Below is a short clip of Vikum Jayasekara, Director of InGame Entertainment receiving the award at the ceremony taken from their livestream.

Having well-coordinated activities are critical to the success of any marketing campaign. Demonstrating how different mediums have come into play while simultaneously making sure that the marketing message is received by the greatest number of people within the target market. Highlighting how digital marketing campaigns have played a pivotal role in the  execution of any event or marketing plan. Gamer.LK will keep taking strides to grow Esports in the Nation and take it to newer heights. If you want to be apart of this award winning team check out one of our available vacancies

• Head of Esports content – https://gamer.lk/vacancies/head-of-content/
• Content guru – Sinhala – https://gamer.lk/vacancies/content-guru-sinhala/
• Video Editor – https://gamer.lk/vacancies/video-editor-at-gamer-lk/
• Graphics Designer – https://gamer.lk/vacancies/graphics-designer-at-gamer-lk/

For further details contact us on – [email protected]

Gaming has grown to become something more than just your casual hobby with the introduction of Esports and everyone who’s anyone has been taking part in a lot of tournaments organized around Sri Lanka. Gaming itself has introduced multiple platforms for various types of games some such examples being Riot Games for League of legends. Blizzard for Overwatch and Hearthstone etc. Among these platforms one stands out and that is Steam. Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation for purchasing and playing video games

Mainly to purchase games, games and more games. This is where the main challenge for gamers as well as children kind of rise to the surface as most of the popular or most played games involve purchasing the games with money. With the intention of bringing to light methods of which you can purchase these games we have the top 5 ways for you to purchase games on Steam here in Sri Lanka

Gifted from a friend

Receiving gifts from a friend is probably the best way for the younger crowd of gamers to receive new and popular games. Not having to get up off your gaming chair to head over to a bank or to find a way to take your parents credit card when they are not looking, this method definitely makes it easier to get what you want and not get into any trouble in the process.

FriMi

FriMI by NTB. Available on the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store, FriMi is essentially a digital lifestyle partner.One key point that should be highlighted about FriMi is that it is available to anyone. So even if you don’t have an NTB bank account, you can still enjoy all the features of the app.

• Once you download and install the app, you are required to sign up for a FriMi account or login to an existing account.
• Next you will be required to enter your personal details such as Name, Date of Birth, employment etc.
• Following the previous step you will have to create a FriMi ID in order to use the service. The ID will also works as your bank account.
• Add your virtual debit card or FriMi debit card on steam and use the debit card to make purchases for your favorite games
• Receive a 10% discount on your first total bill which has to total up to rs. 3000/- so not only do you get to purchase what you want you also get your money back

Sounds like a great deal doesn’t it? Here’s a video on how users can get their virtual debit card detail in app – http://bit.ly/FriMiVirtualCard

Dialog

Dialog Gaming is the first Sri Lankan network to allow direct billing for purchase of games, credits or in-app-purchases through Steam. The amount will simply be added or deducted from your Dialog Prepaid account or Postpaid bill. With absolutely no extra charges to purchase a game other than the value specified on Steam, purchasing games via Dialog is cheaper and easier as you would only require a Dialog Connection. This hassle-free payment gateway will permit the purchase of games and add ons with no credit or debit card.

With a huge variety of options available to all gamers to add onto to their steam library with the addition of Dialogs top up option and FriMi’s virtual debit card which anyone has access too, definitely provides a much simpler access to your favorite games compared to a few years back where it was significantly more difficult to acquire the games you wanted most. What do you think about our list? If we missed any options please let us know down in the comments section!.

2018 was a milestone year for Gamer.LK and Esports in Sri Lanka as a whole. Participation and viewership grew to an all-time high, with the number of tournaments and prize money given out for the sport being its highest ever. We at the Gamer.LK headquarters sat down to put together numbers on everything Esports in Sri Lanka for 2018. Here’s what we found:

Prize money
Over Rs. 7 million was awarded to Esports athletes in 2018. This is a significant jump in cash money awarded compared to previous years, mostly due to Dialog Play Expo organised by Gamer.LK featuring a prize pool of Rs. 5 million. Along with Dialog Play Expo, the SLT Esports Championship also featured a Rs. 1 million prize pool, and with smaller tournaments like the SLT Cafe Challenge series and Mobitel X-Station tournaments round out the Rs. 7 million figure. You’d find it hard to find any other sporting tournament in Sri Lanka with a Rs. 5 million prize pool. 2019 is looking like it’s going to continue the upward growth and break more records!

Tournaments and participation
We counted 39 Esports tournaments held in 2018 that were recognised by Gamer.LK and the Sri Lanka Esports Association. Participation in those tournaments amounted to 10,000 registrations, with 160 of those being female. While 160 is less than 2% of total participation, it’s a significant improvement over previous years largely thanks for initiatives by Gamer.LK like the women’s league to promote female participation in the sport.

Esports titles and platform
21 Esports titles were played competitively in 2018. To figure out what the most played Esports titles are we took total participation numbers across all tournaments and divided it by the number of tournaments featuring that title – this gave us an average number of participants per tournament, per title.
No surprise, Call of Duty 4 averaged as the most played title in Sri Lanka. Coming in second place is newcomer to Sri Lankan Esports, Mobile Legends, with a strong participation showing at the Sri Lanka Cyber Games. Dota 2 comes in at 3. Here are the games that made the top 10 list:

1) Call of Duty 4
2) Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
3) Dota 2
4) Rainbow 6 Siege
5) PUBG Mobile
6) League of Legends
7) Counter-Strike: GO
8) Overwatch
9) FIFA
10) Special Force 2

PC was the most popular platform with 78% of participants playing titles on PC, 23% on mobile and just 5% on console.

International representation
This year we were able to send eight Esports athletes abroad to *officially* represent the country with the support of the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee. This was for the 18th Asian Games held in August 2018. Sri Lankan Esports athlete Amruth Alfred beat the rest of South Asia to qualify for the main games in Indonesia where he faced off against the best Starcraft 2 players in the world!

Just Gamer.LK things
In 2018 we paid out over Rs. 600,000 in fees to our referees, casters and event coordinators. This was a 3x increase compared to the year before. It’s a good time to be in Esports as that number is going to go through the roof in 2019 as we ramp up our activities with full-time staff and mega-events!

Oh, and we also spent over Rs. 400,000 on that fresh, crispy GLK roll goodness 😉

Stick with us as we bring you a record breaking 2019 for Esports!