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Gamer.LK presents Rs. 1m prize pool at the Mobitel Esports Premier League

Gamer.LK presents Rs. 1m prize pool at the Mobitel Esports Premier League

Gamer.LK is hosting Sri Lanka’s largest PUBG Mobile League Championship with Rs. 1,000,000 in prize money up for grabs for the top PUBG Mobile squads in Sri Lanka. Teams can register for the event via https://epl.lk before the 5th of February. PUBG Mobile, the first person combat shooting game is one of the most popular mobile games played in South Asia with millions of youth connecting to play through their smartphones.

The Mobitel Esports Premier League will feature 9 teams from across the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. February 22nd will be the night when Eastern Gladiators, Kandurata Kings, Northern Rangers, Rajarata Giants, Sabaragamuwa Knights, Southern Sharks, Uva Bandits, Wayamba Raiders and Western Warriors will lock horns to fight for the grand prize. Recruitment challenges will commence on the 8th of February where all registered PUBG Mobile squads from across the island will compete online. The top squad from each region will be recruited into the team and go on to compete at the Grand Finals at Stein Studios in a televised showdown.

Esports has been recognised as the fastest growing sport in Sri Lanka today, and was gazetted as an official sport in September 2019. Gamer.LK has been at the forefront of promoting and developing Esports in the country, organising Sri Lanka’s largest Esports events. Gamer.LK has also organised international Esports events such as the Esports South Asia Cup hosted in Sri Lanka in partnership with the National Olympic Committee.

Thousands of spectators will tune in live to watch the battle which will be streamed on facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Mixer powered by Mobitel 4G connectivity. Over the years, Mobitel, as the National Service Provider has taken numerous initiatives to identify and empower young talent thereby building the skills of the future generation.

Fans can watch the live match on the following platforms:
facebook: fb.com/epl.lk
youtube: youtube.com/gamerlk
twitch: twitch.tv/gamerlk
mixer: mixer.com/gamerlk

The Asia Pacific Predator League 2020 Tournament Kicks Off

The Asia Pacific Predator League 2020 Tournament Kicks Off

After a closely contested fight, Sara Kollo came out tops at the finals of the Predator League Sri Lanka qualifiers held at the Colombo City Centre recently. First Runners Up Tactical Nuke, who put up a good fight walked away with the price pool of LKR 100,000, while the winners took home LKR 150,000 as well as the chance to participate at the Asia Pacific Predator League 2020, to be held in Manila on February 22-23, 2020 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City.

Team Sara Kollo, comprising Captain Viren Dias, Mirsab Hassan, Heshan Sanjaya, Munthasir Shiraz, Shauban Rushdi and Mohammed Shafras,  will face teams from 17 regions including Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Only the determined and strong-willed in the PUBG (PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS) and DOTA2 (Defense of the Ancients 2) games will capture the prize pool value at US$400,000.

Predator League is by far the largest brand-initiated tournament in the Asia Pacific Region, with 3,530 teams from 16 regions joining the 2019 edition held in Thailand. As for Predator League 2020, Acer recognizes the potential of the Philippines gaming market. With recent wins of Filipino gamers in international tournaments, the staging of local battles, and the number of people going professional in the field, they show that the Philippines is growing fast among the ASEAN region.

“With the third edition of the Predator League coming up, Acer continues to provide an international stage for talented gamers to compete, show off their skills and fight for glory. Together with the newly introduced gaming community Planet9, Acer will provide a comprehensive ecosystem to support the industry, and most importantly, the gamers,” said Andrew Hou, President of Acer Pan Asia Pacific Regional Operations.

Gamers of PUBG and DOTA2 will battle it out in the Asia Pacific Predator League 2020. PUBG is considered to be one of the toughest and fast-rising esports game from PUBG Corporation with 100 players trying to eliminate each other until the last person standing. Its popularity made it a global gaming phenomenon that became one of the highest-selling games of all time with over 50 million copies sold. On the other hand, the sheer number of DOTA2 gamers standing at 1.3 million makes it a constant in the esports community.

For more details, visit https://www.predator-league.com/.

