From left to right: Clyde Pascual, Jarvis Chang, and Julius Tabios
Call of Duty: Mobile has spent years carving out its place in a region dominated by mobile MOBAs. In countries like the Philippines, Mobile Legends remains the benchmark for mobile esports, yet Garena with CODM has maintained a competitive scene that continues to produce internationally competitive teams and a passionate community.
For Jarvis Chang, Regional Producer for Call of Duty: Mobile Garena, the next stage of growth isn’t just about creating more professional players. It’s about creating more ways for people to participate in the ecosystem.
“We have the three Cs,” Chang told the Inquirer. “The first is competition, the second is community, and the third is creator.”
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Those three pillars have become the foundation of Garena’s strategy for the Philippines and the wider Southeast Asian region.
According to Chang, the goal is to create what he repeatedly describes as an “open pathway” for players, whether they aspire to become professional competitors, content creators, or active members of the community.
“We would like to bring more open pathway for the community,” he said. “Not just the pro player in the organization who has been training, but also the new talent from the grassroots scene.”
That philosophy is reflected in Garena’s growing investment in grassroots tournaments. While professional competitions remain important, Chang believes local events are equally critical in helping new players enter the ecosystem.
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“The important thing is that we want to do more local community events and local tournaments,” he said.
One of the company’s biggest initiatives is the Garena Esports Program (GEP), which recently expanded in the Philippines. According to Chang, the latest tournament attracted more than 600 teams across both Multiplayer and Battle Royale divisions.
“Over 600 teams joined the tournament,” he said. “Yesterday, the grand finals, there were a lot of new talent. They’re first time to be on the major stage.”
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For Garena, those first-time competitors represent the real value of grassroots esports. Rather than focusing exclusively on established organizations, the publisher wants to create opportunities for players who otherwise might never get the chance to compete.
“There will be another pathway for the player who could never be in the big organization but they have the chance to play, to show what they have and to show their ability and be scouted,” Chang explained.
International competition remains another important part of the roadmap. Garena continues to support the Garena Invitational Series (GIS), which serves as a regional platform for top teams.
Chang pointed to recent Philippine performances as proof that local talent can compete with the best teams in the world.
“We have the GIS. I do believe that provides a certain path for our Philippine pro players to become the international superstar,” he said. “The last two years, there are Philippine teams that finish top three.”
Beyond competition, Garena sees community engagement as a defining characteristic of the Philippine CODM scene.
“What makes PH community very different is that the players in the Philippines, they love to share a lot of feedback,” Chang said. “They really share a lot of feedback and are very passionate about the game.”
Rather than treating the relationship as a traditional publisher-player dynamic, Chang said Garena wants to work alongside the community.
“We are more like the partner instead of just the publisher. It goes a long way because its a team effort.”
Chang cited the addition of Battle Royale tournaments as one example. According to him, the format was introduced after repeated requests from the community.
“We hear that the community said that they want the BR tournament,” he said. “So we want to give them that BR tournament.”
Garena also brought the Garena Invitational Series offline event to the Philippines with Garena Summer Invitation 2026 last May, another move Chang described as a direct response to community demand.
The third pillar focuses on creators.
Garena’s Creator Launchpad program has been running for five years and has already supported more than 200 Filipino creators. The publisher also operates a Creator Support Program that brings creators into both online and offline events.
“We are trying to provide more chance for them to meet their fans, to meet our passionate community,” Chang said.
For Garena, creators are not separate from the competitive ecosystem. Chang believes many aspiring players begin their journey by sharing gameplay clips, highlights, and content before eventually becoming recognized members of the community.
Looking further ahead, Chang stopped short of announcing plans for a long-term professional league similar to those seen in other esports titles. Instead, he emphasized sustainability.
“My goal for the PH market is that we want to build a sustainable ecosystem,” he said.
Before discussing larger professional structures, Garena wants to continue strengthening the foundations through grassroots events, community programs, collegiate initiatives, and creator development.
That approach can already be seen through the company’s partnership with the Philippine Collegiate Championship (PCC), where CODM recently joined the collegiate circuit. Chang described the initiative as another way to reach students and provide opportunities for emerging talent.
“We want to provide more pathway, open pathway for different roles in the community and not just focus on the players because everyone is important” he said.
For now, Garena’s roadmap remains focused on those three pillars: competition, community, and creators. Whether through local tournaments, collegiate esports, content creation programs, or international events, the publisher’s strategy is centered on giving more players a way into the ecosystem.
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To cap it all off Chang said, “We are community first and we want to give back to our community and to grow together as much as we can.” We definitely expect more from Garena and CODM moving forward. They’ve already produced several international Filipino superstars and we can’t wait to see what’s next for CODM esports.
