These titles may not be the biggest names in local esports, but their communities continue to grow.

Some of the most familiar names in the Philippine esports scene include Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Dota 2, VALORANT, PUBG Mobile, and Call of Duty: Mobile. However, as the esports fanbase continues to grow, more titles are also gaining traction among Filipino players and fans. Here are six games worth keeping an eye on.

  • Tekken 8 – Gamers have been playing Tekken competitively since its days as an arcade game in 1994. As an esports title, Tekken 8 has continued to gain popularity since its release in 2024, with players Alexandre “AK” Laverez and Andreij “Doujin” Albar competing in major tournaments.
  • Street Fighter 6 – Street Fighter is widely considered the granddaddy of competitive fighting games. The franchise has had an established competitive community in the Philippines since the arcade era. In 2016, the country hosted the Manila Cup, which showcased the local competitive fighting game scene. Some notable SF6 players include Manza, drudru, and H1ghscor3.
  • Rainbow Six Siege – Rainbow Six Siege, or R6, is a first-person shooter, placing it in the same broad genre as Call of Duty: Mobile. The game was released in December 2015 and became a competitive title just a few months later. Locally, the R6 competitive scene began to emerge in the late 2010s. Today, it has an established yet growing Filipino presence, with players such as EasTor, Papichulo, and Jim “BORKUM” Timbreza.
  • Apex Legends – Apex Legends is a relatively new battle royale FPS that quickly found an audience within the Filipino gaming community. The creation of an Apex Legends PH community soon after its launch on February 4, 2019, reflects this early interest. While not as well-known as some of their Mobile Legends counterparts, notable Filipino AL players include Keith “23Tikss” Baltazar and Jhun Raven “Fehr” Concepcion.
  • Rocket League – Introduced in July 2015, Rocket League is a sports game that combines soccer with rocket-powered cars. Like R6, it became a competitive title within months of its release, with the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) launching in 2016. A notable Filipino Rocket League player is Sean Patrick “Cypso” Delos Reyes, who began competing in 2019.
  • Free Fire – Free Fire, also known as Garena Free Fire, is a mobile battle royale game that officially launched on December 4, 2017. Filipino competitive players emerged within its first two years, with a formal local esports scene developing by the late 2010s. Teams such as SAF Deathwish and AV Ligers have become part of the Philippine competitive scene.

As the local esports scene continues to grow, more Filipino fans are discovering titles beyond the most popular names. These games offer a different perspective on the exciting—and incredibly diverse—world of esports.