Joona “Serral” Sotala has been crowned the StarCraft II at 2025 Esports World Cup champion, following a 5-2 victory over Virtus.Pro’s Doh-Woo “Classic” Kim in a dominant Best-of-Nine series. 

After a tough result in 2024, Serral returned stronger to take the title. With his 2024 rival Clement “Clem” Desplanches exiting earlier in the event, Serral entered the final as the clear favourite following a flawless 4-0 fight in his semi final bout.

While Serral was expected to perform well, the level of control and dominance across the series caught many off guard. Serral started strong, claiming the first two maps of the series, with Classic able to fight back to claim two games. With the scores at 3-2, however, Serral was able to push on to claim the final two maps and secure the series win.

This victory in StarCraft II at EWC 25, confirmed his place as one of the greatest players in the game’s history. En route to the final, Serral remained unbeaten, dropping only two maps across the entire event. This also marks his third world championship title – he won his first world championship at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice in 2022 and successfully defended that crown in 2024.

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“To be honest, after a 2-0 start, I was extremely confident. A couple of hiccups did not bother me too much,” said Joona “Serral” Sotala. “It feels absolutely fantastic, this is what I came for, and this is what I got. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Joona “Serral” Sotal earns 1000 Club Championship points for BASILISK with his victory. The win moves BASILISK up to joint eighth place as Serral manages to secure the side their first points of the Esports World Cup 2025.

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The country’s integrated resort casinos generated Php93.36 billion in gross gaming revenues (GGR) in the first half of 2025 to sustain the momentum of the local tourism and gaming sectors, according to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

In his welcome address at the Philippine Hotel Connect 2025 on Thursday, July 24, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco said the country’s IR casinos accounted for nearly half of the local gaming industry’s total GGR of Php215 billion from January to June this year.

“Of the Php93.36 billion generated by the integrated resort casinos, Php16 billion was paid to PAGCOR as license fees, ensuring funding for government social services and driving the country’s economic growth,” Chairman Tengco said.

The PAGCOR chief noted that aside from contributing to government revenues, integrated resort casinos also helped position the Philippines as a competitive tourism destination.

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“We have seen time and again how a thriving hospitality sector can drive employment, fuel trade, revive local enterprises, and bridge communities,” he said. “And nowhere is this more evident than in the huge tourism contributions from our licensed integrated resort casinos within and outside Metro Manila.”

Aside from paying billions in license fees, the country’s integrated resort casinos also provide significant funding support to key government institutions – including the health, education, and military sectors – through their cultural foundations.

“Their contributions are concrete examples of how tourism, hospitality, and gaming – when aligned and responsibly managed – become a catalyst for national resilience and progress.”

But alongside the gaming industry’s strong performance, Mr. Tengco emphasized the need to safeguard its growth through effective regulation and responsible gaming practices.

He underscored PAGCOR’s recent move to remove gambling advertisements from areas frequented by minors and its memorandum of understanding with the Ad Standards Council to implement stricter gaming advertising guidelines.

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“As the gaming industry expands, so must our safeguards,” he said. “Hence, we have taken a firm stance against the proliferation of illegal and unregulated gaming operations that offer no safety nets or protection to players and, more importantly, no remittance or any form of revenue to the government.”

Mr. Tengco called for continued collaboration between government and the private sector to maintain the momentum of tourism recovery and long-term economic gains.

“The success of Philippine tourism is a shared journey between regulators and investors, between public ambition and private innovation,” he said. “PAGCOR will continue to walk side by side with our partners in building a globally competitive yet distinctly Filipino tourism and gaming industries.”

Organized by the Philippine Hotel Owners Association, the Philippine Hotel Connect 2025 gathered tourism and hospitality leaders to foster collaboration, discuss global and regional tourism insights and opportunities, emerging trends, among others.