The 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games esports event kicked off at Manila's San Juan Arena on Thursday.

This is the first time an esports tournament was included in the SEA Games as a regular event.

Six gold medals are at stake for the six-day tournament with the video games of Dota 2, StarCraft II, Hearthstone, Tekken 7, Arena of Valor, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB).

In the opening day's competitions, Malaysia held a draw with Vietnam 1-1, while Laos lost to Thailand 2-1 in the MLBB category. The hosts' Caviar Acampado beat Jonathan Wong of Malaysia in the StarCraft II bout.

The hosts' team, coached by South Korean Im Changrok whose online nickname is "Master Panda", will see action at the event with 27 Filipino gamers fighting for their country.

"We hope we can grab four golds out of the six," Im told Xinhua, adding that the Filipino athletes were very proud of receiving the call up from their country.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham Tolentino was invited to the ceremonial opening of the event. In his speech, Tolentino said that esports were becoming more and more popular among people of all ages, which was why the 2019 SEA Games included the event as a regular sport.

An esports event was featured at the 2018 Asian Games as a demonstration sport, meaning medals won in this sport would not be counted in the official overall medal tally.