ABOUT PREDATOR LEAGUE

Predator League is held by Acer annually to reinforce the Predator brand’s commitment in supporting the gaming industry and in Asia Pacific region in particular. As a gamer you need to be ruthless and obsessed with winning, like a Predator ready to attack its prey.

Predator is the brand with complete gaming device line ranging from laptop, desktop, monitor, and accessories, and the Predator series offers the latest technology in gaming, made especially to enhance the gaming experience of any hardcore gamer.

ABOUT ACER

Founded in 1976, today Acer is one of the world’s top ICT companies and has a presence in over 160 countries. As Acer looks into the future, it is focused on enabling a world where hardware, software and services will fuse with one another to open up new possibilities for consumers and businesses alike. From service-oriented technologies to the Internet of Things to gaming and virtual reality, Acer’s 7,000+ employees are dedicated to the research, design, marketing, sale, and support of products and solutions that break barriers between people and technology. Please visit www.acer.com for more information.

PnX triumph at Samsung Mobile Legends tournament

PnX triumph at Samsung Mobile Legends tournament

The Samsung Mobile League for Mobile Legends concluded last week with 32 teams taking part. The tournament had Samsung as the main sponsor, with FriMi as an official digital banking partner, MSI as the official gaming notebook and PnS as a food partner. We saw team PnX Dark Legion take on PnX Hyper Reborn in the finals and in the end, PnX Dark Legion made a comeback after losing the first game and won the finals 2-1.

1st place: PnX Dark Legion

  • Sahiru ‘Sahiru’ Galappaththi
  • Akila ‘Java’ Jagoda
  • Lakshan ‘Weediya Bandara’ Eranga
  • Hiruka’ ‘Zyanide’ Anuruddha
  • Charuka ‘Hate’ Wettasinghe

2nd Place: PnX Hyper Reborn

  • Sithija ‘Reboot’ Sandaruwan
  • Sashika ‘Venom’ Maduwantha
  • Sandul ‘ᴳᴼᵂ|Sαsukє’ Rathsara
  • Kusal ‘Kusal sl’ Savinda
  • Vidushan ‘Psycho’ Chamoda

3rd place: PnX Etherious

  • Kivindu ‘ Kivi’ Wathsala Mahawatta
  • Hemall ‘Stewart’ Stewart
  • Shehan ‘i[M]id’ Reshin
  • Kirul ‘Kirul’ Prabhashwara
  • Tharindu ‘Uchihathari’ Sadaruwan

The Samsung Mobile League also features Call of Duty Mobile as a title, with a collective prize pool for both titles of Rs. 50,000. The prize money will be distributed via FriMi digital banking, where users would be able to pay for any goods or services directly from their mobile app. 

The next Mobile Legends event is scheduled to be held at the Sri Lanka Cyber Games happening on March 20, 21, 22 2020 @ Stein Studios – registrations at slcg.lk

Stay tuned to Gamer.LK for the best Sri Lankan Esports news.

A Sri Lankan to Coach a Foreign Team

A Sri Lankan to Coach a Foreign Team

Hasanka Wijayaratne who is a prominent Sri Lankan Rainbow Six player and one of the most skilled coaches from the Rainbow Six competitive scene representing Noob Alliance, has been signed as the Head Coach for NEX Esports, a pro Esports team based in Thailand. Aside from Rainbow Six Siege, NEX Esports also has divisions for PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, Counter Strike: Global Offensive and a few other titles which they take part in. Hasanka Wijayaratne will be coaching the world’s top-ranked Asia Pacific (APAC) Challenger League team of NEX Esports, starting from next month.

More Information on NEX Esports can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/NEXesport/

Stay Tuned with GamerLK for more updates.

Over Rs. 120,000 worth prizes awarded at first Samsung Mobile League

Over Rs. 120,000 worth prizes awarded at first Samsung Mobile League

09th January 2020; Colombo: Samsung Sri Lanka, in yet another successful initiative, partnered with Gamer.lk to organize the ‘Samsung Mobile Gaming League’ and ‘Samsung Member Mobile Challenge’ for Esports enthusiasts in the country. The Samsung Mobile Gaming League was an open tournament for all users playing games on mobile devices, while the Samsung Member Mobile Challenge was an exclusive gaming event for Samsung Members. The Esports challenge, which concluded on 28th December 2019 garnered an overwhelming response from gamers and Samsung Members Island wide. The event featured 2 popular titles, namely, Call of Duty Mobile and Mobile Legends. Winners of the open tournament received a prize pool of Rs. 50,0000 while Samsung Members winners received a brand new phone and other exclusive gifts courtesy of Samsung.

