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The first major 'PUBG' tournament takes place in Berlin this summer
Player Unknown Battlegrounds, aka PUBG, has been pushing its way to the eSports realm for quite some time now. While it has moved beyond the straight-up battle royale genre it popularized with new gameplay like War Mode, it's the behind the scenes tech that will have the most impact on the game's success as an eSport title, including its 3D replay systems and help from chipmakers like AMD. Now, according to a report from Polygon, PUBG's first major eSports tournament take place July 25th through the 29th.
'H1Z1' Pro League's Vegas matches stream on Facebook this weekend
H1Z1's take on the battle royale genre may not be as popular as, say, Fortnite or PUBG, but it has something the other two don't: an eSports tournament in Vegas. On Saturday the 21st, 75 pro players from 15 well-known teams like Echo Fox, Cloud9 and Luminosity will try to survive to the bitter end at the Twin Galaxies eSports Center, which is located just off the strip within Caesars Entertainment Studios.
Tribeca Games returns with a dive into ‘Shadow of the Tomb Raider’
Last year's Tribeca Film Festival included a companion festival all about gaming and this year sees the return of Tribeca Games. During the 2018 festival, which runs from April 18th through 29th, Tribeca Games will give attendees behind-the-scenes looks at the upcoming Shadow of the Tomb Raider and God of War reboot as well as a League of Legends tournament.
Blizzard will host a tournament for the 15-year-old ‘Warcraft III’
Out of nowhere, Blizzard introduced a public test realm (PTR) last fall for its 15-year-old game Warcraft III. PC fans of its current best-sellers like Overwatch play on PTRs to try out new features before they're released to everyone, so creating one for an old title clearly implies greater plans. Today, as was rumored, we know what those are: A new gameplay patch and a tournament at the end of February featuring top players from the game's heydey to the present.
'Angry Birds Champions' lets players fling pheasants for real money
Angry Birds Champions is now available on iOS devices and through the developer's website, allowing players to fling their feathered friends against precarious piles of pigs in a bid to win real money for the first time. The game is accessible through the WorldWinner iOS app or on WorldWinner.com, joining the studio's other real-money tournament games like Wheel of Fortune, Solitaire, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. "It's really the original Angry Birds physics game -- and obviously Rovio's done a number of different derivatives using the iconography -- but this is the core physics game of shooting birds and killing pigs," WorldWinner boss Jeremy Shea told Engadget.
Top female player wins Olympics-backed 'StarCraft 2' tournament
Sasha 'Scarlett' Hostyn is one of the most skilled and successful women in eSports, and she just won a major StarCraft 2 tournament. Not just any competition, either: An Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) tournament was held in Pyeongchang ahead of this weekend's Winter Olympics and, most importantly, is the first competition backed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In other words, as Polygon pointed out, Scarlett became the first female winner of a big international StarCraft 2 tournament, which itself is a promising foray in eSports and Olympic collaboration.
Tencent-backed 'Arena of Valor' World Cup boasts $500,000 purse
Mobile eSports are becoming a big deal. Last year, mobile MOBA Vainglory's big eSports tournament was backed by Amazon. Supercell put on a Clash Royale $1 million tournament last summer, too. Now China's Tencent Games is getting in on the action with plans for a series of eSport tournaments, beginning with the Arena of Valor World Cup in July of this year. The contest will take place in Los Angeles and offer a prize pool of more than $500,000, according to the press release.
'Counter-Strike' tournaments will now stream exclusively on Facebook
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Pro League has got a new home. Starting February 13th, the beginning of its seventh season, it'll be streamed exclusively on Facebook, along with the ESL One Dota 2 and CS:GO tournament series. ESL, the company behind the tournaments, says that full English and Portuguese coverage will include a "much more advanced" viewing experience than fans are used to, moving beyond stories, clips and select streams, thanks largely to the success of Facebook Watch.
The Las Vegas strip's first eSports arena opens in March
Last year, Allied Esports and Esports Arena announced plans to convert a Luxor Hotel and Casino nightclub into the Las Vegas strip's first dedicated eSports arena. That arena is almost complete and is scheduled to open on March 22nd. To celebrate the opening, Esports Arena Las Vegas will host a multi-day, live-streamed tournament that's invitation only. "With Las Vegas rapidly becoming a hub for eSports, Esports Arena Las Vegas at Luxor will be the city's home for competitive gaming and interactive entertainment," Allied Esports CEO Jud Hannigan said in a statement.
Every NFL team is involved in EA's 'Madden' eSports tournament
You've seen conventional sports teams dip their toes in the eSports waters before, but probably not like this. EA is launching the Madden NFL Club Championship today, and it'll have official involvement from all 32 NFL teams -- the first time an American sports league has fully committed itself to an eSports tournament. You'll qualify online in Madden 18 between now and October 16th, but the best players will square off in tournaments in the stadiums for each team. The final 32 players will compete at NFL experiences in Orlando and Minneapolis. And if you win? You'll get both a cash prize and two tickets to (what else?) Super Bowl LII.
