The Estudyante Esports is no longer just about boosting grassroots and introducing and promoting it as part of the academe but has now become a celebration of the school's pride and spirit.

And that is very much evident as more schools express their interest to join the Estudyante Esports: The National Championships that boasts a total of P1.6 million pot prize in September.

“It’s an esports celebration of our schools and local communities,” said Dark League Studios chief executive officer AC Valdenor, noting that it would be one of the highlights of the nationwide tournament.

UP-Diliman, Holy Angel U, University of San Jose Recoletos, Mindanao State U-Iligan and NU-Manila were among the early entrants to the competitions across four esports titles Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Valorant, League of Legends and Tekken 8. 

Registration is still ongoing for the separate regional qualifiers in NCR, Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

“It's going to be epic! But what really makes this program special is how it brings schools together. It's not just about the competition, it's about giving every school, no matter how big or small, a chance to shine on a national esports stage,” said Valdenor.

Aside from the earlier announced prizes for the tournaments champions – (MLBB, Valorant and League of Legends): first place – P250,000 for team and P80,000 for the school; second ­– P100,000 for team and P50,000 for school, there’s also P50,000 at stake for the MVP.

For Tekken 8, it’s P50,000 for the champion, P30,000 for second placer and P20,000 for third.

“Through the National Championships, we are fulfilling Dark League Studio's thrust and intent to really bring esports more accessible to students and schools,” said DLS program director Deng Kibanoff.

Jose Rizal University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, University of Makati, Lyceum Subic Bay, University of Science and Technology Southern Philippines and Central Philippine University were the other schools already registered to the competitions.