News

News PUBG done in China, is replaced by lookalike Game for Peace By Steven Rondina News Overwatch League views continue to decline going into playoffs By Olivia Richman News Dallas Fuel sign new tank player Trill ahead of OWL Stage 3 By Olivia Richman

Counter-Strike

US senator introduces bill to ban loot boxes in video games Steven Rondina The creeping international legislation against loot boxes has finally reached American shores. According to a report from Kotaku, US Senator Josh Hawley has introduced “The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act,” a bill that takes aim at loot boxes and microtransactions. If passed, this carries serious consequences for the video game industry. “When a game is designed for kids, game developers shouldn’t be allowed to monetize addiction,” the Republican from …

Counter-Strike

Shroud returns to CS:GO and gets a shockingly low ranking Steven Rondina Michael “shroud” Grzesiek got quite a surprise when he returned to playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The former Cloud9 player decided to return to his old stomping grounds and play some competitive games during streams. Though he remains a sharpshooter and demonstrated the same skills that made him a top star from 2014 to 2017, he was given a bit of a surprise when he was slapped with a relatively low …

Counter-Strike

Ballistic Shield returns to CS:GO’s Danger Zone with latest patch Steven Rondina The Ballistic Shield has made its return to Counter-Strike. In the Danger Zone. Introduced in the original Counter-Strike but removed in Counter-Strike: Source, the shield is now available as an upgrade item in Global Offensive’s battle royale mode. The item retains some of its functions from the previous games, but is still quite different from the original. Unlike in 1.6, the Ballistic Shield is not used as a primary weapon …

League of Legends

Riot supports employee walkout, but won’t change lawsuit policy Olivia Richman Over 150 Riot employees walked out in protest of the company’s stance on forced arbitration yesterday. This comes just days after employees first considered a walkout in response to the League of Legends publisher’s response to ex-employee’s gender discrimination lawsuits.  Jocelyn Monahan, a social listening strategist at Riot, stated near the end of the walkout that further action would be taken if Riot management didn’t make any decision on forced …

Dota 2 Everything we know inside the International 2019 Battle Pass By Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Denmark prime minister visits and plays CS:GO with Astralis By Olivia Richman Counter-Strike Natus Vincere announce Esports Camp, search for new junior roster By Olivia Richman

League of Legends

Ruin, Kirei depart from 1907 Fenerbahce after washing out of MSI Steven Rondina When it rains for 1907 Fenerbahçe, it pours. The team is still reeling from its misfire at the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational but now has to deal with a pair of holes in its roster. That’s because jungler Thomas “Kirei” Yuen and top laner Kim “Ruin” Hyeong-min have reportedly both split off from the organization and signed with new teams. Kirei’s departure from 1907 Fenerbahçe was broken by the official League …

League of Legends

Flash Wolves roar past Vega Squadron, qualify for MSI main event William Davis Flash Wolves secured a pass to the Mid-Season Invitational with a convincing victory over Vega Squadron. The LMS will have a representative at MSI’s main event, as FW qualified to the main stage for the fourth consecutive time. The new roster is ready to continue the organization’s legacy, and this latest journey began opposite the reigning LCL spring champion. Many analysts predicted it would be a clean 3-0 victory, but …

League of Legends

Rogue drops Kikis, Excel finds a new coach prior to LEC summer split William Davis Rogue and jungler Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek have agreed to part ways after what was a disappointing spring split in the LEC. Rogue is ready to make changes heading into the LEC summer split. After finishing in tenth place with 16 defeats to only two wins, the organization decided to try a different approach to its maligned roster. Polish jungler Kikis will be the first player to exit the team. In …

News

San Francisco Shock finish historic run with win over Shanghai Steven Rondina The San Francisco Shock have pulled off something truly impressive. After taking a 4-0 win over the Shanghai Dragons, the Shock notched a perfect 7-0 record in stage two of the Overwatch League regular season. Far more impressively, the victory capped an immaculate 28-0-0 run for the team in which they didn’t lose a single map. This is even more impressive given that stage two saw a major transition for …

EternalEnVy and Beastcoast are first eliminations at Disneyland Major Steven Rondina Dota 2 Jacky “EternalEnVy” Mao and Beastcoast had a chance to shut people up at the MDL Disneyland Paris Major, but they couldn’t do it. The rebranded and retooled Team Team made their debut at the major and flopped mightily. The team came in last place without winning a single series. The elimination came on the first day of the playoffs with a loss to CompLexity Gaming. Playing in an elimination match …

