In undoubtedly one of the biggest posts I’ve personally produced in the blog since it’s inception, the report of Garena PH getting major lay-offs has spawned tons of attention and to some, infamy. But because of what it caused, I was able to get the opportunity to get answers from Garena SG about the status League of Legends.
Through e-mail I was able to get in touch with a Garena SG representative and was able to field my questions on some of the pressing matters people have with the reorganization of the company.
Haoson: Does the transfer of operations mean that the League of Legends Philippines server will transfer to Singapore? Will this affect gameplay experience such as lag, or skins for the game?
Garena: No, League of Legends PH will remain hosted locally in PH and there would be no transfer to Singapore.
Haoson: Where can players go to for new support or existing support?
Garena: Same way as they have been reaching out to us for support. Only difference is that the preference would be that it would be coursed through these official channels (https://www.garena.ph/support/ or sending an email to account@garena.com) rather than other means they have been used to before (e.g. sending messages to Garena employees via FB, etc.).
Haoson: What happens to LoL (and Garena AoV) Esports now? Will the existing deal, especially will Globe continue? How about the existing or pre-existing local tournaments?
Garena: We cannot speak on behalf of our partner(s) particularly Globe but on Garena‘s side, our commitment to esports would continue. As for existing/pre-existing local tournaments, we have discontinued only some of the smaller, non-bearing tournaments but are still committed to providing support to some of our key partners same as what we’ve been doing before.
Haoson: What can we expect from Garena’s local presence now with the PH office gone? What happens to the various tournaments, marketing attempts and processes now that PH is gone?
Garena: Same as our answer on #3: we will still continue supporting key events / tournaments especially those with direct effect on the overall esports ecosystem for our game. We do not have a finalized plan yet for other efforts but rest assured that the overall experience of our players are of utmost priority.
Vince: Will we ever get another Garena PH office in the future?
Garena: We believe it is still too early to know for now 🙂
Haoson: What about the other Garena IPs? What will happen to them?
Garena: While our team handles League of Legends primarily, we are aware that our other games have already been maintaining a hybrid structure ever since it was released (combination of local and regional people handling the games) and should receive less impact given the recent staff movement.
Haoson: With SG managing most of the load for PH, will we see a more streamlined Garena Ecosystem for the region instead of localized content in terms of marketing, promotions and events?
Garena: It has been the case for quite some time now that PH applies a combination of localized as well as regional/umbrella campaigns. This should remain the same for now.
So there you have it!