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WIN.gg gathers news and guides from around the world covering every point of the modern gaming industry in all of its many forms.
Dota 2
Valve releases patch 7.21d following conclusion of Stockholm major
gabhernandez
The Stockholm major has concluded and Valve has released another batch of tweaks for Dota 2. DreamLeague Season 11 crowned Vici Gaming with its first Dota Pro Circuit major tournament championship title. After the third DPC major of the season, patch 7.21d was rolled out to make significant nerfs and buffs to the game’s heroes in need of either. Like prior game patches, 7.21d gameplay update aims to balance heroes …
News
Astralis convinces Danish armed forces that they need more gamers
Olivia Richman
The Danish armed forces is looking for gamers. The Danish Defense, or Forsvaret, feels that gamers could make great pilots, flight commAanders, and radar operators. “Gamers have certain skills in remaining calm under pressure, faster reactions than other young people, quick decision making, good teamwork skills, orientation, and strong ability to visualize,” Major Anders Bech, head of section with the Danish Ministry of Defense’s Personnel Agency, said. The assessment that …
News
G2 Esports, ENCE tied for first after PUBG Europe League week one
Steven Rondina
At long last, the PUBG Europe League is in full swing. Phase one of the continent’s professional PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds circuit has kicked off with a refreshingly competitive start. At the end of the first week, G2 Esports and ENCE are tied in the top spot with 162 points. Though they hold the lead, they have plenty of competition hot on their heels with Team SoloMid, Team Vitality, Jokers, and Team …
News
Overwatch endorsement system has reduced toxic behavior by 40 percent
Olivia Richman
Overwatch’s endorsement system has reportedly reduced disruptive behavior by 40 percent. The endorsement social feature simply rewards good behavior, allowing players to recognize teammates for good sportsmanship, supportive teamwork, and communication. The level system not only rewards players with loot boxes, but ensures that other players can see one’s score as well. At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Blizzard research developer Natasha Miller said that Overwatch’s in-game positive …
League of Legends
Golden Guardians complete turnaround with first ever playoff birth
gabhernandez
Destroying the bad record the team left behind in 2018, Golden Guardians beat Optic Gaming to secure playoff positioning and move towards cementing a new legacy in season nine. Heading into its first game in week nine, Golden Guardians looked to take a control over Optic. Despite only a single kill being given to GGS by 25 minutes, Optic could not respond to their opponents’ pressure on neutral objectives. The …
League of Legends
Cloud9 secure second place ahead of LCS spring playoffs
William Davis
Cloud9 secured two wins in week nine and claimed second place in the 2019 LCS Spring Split regular season. In a time when analysts discuss whether Team Liquid or TSM are the strongest teams in North America, Cloud9 continues to hold its own at the top. The World Championship semifinalist started the week by taking down FlyQuest, and the match was all about Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi on Jinx. The rest …
Counter-Strike
Vertigo rejoins CS:GO competitive map pool, Cobblestone removed
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s competitive map pool has been changed once again. Two months removed from the addition of community maps Zoo and Abbey, Vertigo has been added to the competitive rotation. This comes at the expense of Cobblestone, which has been moved into the reserves. Vertigo is one of the oldest maps in Counter-Strike, but is likely an unfamiliar one for many modern fans. Added in Counter-Strike version 1.1 in …
News
Philadelphia Fusion to open local esports arena, CFO discusses plans
gabhernandez
The Philadelphia Fusion is the first team to announce a new dedicated sports arena for its Overwatch League team. The arena is set to be completed in January 2021, with construction starting in September of this year. Construction should end around December 2020 to prepare the facility for the fourth season of Overwatch League in February 2021. In the meantime, the team will compete at an existing location in the …
Former Counter-Strike pro gets caught hacking live on stream
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Former Counter-Srike pro player Kristoff “faken” Andersson lived up to his gamer tag in a recent stream when he was caught using wall-hacking cheats. While streaming a game on Mirage, Twitch users noticed a peculiar reflection in faken’s glasses. In a widely shared clip from the stream, viewers noticed a red player model moving in the reflection of his glasses, despite the player in question being behind a wall. Faken …
Vici Gaming take top prize at DreamLeague Major, earn spot at TI9
Steven Rondina
News
After years as a top Dota 2 brand, Vici Gaming has finally become a major champion. Competing at the DreamLeague Major, the Chinese organization posted an epic run to capture its first ever major title. After toppling Team Secret and PSG.LGD, Vici Gaming asserted itself as one of the best teams in the world with a 3-2 win over Virtus.pro. The first game was an uncharacteristically lackadaisical effort from Virtus.pro. …
