Half a decade ago, the prospect of playing competitive video games for a living might have sounded silly—like a pipe dream for little boys. But today, Brian Lim, who in 2017 co-founded Tier One Entertainment with model-slash-gamer Alodia Gosiengfiao and shoutcaster Tryke Gutierrez, is paving a path to that dream for gamers across the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Tier One is primarily a collective of talents and personalities from the world of gaming, and its business revolves around competitive e-sports and social media content. As Tier One’s managing director, Lim has his eyes set on the entire regional market of Southeast Asia.

Lim’s passion for e-sports and gaming first figured into his career when he founded the Philippine Esports Organization in 2010, with the intention of becoming a sort of national governing body for e-sports in the Philippines.

The group has been a member of the International Esports Federation since 2012, and an associate member of the Philippine Olympic Committee since 2020. Before this, Lim, whose family had owned Rose Pharmacy, was CEO of the beauty salon chain Salon de Rose as well as the fireworks brand Pyroworks—both of which he still leads today.