Setsuna ‘AkoSi Dogie’ Ignacio shared his own sentiments on the launch of BS Esports in the country in a nearly 17-minute vlog, saying ‘Masyadong maaga’. 

Dogie, who has been involved since the Mobile Legends Professional League’s earliest days in the country as coach, manager, and entrepreneur, highlighted that there will only be limited jobs for the graduates who studied the four-year course. 

But first, he stated the good things. 

“Good side is, sumasabay siya sa hype ng esports industry. Maganda siya, kasi ibig sabihin, lumalaki na ang esports industry, yung gaming sa bansa natin. Lumalaki na talaga guys,” he expressed.

Later on, the Nexplay coach started to discuss the setbacks that the course degree would affect the students by disagreeing with a certain question, ‘Would he allow his kid to take up BS Esports if the matter takes into place?’

“Pag nakapagtapos kayo ng BS Esports, ano ang pwede niyong mapasukan? Tier One? Rumble Royale? Nexplay? Bren Esports? Smart Omega? Or pwedeng sa Mineski Studio, Gariath Concepts, yung iba-iba pa diyan. Sabihin natin na overall, may 10 to 12 companies ngayon na active sa esports. Ilan ang papasok dun na estudyante?”

Dogie worries about the job prospects for its graduates since the local esports industry is still too young and too small to accept graduates with a very specialized college degree.

“Di ko pa nakikita nasa stable tayo. Yung subject na ‘yon is irrelevant, to be honest. Hindi siya stable. Nakakatakot e. Ilang kumpanya lang yun. Sa esports industry guys, super limited ang kumpanya. Alangan naman lahat gagawa ng team,” he averred.

Bren Esports’ Ralph Andrei “Coach Leathergoods” Llabres, also shared his opinion on his Facebook page over the weekend, somewhat agreeing with the sentiments of Dogie.

In his post, Coach Leathergoods bared by asking what could be the advantages of graduates of the specialized course over others who took up more general multimedia, marketing, or management courses who will also apply to these same companies.

“Ok moving on to back end support, Management, HR, Merchandising, Accounting, Cashier, Multimedia, Social Media Management, Business Development, Marketing, and all the other forms of back end support a company would need to run properly and prosper. Will BS Esports graduate best other people who graduated with specific degrees in the back end,” it read. 

Dogie also has the same thoughts that companies would prefer more graduates with specific degrees. 

“Hindi mo kailangan matapos ang BS Esports para makapasok dun. Mas pipiliin pa nila yung manager talaga Ikaw na pinag-iisipan mo na pumasok sa esports as coach, as assistant coach, analyst, or any kind of thing sa esports, masyadong maliit yung market,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Tier One CEO Tryke Gutierrez fired back with his own responses to Dogie’s vlog in a vlog as well, emphasizing that the local esports industry would practically grow by 2023. 

“Ang pinaka-main na sinasabi ni [AkoSi Dogie], limitado yung opportunity,” he explained. “Yung masasabi ko [is]… one hundred percent, [yes], if we’re just talking about the Philippines, and especially if we’re just talking about 2021. Pero gaya ng sinabi ni Lyceum, if you start a course in 2021, you’re preparing the future, which is 2026. Ano na ba ang itsura ng esports sa 2026?”

“Di ko pwedeng sabihin kung anong exact na itsura ng landscape ng esports by that time, what are the available jobs by then. But in a digital space, naniniwala ako na esports is really the future of sports. With esports, we’re not just talking about teams. We’re talking about multiple companies—yung gumagawa ng games, gumagawa ng broadcast, gumagawa ng leagues,” he added. 

“Di ko masabi na esports is not stable. Naniniwala na ako that esports is coming to a point of stability. Tapos na tayo sa part na, hindi pa siya isang dekada, after ng pandemic, mas nag-accelerate pa yung growth niya,” said Gutierrez in his response to Dogie’s take about the instability and small market of esports. 

“Kahit sabihin mo hindi natin masasabi, ang sure kasi tayo, it’s going up, and that this is the future. Kung Tier One lang gagawa ng course, e di wag kayo magtiwala. Di naman kami school e. Pero if there’s another entity [like Lyceum] that believes it, ang sa akin lang, you have to trust the fact that this is necessary,” the Tier One co-founder continued. 

AkoSi Dogie concluded his vlog by leaving it to the viewers to make up their viewpoints on the initiation of the bachelor of science degree on esports in college. 

“At the end of the day, it’s your will, it’s your future, it’s your life,” he ended.