Developer Respawn delivers hardware bans to Apex Legends cheaters
gabhernandez
Apex Legends
Apex Legends cheaters are reportedly receiving permanent hardware bans from the game’s developer. Respawn Entertainment has taken the ban hammer to another level and imposed permanent hardware bans on cheaters in the new battle royale. This ensures that the cheating players are banished from the game more permanently than would be the case with a simple account ban. Cheaters can easily shrug off typical matchmaking and account bans because they …
Vancouver Titans crowned OWL Stage 1 champions after close final
Olivia Richman
News
The Vancouver Titans are the Overwatch League Stage 1 champions, defeating San Francisco Shock 4-3. The expansion team finished Stage 1 undefeated. “I am the happiest man alive,” Sang-beom “Bumper” Park said. The epic seven-game series was surprisingly close. San Francisco Shock took the first map, Nepal, 2-1. Then the Vancouver Titans came back with a 1-0 win on Numbani. The back-and-forth match became closer than ever on Temple of …
Valve calls out Epic Games for ripping information from users, Steam
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
The Epic Games storefront client has recently been revealed to be using client data taken from rival digital storefront Steam.The data file pulled from Steam is then sent to Epic Games, much to the displeasure of Steam developer Valve, who have clearly stated the files are not to be used by third-party companies. The discovery gained attention when a detailed post accused Epic Games of accessing DLL files, which are …
Team Liquid launches new tribute to the late INTERNETHULK
William Davis
News
Team Liquid has launched a bio website for former Overwatch coach Dennis “INTERNETHULK” Hawelka on the late player’s birthday. The bio, titled “The Crusader Stands Watch,” tells his story from the perspective of his family and close friends. INTERNETHULK was a former grandmaster Terran player in Starcraft 2 and a Challenger ranked player in League of Legends before he made his transition to Overwatch. He was a founding member of …
FaZe Clan announces signing of 13-year-old Fortnite pro
William Davis
Fortnite
FaZe Clan have made a bold acquisition to the esports organization’s Fortnite roster in new player “H1ghSky1.” That the move is bold isn’t a comment on H1ghSky’s skills. His age is the reason, as H1ghSky1 only 13 years old. According to FaZe’s announcement of the signing, he’s the youngest member to ever be signed to the massive competitive gaming team. The announcement was slightly spoiled by Ali “Myth” Kabbani of …
Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock to compete in OWL Finals
Olivia Richman
News
The Overwatch League semifinals have come to a close, with the Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock scheduled to face each other in the Stage 1 finals tomorrow. Both teams played near flawlessly in the playoffs, not allowing their opponents a single map in either match. Vancouver dominated Boston Uprising 3-0, then ran through Seoul Dynasty 4-0, despite the aforementioned team’s epic victory against analyst favorite New York Excelsior the …
Virtus.pro eliminate Secret, near DreamLeague Major finals
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
Virtus.pro is close to making the grand finals of its third major this season. The Russian team locked up a top-three spot at the DreamLeague Major and advanced to the lower bracket finals. It did so on the second day of arena play in Stockholm by defeating rival Team Secret 2-1. The series started off hot with an aggressive performance from Secret. Facing Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko’s Alchemist, Secret stalked him …
Gen.G strikes out against relegation threat versus Afreeca Freecs
William Davis
League of Legends
The Gen.G squad has saved itself from relegation with a victory against Afreeca Freecs. Gen.G added another win to its record and will be avoiding the Korean relegation tournament. After a rough start to the spring season, the squad is securing the needed points to earn a summer split seed. Game one started with jungler Lee “Dread” Jin-hyeok pressuring Han “Peanut” Wang-ho out of the jungle. Peanut has been struggling …
Fusion and Shock dominant in playoff victories, set semifinal date
gabhernandez
News
The Philadelphia Fusion and San Francisco Shock have made their way to the semifinals. The Fusion looked strong versus Atlanta Reign starting out on Ilios, with Hyeonjun “Pokpo” Park to Gael “Poko” Gouzerch dying twice before the fighting even started. Although Philadelphia seemed in control of many of the fights, Atlanta squeaked its way to a win on the control map 2-1. Ask any analyst on the desk and they’ll …
Epic Games CEO brushes off Apex Legends, talks Fortnite growth
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
The Apex Legends boom is not a problem, according to Epic Games. Speaking with VentureBeat at the Game Developers Conference, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney talked about a number of topics including the Unreal Engine, the Epic Store, and the company’s efforts to help enterprising game developers. Included in that interview was a quick discussion about the success of Fortnite, and how its growth apparently hasn’t been affected by the rise …
WIN.gg gathers news and guides from around the world covering every point of the modern gaming industry in all of its many forms.