Myrtle Sarrosa
“If you’re really good at it, you can actually make money out of online gaming,” declared actress Myrtle Sarrosa, who recently joined an international gaming competition in Bangkok, Thailand, and placed ninth in the Showmatch category.
“It’s actually a big deal,” Myrtle, also a known cosplayer, said of her performance in the tilt. She is the first celebrity to become the country’s representative in an international e-sports and gaming competition.
Myrtle was one of four members of the PH squad, called Aether Dogz, which competed in the game called PUBG, or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in the “Omen by HP Challenger Series” tournament, held from Nov. 1 to 3. The team finished ninth.
Team Philippines ranked ninth out of 20 teams from 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. “We’re so happy and grateful. We did well against these teams with 80 players each,” she beamed. “In other countries, people invest in gamers, who are housed in one location and are paid just to play video games.”
Just amateurs
“Imagine how tough it was to have played with professionals in Thailand when we’re just amateurs. It was amazing to find out that we ranked that high,” Myrtle stressed.
She said the first game she ever played was Pokemon for Gameboy.
“I then moved on to games on [the console] Playstation, and then later on PC (personal computer). Before, everything was just for fun. It was a way for me to de-stress. It actually became more interesting when I realized that I could gain recognition for it,” she explained.
Now, she has friends from show biz, like Arjo Atayde, Vin Abrenica and Nash Aguas, whom she said have started to show interest in online gaming, particularly PUBG.
“It’s a ‘Battle Royale’ kind of game where you need to strategize in order to survive,” she explained. “You either go solo, or be part of a duo or a squad. Then you compete against 100 players from different parts of the world,” explained Myrtle.
Myrtle, a cum laude graduate from University of the Philippines Diliman in 2017, said she was aware that gaming could be very addicting to kids.
“This should really just be for enjoyment; but there are people who are really talented in gaming—they have a quick eye and are good at strategizing. If you’re one of them, I say you might as well make the most out of your passion,” said the cast member of Regal Entertainment’s romantic comedy flick “Recipe For Love.”