The fight is on!
Season 2 of the PBA Esports Bakbakan Dota 2 tournament fires off on October 24.
Led by reigning champion Converge, all 12 PBA teams are participating in the second offering of Dota 2. It is the fifth overall title of the PBA Esports Bakbakan in partnership with Dark League Studios since their link up in 2022.
A total of P500,000 prize pool is up for grabs among the 12 teams represented by their own players led by eight-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel, who's an avid gamer and streamer himself.
Joining him are Kamron Vigan-Fleming of reigning champion Converge, Jayson David of runner-up Barangay Ginebra, Barkley Ebo?a (TNT Tropang Giga), Fran Yu (NorthPort), Jake Pascual (NLEX), Jaydee Tungcab (Blackwater), Nick Demusis (Rain or Shine), Kai Ballungay (Phoenix), Paolo Hernandez (Terrafirma), Jayson David (Ginebra), Alvin Pasaol (Meralco) and Jerrick Ahanmisi (Magnolia).
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As the designated faces of their Esports teams, the PBA representatives have an option to play for the Esports teams set to make the cut after the ongoing registration and qualifiers nationwide.
Only the Top 12 teams from the qualifiers will advance in the main tournament of PBA Esports Bakbakan and will have the luxury of picking their PBA franchise based on the rankings.
Last season, more than 300 teams duked it out starting in the qualifiers until the finale under an online format. The numbers are expected to go up this year with the grand finals set to be live and on-demand at a still-to-be-announced mall in Manila on Nov. 22.
From the 12 teams, only the Top 4 will advance to scramble for the newest crown of the PBA Esports Bakbakan, which is open only to amateur players aged 16 and up - not professional gamers - to ensure a level playing field.
"Magkaibang kultura, magkaibang sports pero napagsama natin ang basketball at Esports. Malaking bagay sa amin sa PBA itong Esports. Win-win situation for both," said PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial during the Season 2 presser on Thursday at the Dark League Studios headquarters in Quezon City.
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Dark League Studios, one of the prime movers of Esports in the country, echoed the same sentiment.
"With the branding of the PBA on top of this program, we're going to attract more users and fans from Season 1 where we had 351 teams. That's how famous the PBA is and it's very good to our vision of bridging the gap between physical sports and Esports," said Dark League Studious co-founder and CEO AC Valdenor. (JBU)