Enthused by the huge success of the event, Mr. Kevin YOU – Managing Director, Samsung Sri Lanka said, “As Sri Lanka’s No.1 smartphone brand, we are delighted to take mobile gaming and Esports to the next level by providing a platform for mobile gaming enthusiasts to test their skills while honoring die-hard fans through an exclusive gaming event for Samsung Members. Sri Lanka is grooming mobile gamers to put the nation on the world map of mobile gaming and Samsung is pleased to support this visionary effort through the recently-concluded gaming event where mobile users and the Samsung Members community could converge on one platform for a captivating event. This is probably the first time in Sri Lanka that a mobile community app like Samsung Members is hosting an Esport tournament on such a massive scale.”

Esports, highly popular among youth, is Sri Lanka’s fastest growing sport with over 3 million video gaming enthusiasts. Esports was recognized as an official sport in September 2019, and the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka has made Esports a focal point in future sport of Sri Lanka. Identifying this trend, in addition to organizing events and competitions, Samsung has announced its product range with superior features, which enhances the gaming experience. The immersive display, gaming booster technology, enhanced sound system and extended battery life of Samsung smartphones has made the brand the preferred gaming device among mobile gamers in the country.

Gamer.LK is partnering with the National Olympic Committee to hold large-scale international Esports events hosted in Sri Lanka. The first of such will be the InGame Esports South Asia Cup scheduled for early 2020, where six of the best CS:GO teams from the region will fly to Sri Lanka to compete. Gamer.lk is the pioneer organization in Esports in Sri Lanka with 12 years of experience promoting the sport and organizing large-scale Esports and digital entertainment events. In 2018 Gamer.lk expanded its reach to South Asian Esports market by hosting an international event in Colombo.

The Samsung Members Mobile Challenge concluded successfully, generating a wave of appreciation within the gaming community of ‘Samsung Members’. Samsung Members is a community application by Samsung, Bringing together all Samsung users on a single interactive platform. Samsung Members provides exclusive features comprising of member’s community updates, customer service, news, updates, promotions and offers etc. This one-stop platform will allow Samsung fans to share pictures, videos and questions to be a part of Sri Lanka’s active Samsung community.
With Samsung’s commitment to innovation as the ‘Number 01’ smartphone brand in Sri Lanka, the gaming community can be assured of numerous competitions, product innovations and events coming their way in the near future.

PUBG Mobile confirmed as ranked title by Sri Lanka Esports Association

PUBG Mobile confirmed as ranked title by Sri Lanka Esports Association

The governing body for Esports in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Esports Association (SLESA) has included PUBG Mobile as an official ranked title for Sri Lankan Esports.

This means that Sri Lankan teams will now receive national ranking points in tournaments approved by SLESA. The national ranking will be maintained to identify Sri Lanka’s best PUBG M squads, and will also feed into the National Esports Awards usually held at the Sri Lanka Cyber Games.

Based on global PUBG M tournaments, a set of tournament rules have been devised by Gamer.LK and can be found at: https://gamer.lk/rules/pubgm/

The first officially ranked PUBG Mobile tournament will be the Get nAiled tournament hosted by Noob Alliance – more information available here: http://n00balliance.lk/getnailedcc

ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව ජාත්‍යන්තර ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා තරගාවලි සංවිධාන කිරීම සඳහා Gamer.LK සමග අත්වැල් බැඳ ගනී

ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව ජාත්‍යන්තර ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා තරගාවලි සංවිධාන කිරීම සඳහා Gamer.LK සමග අත්වැල් බැඳ ගනී

