The program was officially launched last May 8 via Zoom and Facebook Live and it was touted as the first program of its kind in the Phillippines.

BS ESports will be split into two specialization tracks: Esports Management, and Game Design & Development.

The esports program was the initiative of Tier One, a Southeast Asian gaming and talent agency founded by Tryke Gutierrez and Alodia Gosengfiao, and will serve as the industry partner and will be coordinating with the university as they offer the course.

After the launch of the program on the weekend, Gutierrez and Dr. Arlene Caballero, Dean of LPU’s College of Technology, revealed the course curriculum approved by the Commission on Higher Education.

Gutierrez made it clear that the course will not be a training ground for professional players or athletes, instead, it was meant to create specialists in the “back end” of the industry or those who worked on the business, marketing, and events.

“I just want to be very clear on the fact that this course is not going to be about the streamers, it’s not going to be about the talents, it’s about the people who are going to be working on the back end,” Gutierrez said.

According to Caballero, instructors will be graduates with specializations in marketing or public relations and executives from Tier One will be lent to teach in the course, the CEO added. 

For those students interested in taking the course, they will be required to have a personal computer and a mobile phone that can run necessary applications.

“100 percent kailangan ng PC at mobile phone siguro na talagang capable mag-run ng mga kailangan i-run kasi at the end of the day we can’t expect people to understand [like] paano ka mag-aaral ing F1 kung wala kang kotse? Unfortunately, that’s something that you need–a pc a laptop and a mobile phone,” Gutierrez said. 

As for the internship program, Tier One will be offering it to the students and they will be coordinating with other gaming companies for possible internships abroad.

With face-to-face learning still not allowed, LPU will be launching the program next academic year via flexible learning methods and will shift to blended learning “if the government permits,” Caballero said.