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!

A sign of the times – with Gamer.LK’s consistent promotion of the sport, Esports has secured the position of fastest growing sport in Sri Lanka. We have another milestone to kick-off the year – the inclusion of the sport in Dialog’s annual desk calendar where we’ve got a May 2019 spot! Gamer.LK worked with the League of Legends national team who represented the country at both the Asian Games and the Esports World Cup in 2018 to showcase a typical Esports gaming setup, with high end gaming peripherals and portraying the electric atmosphere of an Esports match.

Dialog is a strong proponent and a prolific promoter of sports in the country, powering many sportsmen and women to achieve their goals. The 2019 Dialog Calendar is a reflection of their passion, determination and resilience in moments of excellence.

Seen in the picture are Achintha “Nightmare” Konara, Ashik “ASH” Saleeth and Shalitha “Acelord” Chandraratne. Hilal “Dew” Jismy and Akthar “Blueakthar” Hafeez also contributed to the shoot. 

This years Dialog calendar mixes Augmented Reality (AR) concepts where users can use their smartphone to get further details about specific dates on the calendar. For more information on the calendar visit https://www.dialog.lk/calendar

Acer’s Predator League DOTA 2 championship landed on Sri Lankan shores in the latter part of 2018 and concluded last weekend with the crowning of Sri Lanka’s best DOTA 2 team. The championship was conducted as a country qualifier, where the winner of the tournament will represent Sri Lanka at the grand finals in Thailand for a shot at the USD 400,000 prize pool. Thailand will have 10 teams from 9 countries taking a shot at the title – Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Myanmar and Mongolia.

The Sri Lankan Qualifiers

Registrations for the local qualifier commenced on the 12th of November on Gamer.LK and closed on the 10th December with 45 teams registered. The tournament was broken into two stages – online qualifiers and a LAN event where the top 4 teams were brought together at the Jaic Hilton. Online qualifiers commenced on the 13th of December where the 45 teams were whittled down to the top 4 – nA.Bedtime Samurais, Div|Death Sentence, PnX.Indomitus and X3.Victorious Secret.

LAN

The final stage of the event was held on the 13th of January ‘18 in the Grand Ballroom of Jaic Hilton. The 4 qualified teams played out the knockout bracket, with semi-finals being played as bo1 and the finals played bo3.

Semi Final 1: PnX.Indomitus vs nA.Bedtime Samurais

Winner: PnX.Indomitus

The tournament favorites Indomitus took on underdogs Bedtime Samurais in the first match of the day. Indomitus pulled through convincingly to the grand finals with a 27 minute base wipe.

Semi Final 2 : X3.Victorious Secret vs Div|Death Sentence

Winner: X3.Victorious Secret

The two Sri Lankan Dota 2 juggernauts were up next, with Victorious Secret being a formidable force since their rise in the Sri Lankan ranks in the past few years. Death Sentence included standalone Sivasubramaniam ‘Prince’ Aarathanan in their lineup who played the role of drafter for this game. Victorious Secret took the game in a well-deserved 35 min battle. With that, VS secured their place in the finals against Indomitus, and Death Sentence was pushed to fight for third place against Bedtime Samurais.

Third place match : Div|Death Sentence vs nA.Bedtime Samurais

With DS looking demoralised after their loss to VS, Bedtime Samurais saw this as their opportunity to clinch a third-place spot by upsetting DS. Drafting was handed to Sathan who looked to be in good form. However, after a 18 minute game, Bedtime Samurais’ dreams were dashed as Death Sentence took the win and secured their third place position.

The Finals : PnX.Indomitus vs X3.Victorious Secret

With Indomitus being as strong as they are, the finals was looking like a David vs Goliath situation. Indomitus breezed through to clinch the victory with a decisive 2-0 win against Victorious Secret, thus taking the Predator Shield and sending VS home with a runner-up placement.

Indomitus took home Rs. 300,000 in cash, some great peripherals and that amazing Predator Shield trophy sent over to Sri Lanka from Acer. Indomitus will be flying out to Thailand for the grand final in Bangkok happening from the 15th to the 17th February 2019.

We wish our champions the best of luck as they carry the Sri Lankan flag for yet another Esports event abroad! Follow Gamer.LK for news of our boys in Thailand.

For the eleventh consecutive year, Gamer.LK – the leader in Esports and Digital Entertainment experiences, organized the national Esports Championship – Sri Lanka Cyber Games (SLCG) powered by Dialog Gaming. Considered Sri Lanka’s flagship Esports tournament, SLCG 2018, provides the platform for Esports athletes from across the country to showcase their talents and  marks the end of the local Esports calendar.

Sri Lanka Cyber Games has evolved into a grand celebration of Esports

Originating from humble beginnings with a few hundred participants in 2008, SLCG has evolved into a grand celebration of Esports and video gaming. The Championship drew over 3,000 participants this year who took part across the most popular gaming titles in the country, battling it out in-game with live commentary with matches being on display on giant screens as well as streamed online. 

