News

League of Legends KeSPA Cup 2019 gets English broadcast after community backlash By Syed Mujtaba Naqvi League of Legends Goku, Pikachu, other anime characters share voices with LoL champs By Syed Mujtaba Naqvi League of Legends Esports Life Tycoon is a surprisingly accurate esports sim By Olivia Richman

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Top talents revealed for Dota 2’s WePlay! Bukovel Minor Steven Rondina WePlay! has revealed the list of broadcast talent for January’s WePlay! Bukovel Minor, and it’s a strong one. The tournament organizer revealed the list of hosts, casters, and analysts for the event, and there are few surprises for Dota 2 fans as the event is largely comprised of familiar names. The Bukovel Minor will bring together some of the most recognizable broadcast talent in the game, as well as some …

Counter-Strike

Syrson leaves Sprout, likely to join all-German BIG roster M Alzamora Florian “syrsoN” Rische is no longer affiliated with the Sprout organization or its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The organization announced the news on December 22.  “Goodbye, syrsoN. He has proven himself as an exceptional talent and it was a pleasure having him,” the organization said on Twitter. “We thank you Rische, for the energy and effort you put in the team. Even though we are sure your journey isn’t over yet, …

Fortnite

Fortnite star Ninja announces launch date for Time In Adidas shoes Olivia Richman Looking for some kicks to match your Ninja headband? You’re in luck. On December 31, Adidas is launching a line of sneakers in collaboration with Fortnite phenomenon Tyler “Ninja” Blevins.  The old school design sports Ninja’s signature blue and gold color scheme, although in a far more understated way this time around. Ninja’s logo is on the inside of the left shoe, while the right side shoe says “Time In” …

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Study tracks differences between pro and casual FPS players Olivia Richman A recent study of sorts shows how differently a professional FPS player takes in a map when compared to a casual player.  Nikkei recently posted an article that showed how Japan’s best Call of Duty: Modern Warfare player looked at a map versus an amateur player. Equipped with glasses with infrared sensors and cameras, both players’ eye movements were tracked with a red dot. When one of the gamers focused …

Counter-Strike Vitality win EPICENTER 2019, defeat Mousesports in finals By M Alzamora Counter-Strike Sprout eyes AWPer Oskar as syrsoN replacement, report says By M Alzamora League of Legends T1 and Gen.G push for 2019 KeSPA Cup English broadcast to return By William Davis

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Riot reveals first batch of PCS teams for inaugural season William Davis Riot Games has revealed nine of the teams that will take part in the inaugural season of the Pacific Championship Series. Earlier this year, Riot Games shared its plans to merge the LMS and the LST to create a new league known as the PCS. The LMS was home to eight teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. The LST brought together teams from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and other …

Dota 2

Vici Gaming win ONE Esports, look like early TI10 favorites Steven Rondina Vici Gaming are the champions of ONE Esports’ inaugural event. The Chinese squad took first place at the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore, defeating Evil Geniuses 3-0 in the grand finals. The victory gives Vici Gaming the $200,000 top prize and their fourth prominent live tournament victory of 2019. Game one revolved around Vici Gaming carry Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun. Playing safelane Magnus, he reared back and farmed …

Dota 2

EPICENTER to host fourth major of 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season Steven Rondina Dota 2 fans finally know where each of the five majors will take place during the 2019-2020 season. EPICENTER has announced it will be hosting the second EPICENTER Major in May 2020. The event will be the fourth major of the season and will be held in Moscow, with the finals taking place live at the CSKA Arena from May 8 to 10. The news was revealed by EPICENTER during …

Counter-Strike

Vitality, mousesports favorites for EPICENTER grand finals M Alzamora Tomorrow in Moscow, Team Vitality and Heroic will go head to head. This is followed by mousesports taking on Evil Geniuses. Both matches will determine the contestants in the EPICENTER 2019 grand finals. The matchups are intriguing on their own merits. Team Vitality hasn’t played in a tournament since November’s IEM Beijing, placing fourth. In theory, that sounds like a decent result. In reality, beating out TYLOO, ViCi Gaming, and ENCE …

Germany to introduce new esports visa in spring 2020 Syed Mujtaba Naqvi News Germany is taking big steps to make itself an even greater esports destination. The country is introducing a new esports-focused visa that will allow players and tournament organizers to streamline the process of arranging competitions in the country. Esport-Bund Deutschland shared that the German Federal Government and the States approved the decision of bringing the esports visa to the country on December 21st. The new visa comes after the approval of …