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මෙන්ම දකුණු ආසියාවේ ද ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ පුරෝගාමී මෙහෙවරක නිරතවන Gamer.LK, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව කලාපයේ ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා කේන්ද්‍රස්ථානයක් බවට පත් කිරීම සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව (NOC SL) සමග අත්වැල් බැඳ ගත්තේය. InGame Entertainment මවු සමාගමට අනුබද්ධිත සන්නාමයක්වන Gamer.LK, 2007 වසරේ සිට ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීම සඳහා කැපවී සිටී. මෙම හවුල්කාරිත්වය යටතේ, ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ක්ෂේත්‍රය පිළිබඳ Gamer.LK සතු විශේෂඥ දැනුමත්, මහා පරිමාණ ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රීඩා ඉසව් සංවිධාන කිරීම සඳහා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව සතු විශේෂඥ දැනුමත් සුසංයෝගයක් ලෙස ක්‍රියා කරනු ඇත. 2020 ජනවාරි මාසයේදී පැවැත්වෙන InGame ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා දකුණු ආසියානු කුසලානය එලෙස සංවිධාන කෙරෙන ප්‍රථම ජාත්‍යන්තර තරගාවලියවන අතර කලාපයේ විශිෂ්ටත ම CS:GO කණ්ඩායම් හයක් එහි තරග වැදීම සඳහා දිවයිනට පැමිණීමට නියමිතය.

“මෙය හවුල්කාරිත්වයක් පමණක් නොවේ. මෙය පුළුල් දැක්මක් සහිත ක්‍රමෝපායික ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයක් ලෙස හැඳින්විය හැකියි. ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා යනු මේවන විටත් ජාත්‍යන්තර ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව පිළිගෙන ඇති ඉසව්වක් වන අතර 2018 වසරේදී පැවති ආසියානු ක්‍රීඩා උළෙලේදී එම ඉසව්ව ප්‍රදර්ශන ඉසව්වක් ලෙස පැවැත්වුණා. එබැවින් එය 2020 දී ටෝකියෝ නුවරදී පැවැත්වෙන ඔලිම්පික් තරගාවලියේදී එක් තරග ඉසව්වක් ලෙස දැකගත හැකිවනු ඇති. කෙසේවෙතත්, 2022 දී චීනයේ හැංසෝහිදී පැවැත්වෙන ආසියානු ක්‍රීඩා උළෙලේදී මෙය පූර්ණ පදක්කම් ප්‍රදානය කෙරෙන ඉසව්වක් ලෙස සංවිධාන කෙරෙනවා. එබැවින්, ජාත්‍යන්තර ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා කෙරෙහි විශේෂ අවධානයක් යොමු කර ඇති මෙවැනි අවස්ථාවක අප වඩාත් කාලෝචිත ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයක් ගෙන තිබෙන බව සඳහන් කළ හැකියි,” යනුවෙන් ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුවේ මහලේකම් මැක්ස්වෙල් ද සිල්වා මහතා සඳහන් කළේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා සංගමයේ ආරම්භක සභාපති මෙන්ම Gamer.LK ආයතනයේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී රවීන් විජයතිලක මහතා සඳහන් කළේ, මෙම හවුල්කාරිත්වය සමග ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ කලාපීය ප්‍රමුඛයෙකු ලෙස තවදුරටත් ස්ථාපිත කිරීමට හැකි වන බවයි. “ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව ඉදිරිගාමී දැක්මකින් යුතුව කටයුතු කරමින්, නුදුරු අනාගතයේදී ක්‍රීඩා ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ දැවැන්ත ම වෙනසක් ඇති කරන ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ක්ෂේත්‍රය තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඔසොවා තැබීම සඳහා නායකත්වය ලබා දීම පිළිබඳ අප බෙහෙවින් සතුටු වනවා.”

