The inclusion of esports in the Southeast Asian Games was lobbied by Min-Liang Tan, CEO of Singapore-based gaming firm Razer. Tan announced in November 2018 that he met with Philippine SEA GamesOrganizing Committee chair Alan Peter Cayetano to discuss about the possible inclusion of esports in the regional games, which were among the "Category 3" disciplines included in final list of proposed events to be hosted in the games. An ad hoc committee was formed to organize the esports events in the games. Razer provided support in terms of software, hardware, and services in the organization of the esports events. Razer was designated as the Official Esports Partner. However Razer didn't provide the mobile phones for the Arena of Valor tournament since the latest update of the title required the game to be played on iOS. By 14 December 2018, the national federation of esports has formally sought formal inclusion in the games from the International esports Federation. The esports tournaments of the Southeast Asian Games will be open to competitors of both genders with every aspiring participant to partake in a qualification tournaments. Market research firm Newzoo projects the number of audience for esports in Southeast Asia to grow to at least 31.9 million in 2019 attributing the increase to the inclusion of the discipline in the Southeast Asian Games.
Game selection
Six medals were contested in esports. The selected games were to conform to the values of the InternationalOlympic Committee and "should not promote the culture of violence and gambling". Also other factors, such as the popularity and competitiveness of the games, the strategy and teamwork required in playing the concerned games, as well as the physical and mental intensity required in contesting the games in marathon matches, were also considered in the selection process. There were three categories; PC, console, and mobile each featuring two video games. was the first title to be confirmed in November 2018 Four games: Arena of Valor, Dota 2, Starcraft II, and Tekken 7, were later announced in mid-December 2018. The organizers attempted to secure the appropriate license to be able to have NBA2k as the sixth title but was unable to do so. Hearthstone was announced as the sixth title in June 2019. There were also previous plans for the esports tournament to feature separate competitions for men and women where men would be competing in Dota 2, Hearthstone, NBA 2K, and Tekken 7, while women would be contesting Dota 2 and Hearthstone. The plan was later abandoned.
Venue
The Esports competition of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games was held at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, Metro Manila. Previously, The Manila Marriott Hotel in Pasay was considered as a potential venue but the hotel management asked for a fee which was deemed too expensive by the organizers of the regional games.
Viewership
Razer reported at least a million views on its streaming platform on the first day of the esport event with about 70,000 concurrent viewers. The Filoil Flying V Centre was at full capacity at the peak of the esport tournament and Razer registered 20 million impressions with 90,000 concurrent viewers. The esports tournament's YouTube streaming was also viewed for 200,000 hours by audiences.