Brehze’s visa issues at EPICENTER shows CSGO schedule problems M Alzamora Counter-Strike Visa issues are nothing new for professional esports, standing as a constant irritation for tournament organizers and organizations alike as they try and keep up with the hectic, global competitive schedule.  But in the span of just two weeks, irritation has given way to absurdity as CSGO has seen major competitors forced to use stand-ins for large tournaments. Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte of Evil Geniuses was forced to miss two matches …

These are the highest esports earnings in Fortnite in 2019 Olivia Richman Fortnite No esport is growing faster than Fortnite. The Fortnite World Cup not only had a $30 million prize pool, but wooed the mainstream media in a way no other game has. The public has become fascinated by the game as older demographics finally start to wake up to the fact that video games aren’t just a fun hobby, but something that takes legitimate skill and can make talented players real money. And …

Vici Gaming faces Gambit Esports for spot in ONE Esports finals Steven Rondina Dota 2 Vici Gaming is looking like it might be the team to beat at the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore. The Chinese squad has advanced to the lower bracket finals thanks to a pair of victories over Team Secret and Alliance in the event’s lower bracket. This sets them up with a guaranteed top-three finish at the tournament and a match with Gambit Esports in the lower bracket …

Everything you need to best manage your betting bankroll Syed Mujtaba Naqvi News Many esports fans have been reluctant to get into betting due to the fear of losing money. Although there are risks to betting, they can be minimized with proper betting bankroll management. In fact, if financials are properly managed, betting is not only fun, it can even become profitable for skilled and attentive bettors. Betting isn’t simply about picking the team with better odds. It’s a game of its own, …

CSGO update changes operation cards, adds Agent sleeves M Alzamora Counter-Strike Today’s CSGO update made a few changes to the Operation Shattered Web mission cards, as well as changing some of the operator’s first-person sleeves. First, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team focused on Jungle for this week’s patch, making some optimizations and fixing some bugs around the Danger Zone map. Luckily, they also found and fixed an area of the map where players could fall through, meaning that Jungle is a …

Alissa Violet featured in new Machine Gun Kelly single Olivia Richman News Model Alissa Violet, who once dated FaZe Clan team owner Richard Bengtson, is making big moves in the music industry.  We all remember that Jake Paul diss Violet did with fellow YouTuber RiceGum. Unfortunately. For those that need, but probably don’t want, a refresher, here’s “It’s Every Night, Sis,” a song about Jake Paul being a bully and a cheater.  While this song may be hard to stomach for some, …

Valve sues Dota 2 tournament organizer GESC for not paying talent Steven Rondina Dota 2 Former Dota 2 tournament organizer Global Electronic Sports Championship, also known as GESC, is being sued by Valve. According to a report from Dot Esports, the Dota 2 publisher is working with its lawyers for an alleged lack of payments to players and teams stemming from the two minor tournaments it hosted during the 2017-2018 Dota Pro Circuit season. The GESC Indonesia Minor took place in March 2018, which was …

Time Magazine says League of Legends is one of decade’s best games M Alzamora League of Legends Riot Game’s MOBA has made Time Magazine’s list of the “10 Best Video Games of the 2010’s,” cementing its place as one of the best and most popular games of the decade. League of Legends joined nine other video games on the list published by Time Magazine. League of Legends and Epic Game’s Fortnite were the only two multiplayer games on a list dominated by single-player titles. While Riot’s flagship …

Valve suing tournament organizer GESC for owing more than $750,000 Olivia Richman Dota 2 Not too long after it was revealed that StarLadder was withholding payment from tournament talent, it’s come to light that another tournament organizer, GESC, has also failed to pay talent and give out prize money. But this time something is being done about it. Unfortunately, prolonged wait periods for checks in the esports industry is not unheard of. But Valve Corporation has decided to file a lawsuit against GESC after …

Golden Guardians reveals new logo, TFT and Apex Legends players William Davis Apex Legends Golden Guardians has revealed its new brand identity and announced its expansion into multiple new esports titles. The esports branch of NBA team Golden State Warriors is expanding beyond League of Legends in 2020. Golden Guardians started as a franchise in the LCS, and now the organization has expanded into World of Warcraft, Apex Legends, and other games including Hearthstone, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra. The announcement also included …

Twitch streamer arrested for abusing toddler on live broadcast Olivia Richman Fortnite A Twitch streamer was arrested for abusing her toddler on a live broadcast earlier this month.  A since deleted tweet of the clip showed TTV_MajesticUnicorn roughly tossing her child around and even biting him in one shocking instance. The clip’s description alleged that she was frustrated with the baby for interrupting her eight-hour Fortnite session.  The 31-year-old was charged with one count of assault for the offense. She is scheduled …

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