E-sports festival at SEA Games 31

The leaders of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training and the Vietnam E-Sports and Entertainment Association have joined forces with the high consensus of the businesses to organize into a collective, unifying actions with the aim of successfully organizing eSports at the 31st SEA Games with the highest quality, creating the best conditions for all participating countries, bringing eye-catching matches to satisfy the audience and fans in Southeast Asia.

One year of preparation, two postponements, 10 participating countries, 70 international referees working professionally with a fair and honest attitude. 485 athletes and coaches competed for 10 sets of medals with 101 group stage matches, 140 final round matches continuously for nearly 2 weeks. The teams of all countries competed with all their might for the flag and colors, always hoping to bring glory to the Fatherland.

Leaders of E-Sports Federations of countries at the National Convention Center.

Two Novotel hotels are open to welcome guests. The National Convention Center is operating at full capacity with 5 competition spaces at the same time, including some that are internationally rated as meeting Olympic standards.

The big eSports stage.

Applause, smiles, sweat, and emotional tears came from athletes, coaches, volunteers, support staff, and guest spectators.

The medal table changes every hour, strong countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines continuously change positions in the top 5 of the delegation. There are 3 competitions, although the Vietnamese delegation tried very hard, but in the end, they did not have any medals, that's sport! The final result is that Vietnam ranked first in the delegation with 4 Gold Medals and 3 Silver Medals. Through this, we can also look back at ourselves and evaluate the strength of the countries, from there, we can have a plan to select and train athletes for the next tournaments, including ASIAD 2022, SEA Games 2023...

eSports medal table.

Similar to football, the content of the matches is transmitted to participating countries with English commentary or clean waves for native commentators to best serve the audience. According to incomplete statistics, the number of viewers is very large, in some countries, the number of viewers is more than football.

MLBB viewership.

The Organizing Committee was also honored to welcome domestic and foreign leaders to attend and present medals.

Mr. Le Hai Binh - Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department visited and attended.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Dung - Deputy Minister of Information and Communications visited and attended.

Mr. Vath Chamroeun - Secretary General of the Cambodian Olympic Committee - Standing member of the 32nd SEA Games Organizing Committee attended and participated in the signing ceremony of cooperation to support the implementation of eSports at the 32nd SEA Games.

"Esports first debuted in 2019 and has returned for the 2021 SEA Games due to its popularity and high audience.

I witnessed it firsthand at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, as I cheered for our League of Legends (PC) team at the Bronze Medal match.

The arena featured competition zones on each side, with flashing lights that changed with each action. The content was shown live on the big screen, immersing the audience in the match. And the audience cheered and applauded enthusiastically as the players demonstrated their strategic skills and mental strength in the match. Our Singapore players competed and defeated Malaysia 3-1 to win the Bronze Medal.

Our other esports players also did well, we won a Bronze Medal in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, 1 Silver Medal in League of Legends: Wild Rift (Mobile) for women and another Bronze Medal in League of Legends: Wild Rift (Mobile) for men.

Well done to all of you esports. Singapore is with you every step of the way.

Ms. Low Yen Ling - Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore

"I came to watch and cheer for the Thai e-sports team competing in RoV (VN: AoV) at the National Convention Center in Hanoi. At the 31st SEA Games in 2022, the Thai team defeated the Philippines and entered the Gold Medal competition with host Vietnam. All the athletes are really good, I want to thank the team and coaches very much for supporting and promoting new generation sports.

E-sports is a sport that I think the young generation of Thailand will have the opportunity to enter the international arena like the Olympics. Currently, among the Southeast Asian countries, Thailand is considered the leader. I think this is not only a sport but also creates new jobs and contributes to promoting the digital economy. It will be an opportunity for mutual development if we promote it properly and keep up with the changes."

Mr. Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn - Minister of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand

Volunteers and logistics staff take souvenir photos.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the leaders at all levels and the Organizing Committee of the 31st SEA Games for attending and awarding medals. Garena, VNG, VTC, the referee team, the Production and Logistics teams, the volunteers, the traffic police, the drivers, the security, the medical team, the National Convention Center have made great efforts to complete their work and contributed greatly to the great success of the season.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong - Chairman of VIRESA - Head of the SEA Games 31 eSports Organizing Committee

The event ended, the last distinguished guests returned home with beautiful memories of the country and people of Vietnam. Joining in the bustling and joyful atmosphere of the largest regional sports event, the whole country, with new health and spirit, began to restart everything as if they had never experienced the pandemic.

The Prime Minister has decided to award Certificates of Merit to 19 eSports athletes who won Gold Medals. Today, Vietnamese eSports coaches and athletes who won medals attended the commendation ceremony of the Party and Government and received their well-deserved rewards.

Athletes attend the award ceremony in Hanoi.

It can be said that eSports athletes are a professional profession with many challenges but also glory. To develop a long-term career, athletes need to have enough cultural knowledge, physical strength, psychology and competition skills. Through this reality, many young people will realize that following the path of a professional athlete is not easy, from there, choose a balance in study, work and entertainment to aim for a good life and that is also the ultimate goal of every sport!