Sri Lanka’s largest mercantile-level sports event, Gamer.LK’s Mercantile Esports Championship ‘22 (MEC 22) powered by SLT-MOBITEL is back for its seventh edition, allowing employees of any organisation in Sri Lanka to compete across 22 Esports titles and be crowned as the best Esports company in Sri Lanka.

MEC 22 has more than 1,400 participants representing over 100 companies from across the island registered to take part, which includes notable companies such as WSO2, Hayleys, Hatton National Bank, Expolanka, OREL, SyscoLabs and many more. The coveted Championship was claimed by Virtusa in 2016 and 2017, MilleniumIT in 2018, Orel IT in 2019 and Global Systems Solutions in 2020 and 2021.

“Forward thinking companies have started including Esports in their sporting calendars and integrating it as a part of their employee welfare activities. Video Games and Esports is one of the fastest growing sports in Sri Lanka and the Mercantile Esports scene has become one of the most competitive in the country.” said Raveen Wijayatilake, CEO InGame Esports & Gamer.LK.

The Championship is powered by SLT-MOBITEL, the National ICT Solutions Provider who has been at the forefront of expanding the digital infrastructure in Sri Lanka, empowering improved access to digital entertainment and Esports across the country.

“SLT-MOBITEL is continuously working towards the aspiration of a digital Sri Lanka by enhancing connectivity and accessibility for all Sri Lankans. With the most expansive fibre coverage in the country, we are now able to offer an unparalleled experience in digital entertainment with the recent introduction of increased bandwidths of 200Mbps download speeds and 100Mbps upload speeds. This super-fast high-speed connectivity will especially be an asset to cyber athletes across the country and help unlock the potential of the Esports ecosystem in Sri Lanka. We are excited to be the title partner for this year’s Championship and we wish all participants the best of luck,” said Prabhath Dahanayake, Group Chief Marketing Officer, SLT-MOBITEL.

Esports has seen a massive spike in interest in Sri Lanka over the past few years as traditional sports came to a standstill due to the pandemic and the situation in the country. Recognised in 2019 as the 70th official sport in Sri Lanka by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Esports continues to grow at a rapid pace and is widely regarded as the country’s ‘fastest-growing sport’.

The Championship kicked off in early January 2023 with matches expected to continue through February. Updates and more information on the Championship can be found on https://mercantile.gamer.lk/.