News

Dota 2 Dota Auto Chess developer shows off new designs for pieces By Steven Rondina News Cloud9 debut new roster with two losses at BLAST Pro Series Miami By Steven Rondina Counter-Strike BLAST Pro Series Global Final details revealed before Miami event By Steven Rondina

Counter-Strike

FURIA Esports explains why the team refused ESL Pro League invite Olivia Richman Fans are conflicted on FURIA Esports’ choice to turn down an invite to ESL Pro League Season 9. Despite the invite to one of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s largest tournaments, FURIA has chosen to instead play at the DreamHack Open in Rio de Janeiro. “We work in this way: We make commitments, we fulfill it. Regardless of the profit or loss that this can generate. Great companies, people, and relationships are …

Counter-Strike

Cache map creator FMPONE gives fans update on map revisions Steven Rondina Cache is no longer part of the professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map pool, but that hasn’t slowed down its creator. Map designer FMPONE has been working on a retooled version of the popular map for over a year and judging from social media, he has made serious headway. In a recent tweet, FMPONE showed off his progress in revising the map. Both bombsites, mid, highway, truck, and the area around …

Dota 2

Natus Vincere bring in Misha to sub for captain Sonneiko gabhernandez Natus Vincere captain Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butae will be benched temporarily. For the team’s upcoming tournaments, Na ‘Vi tapped Mikhail “Misha” Agatov to stand in for the side. Misha will be playing for Na ‘Vi in two tournaments outside of the Dota Pro Circuit: ESL One Mumbai and the GG.BET Birmingham Invitational. The reason behind this decision was revealed to be an ongoing health issue a recent press release. “During the …

Counter-Strike

CompLexity Gaming brings back n0thing for ESL Pro League Olivia Richman Season 9 of the American ESL Pro League begins today, and for many Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams it has been a rocky road to get here. Just one day before the competition was to begin, compLexity Gaming announced that Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert will be standing in for Ricky “Rickeh” Mulholland due to visa issues for the Australian. For now, Rickeh is stuck in Canada. “n0thing lives out in the west coast …

Counter-Strike This botched musical performance at a CS:GO event causes cringe By Steven Rondina League of Legends Famed jungler Trick returns to Europe to join FC Schalke 04 By William Davis League of Legends The Weeknd invests in OverActive Media, owner of Splyce and Defiant By William Davis

News

Valve responds to European Commission geoblocking allegations Olivia Richman Valve has responded to the European Commission’s allegations that the publisher has broken EU competition rules by geo-blocking games. According to an official press release from Valve, the region lock in question only applied to a “small number of game titles.” In fact, Valve said it was just three percent of all games on Steam, none of which were their own titles. “Valve believes that the EC’s extension of liability …

Fortnite

Hacker breaks into Fortnite Twitter in response to game changes Olivia Richman “Revert the changes.”  One Fortnite fan was apparently bothered enough by the game’s recent changes to hack the game’s official Twitter account and post this simple tweet.  The cryptic hack took place shortly after Epic Games released a controversial change just days before the Fortnite World Cup. Participants are no longer able to use stretched resolutions in Arena Mode or in tournaments.  The hacker is not alone in this sentiment. …

News

Racist and misogynist Overwatch game goes viral and Blizzard responds gabhernandez Twitter user @Yes_ItsRose posted a disturbing video highlighting both sexism and racism in a recent Overwatch match. The two-minute video depicts Rose playing Mercy in her match. While trying to heal she is badgered with racist remarks about her skin color. Several members of her team even hone in on the color of her skin being the reason for her “mediocre” gameplay. When one teammate tries to stand up for …

League of Legends

Riot Games plans big changes to the League of Legends item shop William Davis Big changes are coming to the item shop, Riot Games announced through the latest edition of Dev Corner. The item shop is going through a deep cleanup and will have a completely new look by the end of the year 2019. According to the announcement shared on the Riot Games message boards, the developers behind League of Legends are looking to remove and rework existing items and add new ones. …

Scientist Moira is third skin revealed for Overwatch Storm Rising Olivia Richman News Overwatch just announced a new legendary Moira skin as part of the anticipated Storm Rising event. Complete with a lab coat, the Scientist Moira skin features the word “Cryo” on her back. While it’s unclear what this phrase is referring to, Moira is a well known for her findings in the genetics field. While her DNA research seemed to be leading to overcoming diseases and “maximizing human potential,” it also …

Washington Justice GM Kate Mitchell announces plans to retire Steven Rondina News A staffing change with Overwatch League’s Washington Justice has shined a fresh light on burn out and toxicity in esports. Justice general manager Kate Mitchell has announced that she is planning to retire following the end of stage two of the season. In her announcement, she specifically cited the rigorous nature of esports and frequent hostility over social media, particularly Reddit. “I’ve had irreplaceable experiences in this community…It’s impossible to …