තරගාවලි සඳහා සහභාගීවන තරගකරුවන්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව සහ නරඹන්නන්ගේ පැමිණීම පිළිබඳ සැලකීමේදී ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ශීඝ්‍රයෙන් ම වර්ධනයවන ක්ෂේත්‍රය ලෙස මෑතකදී හඳුනා ගෙන ඇත. වීඩියෝ ක්‍රීඩාවල තරගකාරී ස්වරූපය ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා මගින් නිරූපණය කෙරෙන අතර එය වෘත්තීය ක්‍රීඩාවක් ලෙස ගෝලීය වශයෙන් ද, පසුගිය වසරේ සැප්තැම්බර් මසදී මෙරට ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යංශය ද පිළිගෙන ඇත.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව Gamer.LK සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා සංගමය සමග එක්ව කටයුතු කරමින් ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමේ එක් පියවරක් ලෙස 18 වන ආසියානු ක්‍රීඩා උළෙල සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් ජාතික ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා කණ්ඩායමක් යොමු කිරීමට කටයුතු කළේය. ඉදිරි වසර පහක කාලය සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා තරගාවලි සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නියෝජනය කළ හැකි දක්ෂයන් හඳුනා ගැනීමේ අරමුණින් මේ වසරේ සැප්තැම්බර් මස 18 වනදා සංවිධාන කෙරුණු අන්තර්-පාසල් ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා ශූරතාවලියට ද ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුවේ අනුග්‍රහය හිමි විය. දිවයින පුරා පාසල් 150 කට අධික සංඛ්‍යාවක් මෙම තරගාවලිය සඳහා ලියාපදිංචි වූ අතර ක්‍රීඩාව නගරයට පමණක් සීමා වී නොමැති බව එමගින් මනාව පිළිබිඹු විය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුවේ මහලේකම් මැක්ස්වෙල් ද සිල්වා මහතා (වමේ සිට දෙවැන්නා) InGame Entertainment සමාගමේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී රවීන් විජයතිලක මහතා සමග ගිවිසුම හුවමාරු කර ගත් අවස්ථාව ඡායාරූපයේ දැක්වෙයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුවේ උපදේශක ගෝබිනාත් ශිවරාජා, එම කමිටුවේ මාධ්‍ය අංශයේ ප්‍රධානී එස්.ආර්. පතිරවිතාණ සහ InGame Entertainment සමාගමේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ විකුම් ජයසේකර යන මහත්වරු ද ඡායාරූපයේ වෙති.

National team chosen for AESF e-Masters

National team chosen for AESF e-Masters

The Asian Esports Federation is hosting the first e-Masters Esports Championship in Shenzhen, China. Out of the 4 titles on offer, Sri Lanka will be represented in 3 – League of Legends, PES 2020 and Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne. Arena of Valor is the 4th title which unfortunately isn’t available for the Sri Lankan region. The national team is sponsored by GamerTech by MAS.

Qualifiers for the event were held last weekend by the Sri Lanka Esports Association in partnership with Gamer.LK. The contingent representing the country are as follows:

League of Legends: PnX | R [3] D

  • Kasun Withanage
  • Hilal Jismy
  • Nishal Ranaweerasinghe
  • Aadil Ayub Jismy
  • Akthar Hafeez

PES:

  • Hashim ‘PnX|Hafraaz’ Afraaz (Qualifier winner)
  • Rizan ‘PnX|Shihab’ Shihab (2nd place – Substitute)
  • Mansoor ‘PnX|CB’ Safwan (Coach)

Warcraft 3: TFT:

  • Ashain Siriwardana

The PES team will travel to Thailand to take part in offline qualifiers to battle for the 1 slot available for South Asia. Both League of Legends and WC3 qualifiers will be played online. Sri Lanka will be competing against India, Maldives, Nepal ,Pakistan and Kazakhstan.

Sri Lanka’s best Call of Duty Mobile teams crowned at Samsung Mobile League

Sri Lanka’s best Call of Duty Mobile teams crowned at Samsung Mobile League

Gamer.LK’s first Call of Duty Mobile tournament – the Samsung Mobile League – concluded last week with 32 teams taking part. The tournament had Samsung as the main sponsor, with FriMi as official digital banking partner, MSI as the official gaming notebook and PnS as food partner. 30+ matches across several weeks saw some teams from the brand new Call of Duty Mobile scene stand out from the rest.