SLCG was hosted within Play Expo Sri Lanka, the only Digital Entertainment & Technology expo in Sri Lanka also organized by Gamer,LK, showcasing the latest technology and experiences available for digital entertainment enthusiasts and anyone interested in audio, video, music, movies, gaming and their related technologies. Play Expo Sri Lanka boasted a prize pool of over 5 million LKR, the largest prize pool ever offered for Esports and video gaming in the country. 

The 9 main Esports clans of Sri Lanka, recognized by the Sri Lanka Esports Association which are Death Pact, Division Esports, Evox E-Sports, Maximum eSports, n00b Alliance, Phoenix Gaming, TECH Morph Gamers, Wolfgang e-Sports and Xiphos eSports took part in the tournament.

Phoenix Gaming defends Championship, Xiphos Esports comes second

After three days of intense, nail-biting Esports action and fierce in-game rivalry, Phoenix Gaming defended the coveted overall Championship title for the third consecutive year with Xiphos Esports and n00b Alliance securing the second and third places respectively. 

Thanks largely to the efforts of Gamer.LK in promoting Esports as a gender-neutral sport, this year’s Championship saw an increased participation of girl gamers with an exhibition Women’s Call of Duty match also taking place at the event. In addition, a separate Kid’s Esports segment was also held in the aim of promoting competitive video gaming to the future generations.

Inaugural eRacer Championship and Mobile Gaming Championship

Alongside SLCG 2018, this year also saw the introduction of the inaugural eRacer Championship in association with TopGear. Complete with Red Bull racing seats, racing wheels and pedals, large-screen TVs and the tracks on Project CARS, the Championship was hosted in the aim of seeking out Sri Lanka’s fastest eRacer.  

In addition, this year also saw the inclusion of Sri Lanka’s first-ever competitive Mobile-Gaming Championship with the Mobile Partner Huawei, showcasing popular mobile titles such as Clash Royale, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile and Mobile Legends.

Industry leaders powering Sri Lanka Cyber Games

Leading companies extended their support to SLCG this year. Dialog Gaming stepped in to power SLCG and showcased an array of digital entertainment products and services at the Dialog experience zones at Play Expo. Red Bull came on board as the official energy drink partner and DELL became the Gold Sponsor. The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) committed their support to the event in their efforts to promote the Sri Lankan startup eco-system in the digital entertainment space and Electronic Sports.

Huawei was the Mobile Partner for the event while Honda was the Motorbike Partner and they gave away a Honda Navi to the winner of their mobile game Rider Rush. FriMi came onboard as the official Digital Banking Partner and offered discounts at the Mega Geek Sale happening on all three days of the event. MSI, a long standing supporter of Esports was the technology partner and KISS FM was the Radio Partner for the event. ReadMe was the Digital Media Partner for the event with Elektro Revo being the Lighting Partner and LetMeKnow as the Coverage Partner for the event. 

Winners List for Sri Lanka Cyber Games 2018

Following is the full list of winners from Sri Lanka Cyber Games 2018:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Champions – Noob Alliance (Team Archon)

Harry Manoharan 

Nisal Jayasundara

Vishal Perera

Navod Bopitiya

Abdulla Llafir

Mohammed Zaid

Second Place – Phoenix Gaming (Team iMex)

Sameera 

Imalsha

Tharusha

Pathum

Chathura

Third Place – Phoenix Gaming (Team PulseCORE)

Dinesh Kumara 

Pamitha Alahakoon

Dinesh Jayathunga

Jayath Lakshitha

Mohamed Bilal

COUNTER STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE

Geeshan Jayaraj

Omal Prabuddha

Zayyan Ali

Sanjeevan Kalaieesan

Shakir Razak

Hiran Erangana

Andrew Damien

Raqeeb Marzook

Kavishkar Jayaraj

Aslam Rahman

Muzakkir Fahim

Aaron Mark

Musaffer Muzin

Muaath Muzin

Athahur Rahman

Gayan Hasanka

Ziham Baba

DOTA 2

Champions – Phoenix Gaming (Indomitus)

Mohammed Walid

Mohammed Shafraz

Haneef Shiraz

Munthasir Shiraz

Viren Dias

Mandula Sugathapala

Isuru Lokuge

Kevin Dashitha

Shauban Rushdi

Kaveesha Kangasuru

Kalhara Keith

Third Place – Division Esports (Team Deat Sentence)

Muksith ajwath

Shenal daniel

Heshan sanjaya

Anupama wettasinghe

Aarathanan siva

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

Champions – Phoenix Gaming (Lankan Lions)

Shalitha Chandraratne

Ashik Saleeth

Hilal Jismy

Achintha Konara

Akthar Hafeez

Prabu Thanenthiran

Kasun Withanage

Rihan Riyaz

Addil Jizmy

Nishal Ranweerasinghe

Sheran Wijesinghe

Vijai Shanker

Dilushan

Poojana Sirimanna

Hareen Chanthuka

Viran Nissanka

Shashitha Lakal

Susara Ruwantha

Janith Rajapakse

Harivarshen Selvarajah

OVERWATCH

Champions – Noob Alliance (Blackwatch)