Nintendo World Championships return on October 7th
You won't have to wait nearly so long for the third Nintendo World Championships as you did for the second. Nintendo has revealed that its third World Championships will take place in New York City on October 7th, 2017. Anyone in the US or Canada can register (it's not really a world tournament, is it?), but you'll have to qualify by playing Mario Kart 7 for the 2DS/3DS at certain Best Buy locations in eight American cities. The first qualifiers start August 19th in New York City and San Jose, while Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Dallas, Seattle and Miami are also on deck.
NBC is the next big TV network to jump into eSports
Seemingly every big TV network wants in on eSports. NBC Sports has revealed that it's launching an international two-on-two Rocket League tournament this summer. It'll start online July 22nd with regional qualifiers using Faceit's eSports platform, but players will eventually face each other in person through studio competitions and the grand finals on August 26th and 27th. Naturally, there will be plenty of video coverage: NBC is promising over 40 hours across both online sources and TV, including live coverage of the finals on NBCSN (in the US) and Syfy (in the UK and other countries).
EA and FIFA plan their most ambitious eSports competition yet
FIFA's Interactive World Cup has been been growing in stature over the years, and its next eSports competition promises to be the most ambitious yet: the organization and EA have unveiled plans for the "largest ever" FIFA competition (using FIFA 18, naturally) this fall. The Interactive World Cup is still the star of the show and will revolve around players signed to clubs, but it's only one part of a larger picture. Players worldwide will have a shot at representing real-world teams in official competitions, and Ultimate Team Championships Cups will let virtually anyone qualify for a chance at glory in winter and spring events.
'Hearthstone' tournament has 48 teams vying for $300,000
Blizzard has revealed more details about the Global Games, its new Hearthstone eSports competition format that pits teams, rather than individual players, against each other. The tournament will feature 48 teams, each from a different country, competing in a series of round-robin tournaments online.The top four teams left standing will compete face-to-face in the Global Games Final Tournament later in the year.
Flagship 'Dota 2' tournament sets cash prize record
Dota 2's flagship tournament, The International 2016, is now the most lucrative eSports competition in history with a record-breaking $18.6 million prize pot. The total purse of last year's tournament was under $18.5 million, and under $11 million in 2014. The prize pool will continue to grow for another two weeks as it's funded by fans buying Battle Passes, Dota 2's new in-game digital program that will last until August 13th.
Make your own ladders and leagues with Gfinity's Xbox One app
Gfinity is backing eSports heavily: if it's not a gaming arena, its an app that lets you arrange your own tournament, ladder or league. It's a first for consoles (and it's just Xbox One for now), but it lets you create and manage tournaments from the Microsoft game box. The company is hoping it'll see use both at the professional level as well as to settle scores in the office and at home.
'Pokkén Tournament' joins the Pokémon Championship series
Pokkén Tournament is the latest evolution of the Pokémon video game franchise, featuring your favorite pocket monsters battling one-on-one in a 3D arena. It sounds like an ideal competitive fighting game, which is one reason it's joining the official Pokémon Championship Series this year. Pokkén Tournament isn't even out yet -- it drops for the Wii U on March 18th -- but players around the United States can try out for a spot in the Championship Series on February 27th at a handful GameStop locations. See the full list of participating stores below.
Win college tuition if you're good at 'Heroes of the Storm'
If you're good at throwing, catching or hitting objects with sticks, then it's possible to go to college for free on an athletic scholarship. Kids who spent warm summer days indoors working out how to trounce their foes online, on the other hand, get nothing more than a raised eyebrow and a sneer from the admissions tutor. ESPN and Blizzard are hoping to rectify that situation with its Heroes of the Dorm contest, which is coming back for a second year. The tournament matches teams from various colleges, with the members of the winning team earning free tuition for the rest of their degree.
Watch the world's biggest fighting game tournament right here
This weekend over 6,000 folks from 47 countries will descend into Las Vegas to kick the (virtual) snot out of each other. That's because the 13th annual Evolution fighting game tournament, otherwise known as Evo 2015, starts today with world warriors competing across nine games including Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat X, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Ultra Street Fighter IV. They're battling for over $300,000 in prize money and in case you couldn't make it to Sin City for the show, we've got you covered. The competition starts at 12 pm Eastern / 9 am Pacific today and goes until the final street fighting man or woman is defeated Sunday night. As you might expect, the entire event's being broadcast via Twitch and you can park it right here on Engadget to watch the whole thing!
'Halo' tournament canceled because Xbox One game is still broken
Halo: Combat Evolved may have been one of the first console shooters to hit the competitive gaming circuit but a recent tournament was derailed because almost six months later, The Master Chief Collection is still broken. The official Halo eSports league, Halo Championship Series, had to cancel the first online cup of the regular season over the weekend due to connectivity issues. Seriously. As Eurogamer reports, games took place on Saturday but went off the rails on Sunday for the competition's conclusion.
