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ESL Gaming and Qualcomm team up for a $2 million mobile esports league
The Snapdragon Pro Series will have three tiers of competition and tournaments in six regions.
G4 will return to TV on November 16th
You can watch 'Attack of the Show!,' 'Xplay' and other shows on cable and streaming services.
Esports tournament organizers ESL and DreamHack have merged
ESL Gaming aims to 'shape the future of esports and gaming.'
'Starcraft II' finals will skip BlizzCon in favor of new ESL Pro Tour
Starcraft II matches at BlizzCon are no more. Thanks to a new three-year partnership between ESL, DreamHack and Blizzard, we'll now be getting brand new ESL Pro Tour formats for both Starcraft II and Warcraft III: Reforged, and it'll come with a hefty prize pool of over $4.6 million.
Intel and ESL extend their esports alliance with a $100 million deal
Intel and ESL have been esports buddies for years, but they're deepening that commitment as 2018 winds to a close. The two have extended their partnership with a $100 million deal that will last through 2021. Intel will provide the computing power for both the gaming rigs and the servers behind the scenes, but it'll also use this as an opportunity to test up-and-coming technologies. Expect it to use tournaments as a sales pitch for 5G, then.
The esports arena at E3 2018 puts mobile gaming center-stage
Video game fans in North America are waking up to the possibilities behind mobile esports, following in the footsteps of the Asian market, which has been quicker to embrace professional Android and iOS gaming. Mobile esports games include Honor of Kings, Clash Royale and Arena of Valor, a League of Legends-style title that was showcased at E3 2018 in the ESL Esports Arena. In the middle of a heated playoff battle between Immortals and the newcomers Dino Riders, ESL North America CEO Yvette Martinez-Rea explained the impact that mobile esports are likely to have on the broader gaming industry.
Red Bull built an underground eSports bar in London
London's Red Bull Gaming Sphere has everything you would expect from an eSports venue: neon-strewn PCs, large TVs, chunky headsets and the latest Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft consoles. But this isn't a stadium designed to compete with the Gfinity Arena or ESL's Studio 1 in Leicester. There are no seats, for instance, beyond a few cube-shaped blocks scattered in front of a 190-inch wall-mounted TV. It's something else, a strange hybrid of eSports arcade and Twitch-friendly streaming studio. The hardware inside is undoubtedly impressive, but on opening night, few are sure what it's actually for.
'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.
Hulu dives into eSports with four ESL-made shows
A handful of TV networks have started to incorporate more eSports content into their lineups and now eSports have made their way to streaming video on demand as Hulu and ESL have teamed up to create four new eSports series. "eSports appeals to a younger, more digitally savvy audience so Hulu is a perfect platform to build out our original content and expose the world of eSports to new audiences," ESL Senior VP of Global Media Rights and Distribution Nik Adams said in a statement.
ESL eSports makes cable TV debut on Disney XD
For the first time, eSports league ESL is coming to cable TV, broadcasting ESL Brawlers and ESL SpeedRunners on Disney XD. The two series will feature on Disney's D|XP, a summer programming block devoted to gaming. ESL Brawler pits the best Street Fighter V players in a first to 10 match, with winners defending their title against a new contender each week and fighting it out in a final Vainglory championship on week seven. The SpeedRunner event is more of a free-for-all, pitting the best players against each other to finish the game fastest, while chasing a world record.
Intel wants to make competitive VR a reality
Virtual reality doesn't have much of a foothold in the eSports world. You can watch tournaments in VR, but competing in VR? Almost unheard of. Intel wants to change that: It's teaming up with Oculus and long-time partner ESL to kick off the VR Challenger League. The competitive gaming series will have players donning headsets to take each other on through Insomniac's The Unspoken and Ready at Dawn's Echo Arena. The league will start with online-only competition in July, but the finalists will square off in person at the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship in 2018.
Facebook will stream live 'Counter-Strike' eSports events
Gaming and eSports have definitely hit the mainstream media. In fact, you can find FIFA tournaments live on ESPN and TBS is hyping Counter Strike: Global Offensive games as if they were championship boxing events. With Twitter and Sony already jumping into the lucrative industry, it was only a matter of time before Facebook joined the fray. In an announcement today, eSports leader ESL announced it has cut a deal with the social networking behemoth to stream exclusive events and content in six languages, all of it centered around the elite Rank S Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition.