Team Liquid sweep Phong Vu Buffalo, advance at Mid-Season Invitational William Davis League of Legends Team Liquid qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational’s main event after a scrappy win against local representative Phong Vũ Buffalo. TL is moving to the next phase at MSI, as the North American team took down PVB in three straight games. It wasn’t necessarily easy for TL as PVB put the LCS champions in some difficult situations, but Liquid was rarely threatened past the early game. The Vietnam representatives failed to …

The International 2019 Battle Pass release date has been announced Steven Rondina Dota 2 The International 2019 Battle Pass will be arriving soon. Valve has officially announced the release date for the TI9 Battle Pass on the official Dota 2 Twitter account. According to a short tweet, the long awaited feature will arrive “tomorrow,” May 7. The tweet also features a GIF showing the Aegis of Champions adorned with flowers on a purple background. This seems to confirm previous leaks that suggested the theme for …

Immortals raises $30 million, acquires Gamers Club, looks to LCS William Davis League of Legends Esports organization Immortals has raised $30 million in a recent funding round, as the organization acquired Brazilian matchmaking platform Gamers Club and is rebranding to Immortals Gaming Club. Immortals, now known as IGC, is going through some major changes. These changes start with a new name and new investors. John Griffin and March Capital Partners join Lionsgate, the Milken Family, Steve Kaplan, and Meg Whitman as IGC’s primary investors and …

Team Liquid win PEL Kick-off Cup, but amateur teams upend pros Steven Rondina News PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds may have an element of randomness to it, but you wouldn’t know it from the results of the PEL’s Kick-off Cup. That’s because Team Liquid crushed the opposition every day during the playoffs, taking the top prize with 173 points. It was an exceptionally strong tally for the event, with the team standing 70 points above second place. Liquid’s lead became almost insurmountable on day one of the …

Fortnite volcano erupts destructively, wipes out Tilted Towers Olivia Richman Fortnite Fortnite’s volcano has finally erupted, and the massive in-game event wreaked havoc on the game’s ever-changing map.  Right after players exited the vault at Loot Lake’s center, the eruption began. The whole map was immediately covered in darkness as molten rocks started bursting out of the volcano. Polar Peak mountain was the first to be affected by the explosion, a giant crack appearing after the first rock’s impact. Retail Row’s …

Team Liquid comes through in a final and wins IEM Sydney Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Team Liquid is has finally broken its finals curse at one of the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments of the year. North America’s finest took first place at Intel Extreme Masters XIV Sydney. The team captured gold by last defeating Fnatic, capping an almost perfect run through the event. The grand finals kicked off on Cache with a huge win for Fnatic. Spurred on by strong efforts from Ludvig “Brollan” …

Fnatic secures $19 million in funding round, appoints news CEO William Davis League of Legends European esports organization Fnatic has raised $19 million in a recent Series A funding, the team announced through its official website. Entrepreneur Lev Leviev of LVL1 Group, Beringea, Blackpine, Unbound, and Joi Ito are some of the new investors in the Fnatic brand. This is the first funding round held by Fnatic since April 2017 when the team secured a round of $7 million. “Esports is the future of entertainment, …

ATK crush, Virtus.pro come up clutch in Winners League Season 2 Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Winners League Season 2’s group stage is officially past the halfway point and we’re starting to see teams make a push for a spot in the playoffs. Both divisions have an intriguing mix of recognizable names and fresh blood topping their groups, but few of them are topped by those teams that were expected to dominate. A lot of intriguing new teams have been flexing their muscles throughout the season, …

Jeff Kaplan wishes he could retire Total Mayhem from OW Arcade mode Olivia Richman News Overwatch lead designer Jeff Kaplan is ashamed of his creation.  A few days ago, one player took to the Overwatch forums to ask, “What does Jeff Kaplan have against Mayhem and No Limits?”  The Overwatch fan said he usually plays arcade mode to “avoid losing friends in comp.” But he’s noticed that 1v1 Elimination is an arcade option “three to four times in on week” despite his observation that no …

First five slots in franchised Call of Duty league sold to OWL owners Steven Rondina News The first permanent franchises for the upcoming Call of Duty league have been announced. According to a statement by Activision-Blizzard, franchises for the cities of New York, Paris, Atlanta, Dallas, and Toronto have been sold. The slots have been awarded to the ownership groups of corresponding Overwatch League teams. “The upcoming launch of our new Call of Duty esports league reaffirms our leadership role in the development of professional esports,” …

Boston Uprising owner Robert Kraft ordered to appear in court Olivia Richman News Boston Uprising’s owner Robert Kraft is not getting special treatment in his sex solicitation case.  A Florida judge has ordered the billionaire to appear at a May 21 hearing that will conclude three days of deliberation over the admissibility of the videos that captured Kraft allegedly receiving sexual favors from sex trafficking victims at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa.    Kraft’s arrest was part of a months-long investigation by …

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