From Pixels to Podiums: Tier One’s Tryke Gutierrez on the journey of esports to the Olympics

Seat secured

The esports world is currently abuzz with excitement over the ongoing Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s only one of the international stages that showcase the best of the best in the realm. It also proves the growing recognition and financial support esports is receiving worldwide. “The Esports World Cup is a game-changer,” says Gutierrez. “I’m very happy with what Riyadh is doing with the Esports World Cup because it’s a step toward collective support. It’s not going to happen with just all of us waiting, somebody has to be pushing it.”

Gutierrez, who began as an avid player and shoutcaster over a decade ago, had a simple yet ambitious goal: transforming the industry. Over the years, he realised that actual change required a seat at the table of influential esports organisations.

Blacklist International, the team he founded, has now secured its place among the elite, being one of only 30 teams selected from over a thousand worldwide for the Esports World Cup. “Having a seat at that table allows us to shape the future of esports,” Gutierrez asserts. “It’s about setting standards and defining success for the entire industry.”

Tier One Entertainment’s esports division Blacklist International has achieved significant success in the industry. It has established itself as a powerhouse in esports, particularly in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, with a strong track record of championships and international recognition.

Read more: Meet the Olympians who displayed great sportsmanship at the Games

Already there

The debate over esports’ inclusion in the Olympics is no longer a matter of if but when. “Historically, every sport started somewhere. Basketball and volleyball, none of these existed at one point. Esports, with its massive following among millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alphas, is here to stay,” he explains. Esports’ global recognition has expanded significantly over recent years, marked by the establishment of the Olympic Esports Series and the upcoming Olympic Esports Games.

The Olympic Esports Series, organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), features a variety of virtual sports that mirror the structure of traditional Olympic events. In its inaugural edition in Singapore in 2023, games linked to traditional sports, such as archery and sailing, were included, but popular esports titles like Counter-Strike and League of Legends were excluded over concerns about violence and the lack of a governing body.

Read more: 4 new—or newish—sports to look forward to at Paris Olympics 2024

Just recently, the IOC formalised the Olympics Esports Games, set to debut in 2025 in Saudi Arabia. This move reflects that the IOC is all in with integrating esports while maintaining the values of the Games. It’s also part of a broader strategy to engage more audiences, adapt to the digital age, and ultimately gain social acceptance. 

“Saudi Arabia is hugely excited by the prospect of partnering with the IOC and helping to welcome a completely new era for international sport,” the country’s Olympic and Paralympic Committee said. “ We believe that to take part in the Olympic Games is one of the greatest honours any athlete can achieve. And we are proud to support the writing of a new chapter in Olympic history that has the potential to inspire new dreams and new ambitions for literally millions of athletes around the world.”

Leveraging strengths

While Olympic recognition is already there, one hurdle remains: social acceptance. “The resistance to the acceptance of video games, in general, might have improved in the past decade. But it’s still yet to be fully accepted as a sport,” Gutierrez notes, underscoring that overcoming this stigma requires a collective effort from the esports community, industry leaders, and fans.

While countries like South Korea and China have robust esports ecosystems, others lag behind. Gutierrez points out that despite its large talent pool, the Philippines faces challenges due to low advertising budgets and sponsorship rates compared to neighbouring countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. 

But despite these hurdles, the potential of Philippine esports’ growth is immense. “I think what we lack in buying power, we have in numbers,” he says. “Every group of friends or family you meet, you’ll probably find at least one gamer. There are at least 36 million gamers in the Philippines. That’s one-fourth of the population.”

Read more: How big is the esports community in the Philippines?

Looking ahead

Gutierrez is leading the charge to change that stigma, especially in the Philippines. With Tier One Entertainment expanding beyond competitive gaming, he envisions esports not just about competition but also about culture and lifestyle. “We want to promote the gaming culture,” he says. “Our previous goal was just to create jobs within the gaming ecosystem. And I think we’ve done that. We made gaming prominent, more known.”

Through initiatives like the upcoming music, arts, and gaming festival called Blackout and a retail arm producing lifestyle items, he aims to integrate gaming into mainstream culture. “We want to go beyond what we built internally in the ecosystem and promote the culture of gaming to the rest of the world.”

As esports continues to break barriers and challenge traditional perceptions, its inclusion in the Olympics seems inevitable. The journey from pixels to podiums is well underway, and the world is watching as esports gears up to take its rightful place in the spotlight.

“Knowing that the amount of people who play games nowadays are millennials, Gen Zs and Gen Alphas, I think the industry is here to stay. It’s bound to be part of the Olympics.”

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