As the country continues to grapple with the far-reaching effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the world of competitive Philippine esports has proven itself an ally to medical practitioners working at the front lines.

Taking the online gaming arena to another level, Globe via its co-owned esports team, Liyab Esports, has successfully rallied professional esports athletes, streamers, and League of Legends fans to raise over half a million pesos in cash donations for the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) as part of their COVID-19 relief efforts.

Dubbed ‘Starforge’, the online charity streaming event was launched on April 17 to 26 by Liyab and Esports AcadArena, the largest campus esports initiative in the Philippines.

During the two-week campaign, Team Liyab participated in online community team matches, held entertaining podcasts, and interacted with fans and the nationwide gaming community. This culminated in a major Starforge event which featured a best-of-three All-Stars Showdown between teams headed by Liyab’s Kang ‘Kurd’ Yeonghwan and the team of Edrian ‘DoeDoii’ Brancia, with Team Kurd ultimately dominating a win.

Throughout the duration of the event, Globe donated cash when certain milestones are met.  For every kill of an opposing player, dragon, or baron takedown Globe would add Php1,000 to the fund. To further show their support towards the gaming community’s initiative, Globe donated Php100,000 in funding upfront.

Together with several partners, Globe raised a total of Php 523,000 for PHC through Starforge.

Dr. Gerardo S. Manzo, Deputy Executive Director, Incident Command Post at PHC expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Globe, Team Liyab and esports enthusiasts who contributed in the initiative: “It gives us great inspiration to know that partners and communities like Globe and the local esports industry are also supporting us here at PHC, and all medical frontliners in the country who are continuously battling the onslaught of COVID 19. We are grateful to Team Liyab and their fans in leading this unique initiative to ensure our staff’s safety and health so that in turn, we can ensure the health and welfare of the Filipino public.”

“More than just bringing together gamers and gaming enthusiasts, we wanted to harness the reach of competitive online gaming towards opportunities to raise awareness and donations to aid COVID-19 frontliners,” shared Jil Bausa-Go, Vice President at Content Business Group of Globe.

“During these stressful times where typical sports are no longer available, it is inspiring to see how esports has created innovative and collaborative avenues to bring people together and provide much needed entertainment to lift morale,” Bausa-Go added.

With the success of the Starforge tournament, Globe and Team Liyab remain committed to supporting more esports initiatives to connect and empower the local esports community and provide support during these unprecedented times.