Draken dropped from Ninjas in Pyjamas as Dennis returns Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Dennis “dennis” Edman has returned from his hiatus from competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Ninjas in Pyjamas announced the Swede’s return to its active roster on Twitter. It also confirmed the release of stand-in player William “draken” Sundin, who joined the team as a substitute to fill in for Dennis during his absence. Dennis has been a key member of Ninjas in Pyjamas during the team’s recent upswing. An 11-year veteran …

This deaf Overwatch streamer just reached top 500 in ranked Olivia Richman News Over 105,000 people have now watched Overwatch streamer Maxim76 react to reaching top 500 in Overwatch’s ranked mode. Peaking at a score of 4,237 Season Rating and reaching the 482nd player ranking with the best rating on his server, Maxim76’s accomplishment is made even greater when you factor in that he’s deaf. On a Reddit forum post about Maxim76’s placement, a deaf diamond player discussed the difficulties that players like Maxim76 …

Activision Blizzard wants data on company employee pregnancies Olivia Richman News Activision Blizzard is asking its employees to share information on their pregnancies and menstrual cycles. Period and pregnancy tracking app Ovia is a popular app among expecting mothers. But recently, employers like Activision Blizzard have started paying the apps’ developer, Ovia Health, to gain access to their employees’ data. According to the Washington Post, companies say this data will help “minimize health-care spending, discover medical problems, and better plan for …

A real-life battle royale event might just be in the works Steven Rondina Fortnite Do you stay up late at night, wishing that games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite were real? Probably not, given the incredibly high likelihood of coming to harm. But somebody out there does and is trying to make that dream a reality. Gaming site Destructoid discovered a listing on luxury retailer Hushhush.com for a project manager for a “100-person battle royale inspired event.” The project aims to take the most …

OW Contenders team replaces players hours before game, still wins William Davis News Where there’s a will there’s a way, or so the saying goes. Rarely has it been more true than for Overwatch North America Contenders team Second Wind, who recently overcame some significant odds to beat Chicken Contendies 3-2. On April 7, half of Second Wind’s roster left to pursue opportunities elsewhere. The team’s tank lineup, comprised of main tank Normund “sharyk” Faterins and off-tank Daniel “Gods” Graeser, left for Montreal …

ESL One Mumbai rocked by multiple withdrawals due to Dota PIT Minor Steven Rondina Dota 2 The ESL One Mumbai Dota 2 tournament is fast approaching, but many of the teams set to participate in it have peeled off and headed elsewhere. According to a statement from ESL, the event set to take place in India was rocked hard by a series of withdrawals, largely surrounding those teams qualified for the OGA Dota PIT Minor. Though the event will continue on, it will feature a reduced …

Reapered coach of the split, V1per rookie of the split for LCS spring William Davis League of Legends Riot Games awarded Cloud9’s Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu as coach of the spring split and FlyQuest’s top laner Omran “V1per” Shoura as rookie of the split. Cloud9 and FlyQuest might already be out of the playoffs, but the teams are at least taking two big individual prizes home at the split’s conclusion. V1per was named the rookie of the split after a remarkable season as the starting top laner for FlyQuest. …

OWL star DPS player EFFECT retires with emotional statement William Davis News Overwatch League Season 1 star DPS player Hyeon “EFFECT” Hwang of the Dallas Fuel has retired from the league, according to a post on the player’s official Facebook page. The announcement is long and emotional, detailing EFFECT’s multiple struggles with mental health and suicidal ideation. “I returned to the league full of energy, but it’s so regretful that I’m leaving without showing anything,” EFFECT said. “However, I really don’t want …

14-year-old Fortnite streamer already makes $200,000 a year Olivia Richman Fortnite 14-year-old Griffin “Sceptic” Spikoski makes $200,000 a year streaming Fortnite on YouTube and Twitch.  While the Long Island native started off playing Fortnite just for fun, he skyrocketed to almost instant fame when he received over 7.5 million views on a YouTube video of him beating pro battle royale player Turner “Tfue” Tenney. The high schooler currently has over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, 1.8 million Twitch views, and even a …

Fortnite patch 8.30 adds Reboot Vans, starts build to World Cup Steven Rondina Fortnite Weeks after first being unearthed in the game’s files, Reboot Vans have finally arrived in Fortnite. The 8.30 patch has dropped in the game, delivering the awaited addition. Reboot Vans give players the ability to revive teammates in duos and squad play, a big boon to those who actively party up. In duos and squads, when a player dies they now drop a Reboot Card which can be picked up …

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