1st place: WG Wrecking Wolves
Lahiru ‘XxX’ Herath (c)
Dhanuja ‘Chief’ Gunasekara
Sidath ‘MadDodSIDA’ Anurada
Isuru Udara ‘GhostyX’ Ranaweera
Thirajiv ‘JSparrow’ Devasurendra
Pasindu ‘Nikolai’ Premachandra
Senal ‘zeusgaming’ Senanayaka

2nd place: Squad59
Binath ‘YakaSilva’ Silva
Ranawaka ‘SukeenD’ Dimansha
Galhenage ‘Slingerove’ Perera
Maqshood ‘LordMusharraf’ Musharraf
J. Rahm ‘Grimreaper27’ Gowriyan
Vidura ‘VW22hard’ Wijerathna
Anukha ‘TheWije’ Wijesuriya

3rd place: ToXic Squad
N.W.Vishwa “Trouth” Madhusagara
Anushka ishan “Zid” silva
Binupa Manditha “Razor” Silva
Manupa Randitha “No_one” Silva
Rameesha Pramudithya “R.V.S.N” disanayaka

The Samsung Mobile League also features Mobile Legends as a title, with a collective prize pool for both titles of Rs. 50,000. The prize money will be distributed via FriMi digital banking, where users would be able to pay for any goods or services directly from their mobile app.

The next Call of Duty Mobile event is scheduled to be held at the Sri Lanka Cyber Games happening on the 24th, 25th and 26th January @ SLECC – registrations at slcg.lk

Stay tuned to Gamer.LK for the best Sri Lankan Esports news.

ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව ජාත්‍යන්තර ඉ-ක්‍රීඩා තරගාවලි සංවිධාන කිරීම සඳහා Gamer.LK සමග අත්වැල් බැඳ ගනී

National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka signs partnership with Gamer.LK to Launch International Esports Events

Gamer.LK, the driving force for Esports in Sri Lanka and South Asia, joined hands with the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC SL) to position the country as the hub for Esports in the region. Gamer.LK is a brand of parent company InGame Entertainment PVT LTD and has been promoting Esports since 2007. With this partnership, Gamer.LK’s expertise in Esports will be combined with the NOC SL’s traditional sports background to hold large-scale international Esports events hosted in Sri Lanka. The first of such will be the InGame Esports South Asia Cup happening in January 2020 where six of the best CS:GO teams from the region will fly to Sri Lanka to compete.

Commenting on the occasion NOC SL General Secretary Maxwell de Silva said “While it is a partnership, we feel it is also a very strategic move in a larger context. Esports is already an IOC accepted the norm and it was a part of the last Asian Games as a demonstration event which was conducted in 2018 and so would be at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. However at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China it will be a fully-fledged medal event. So, IOC is also taking serious note of Esports and will be a part of the mainstream of affairs sooner than later. So, as far as we are concerned we have made a well-calculated move at the ripe moment.”

Founding President Sri Lanka Esports Association and CEO of Gamer.LK Raveen Wijayatilake said “With this partnership, we are strengthening Sri Lanka’s position in the region as a leader in Esports. We’re happy that the NOC SL leadership is forward-thinking, which enables us as a country to be competitive in what is going to be the biggest revolution in sport in the coming years – Esports.”

Esports was recently recognised as the fastest growing sport in Sri Lanka based on the number of players taking part in tournaments, and spectators watching competitive games. Esports is the competitive play of video games, which has turned into a professional sport globally and received recognition as a sport by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports in September this year.

The NOC SL has worked with Gamer.LK and the Sri Lanka Esports Association to promote the sport in the past, with a national Esports team being sent to the 18th Asian Games. The Inter-School Esports Championship held in September of this year also received NOC SL endorsement in order to find and groom the best youth Esports talent to represent the country at international events in the next five years. The event saw over 150 schools from across the island register to take part in the event, dispelling any myths that the sport is niche and limited to urban areas.

The picture shows NOC SL Secretary General Maxwell Silva (Second from left) with the agreement with CEO of InGame Entrainment (Pvt) Limited Raveen Wijayatilake. The others in the picture are – Gobinath Sivarajah (Consultant NOC SL), S.R. Pathiravithana (Head of Media NOC SL) and Vikum Jayasekera – Director InGame Entertainment Limited.