Ruvinda Ranaweera 

Ruvin Kularathna

Michika Iranga

Vinu Randula

Madhushan Dassanayake

Preba Shan

Sampath Widushan

Second Place – Xiphos Esports (Nitro Zeus)

Dulaj Gunawardena 

Najith Kalhan

Deshan Alahakoon

Hansan Zain

Rashad Ameer

Dineth Dulanjaya

Asitha Jayawardena

Darren Johnson

Third Place – Noob Alliance (The Money Team)

Deshan Thilakaratna

Venuja Silva

Chirath Hasan

Nuwan Dhanushka

Sajintha Kumasaru

isuru jayasooriya

SPECIAL FORCE 2

Akash Prabashwara

Amith Salinda

Sapuna Liyanage

Hasith Samaraweera

Ranush Vimantha

Vihanga Uwanthake

Second Place – Noob Alliance (Team Reconnected)

Kasun Harsha

Geeth Madusanka

Anjana Amarasinga

Nimesh Tharindu

Vinura Maddumaarchchi

Chamila Roshan

Third Place – Noob Alliance (Team Dark Knightz)

Lahiru Kirieldeniya

Darshana Piumal

Hasala Diluk

Himasha Perera

Shehara Amanthana

Navod Bopitiya

Norudu

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE

Champions – Xiphos Esports (Live to Kill)

Dulshan Lakvidu

Tejitha Dilshan Nanayakkara

Sachethana Liyanage

P.L.A.Heshan Virantha

Gayan Bandaranayake

Malith Prasanna

Second Place – Xiphos Esports (Team Pokerface)

Sandupama Dabare

Tashen Rajapaksha

Sachira Nuwanga

Reshika Sandeepa

Manula Athalge

Third Place – Phoenix Gaming (Last Warning)

Manaz Mafaz

Mohamed Alhan

Mohamed Arkam

Sajid Suhail

Mohamed Inaam

Mohamed Ashi

CLASH ROYALE

Phoenix Gaming – Parthifan

Second Place

Noob Alliance – Joel Joung

Third Place

Phoenix Gaming – Nazir Hassan

FIFA 19

Champion

Maximum Esports – Kushan Senanayake

Second Place

Maximum Esports – Janith Aramatunge

Third Place

Maximum Esports – Ateeq Roomy

FORTNITE

Champion

Phoenix Gaming – Rehan Thatsara

Second Place

Standalone – Dinuga Weeraratne

Third Place

Standalone – Shane Madu

INJUSTICE 2

Champion

Xiphos Esports – Rashad Ameer

Second Place

Xiphos Esports – Praveen  Jeganadan

Third Place

Xiphos Esports – Umashankar  Raja

TEKKEN 7

Champion

Phoenix Gaming – Roshan Jurampathy

Second Place

Xiphos Esports – Rashad Ameer

Third Place

Phoenix Gaming – Dillon Jayesingha

PUBG MOBILE

Champion – Maximum Esports

Div ‘DS’ Deviiii’ Alwis

Kavindu ‘Kavindu2’ Prabashwara

Second Place – Standalone

Rojer ‘DarkAssassinRJ’ Chandana

Prince ‘Prince1999221’ Dinakara

Third Place – Standalone

Veivesh ‘IGN BijiliV’ Krishnakumar

Seyed ‘Monsterrol’ Basim

ERACER 

Champion

Phoenix Gaming – Hafzel Preena

Second Place

Xiphos Esports – Rasheed Ameer

Third Place

Standalone – Nikila Pathirage

DRAGON BALL FIGHTERZ

Champion

Phoenix Gaming – Binura de Zoysa

Second Place

Xiphos Esports – Rashad Ameer

Third Place

Phoenix Gaming – Vihan  Nissanka

WOMEN’S LEAGUE (MARIO KART 8)

Champion

Standalone – Laroshi Ganegoda

Second Place

Noob Alliance – Himasha Perera

Third Place

Noob Alliance – Kavindee Kariyawasam

WOMEN’S LEAGUE (MORTAL KOMBAT XL)

Champion

Noob Alliance – Udara Wickramarathne

Second Place

Noob Alliance – Himasha Perera

Third Place

Standalone – Laroshi Ganegoda

WOMEN’S LEAGUE (need for speed: most wanted)

Champion

Standalone –Dhinelka Anthony

Second Place

Maximum Esports – Tharushi Liyanage

Third Place

Maximum Esports – Piyumi Madhushani

SUBWAY SURFERS (UNDER 12)

Champion

Standalone – Ubaidullah faris

Second Place

Standalone – Sancho Rithish Rexon

Third Place

Standalone – Nethuli Yesanga

FRUIT NINJA (UNDER 12)

Champion

Phoenix Gaming – Tuan Sherim Salahudeen

Second Place

Standalone – Nethuli Yesanga

Third Place

Standalone – Thanuja Tharindu 

UPDATE: 19 Dec 2018 at 12:05 a.m. IST – Correction done to “Phoenix Gaming defended the coveted overall Championship title for the third consecutive year”.