PlayStation Vue gets an expensive, dedicated eSports channel
ESL is bringing its live competitive gaming channel, eSports TV, to PlayStation Vue. For the uninitiated, PlayStation Vue is Sony's internet-based TV streaming app, offering viewers cable-like online TV packages. As the world's largest eSports company, ESL's new channel aims to broaden competitive gaming's appeal by giving gamers access to 24/7 eSports content in the U.S. Since launching in Europe last May, eSports TV has quickly gained a following, finding its way into an impressive 5 million EU households. Unfortunately for eSports fans, the channel is only available with a $54.99 a month PlayStation Vue Elite subscription.
Twitter will livestream ESL and DreamHack eSports tournaments
Twitter's initial foray into livestreaming eSports must have went well, as it's expanding the range of tournaments it covers in a big way. The social network has reached deals to stream 15-plus ESL One, DreamHack and Intel Extreme Masters tournaments over the course of 2017. ESL will also make its own originals for Twitter, including a half-hour show that covers competition highlights and behind-the-scenes stories. The first tourney to get the treatment is Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, which starts on March 4th.
'Halo 5' is getting an eSports reality TV show
Microsoft really wants to make a big deal out of competitive Halo 5 gaming, and it's taking an unusual route to get there. The company's 343 Industries and Electronic Sports League have reached a deal with Pilgrim Media Group to create an eSports-focused reality TV series. Details of what it involves are scarce, but it will bring the "intensity and extreme competition" of Halo 5 to the TV, whatever that might mean. There's no mention of a planned air date or even distributors, so it's unclear when you'll have a chance to watch. It's safe to say that Microsoft will find some way to make the series available to Xbox One owners, though.
Live eSports! In VR! On your face!
ESL and Sliver.tv are teaming up for the first ever eSports VR livestream of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and League of Legends during Intel's Extreme Masters Oakland tournament next week (November 19th and 20th). The coverage will be available on nearly every mobile and PC platform, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Gear VR and others. It'll drop you into the middle of the action with a 360-degree birds-eye view and first-person player perspectives, in the case of Counter-Strike.
Beat the world at 'Forza' and drive away with a Ford Focus RS
Your skills at driving supercars around on Forza's meticulously detailed racetracks could net you a real ride. The top prize in the first-ever Forza Racing Championship is a 2017 Ford Focus RS -- an almost $40,000 and 350 HP hatchback built with pure performance in mind. Sign-ups are open right now for the ESL-ran event, with the first Elite Cup races starting August 8th.
ESL gives eSports an official oversight body
While eSports is now a big money-maker, it's still wildly inconsistent at times: rules, prizes and schedules can vary from league to league. The Electronic Sports League thinks the industry can do better, though. It's forming the World Esports Association (WESA), a governing body that will set standards for the fledgling sports field. WESA promises to bring "structure, predictable schedules and transparency" to competitive gaming, including how teams receive promotion and split revenue. Importantly, it's not just the higher-ups calling the shots -- there will be a player council, and teams will appoint two of WESA's five executive board members.
Esports league bans porn site-sponsored team
Today I learned that porn site YouPorn has its own eSports team. Unfortunately for the site, I also learned that the Electronic Sports League (ESL) has decided that Team YP can't compete in its eSport events, which include Street Fighter 5, Counter Strike and Starcraft. ESL told VentureBeat that "advertising pornography is not legal in the markets we operate in, and the vast majority of partners we're working with have strict 'no drugs, no alcohol, no pornography' rules that we've contractually taken on board."
'Forza Motorsport 6' gets eSports tourneys anyone can join
If you're the sort to regularly set lap records in Forza Motorsport 6, you're about to have your moment in the sun. Making good on its bet on eSports, Microsoft has announced two Forza-based eSports tournaments for late March that give any would-be Lewis Hamilton a chance at winning real prizes. The first, the Race Off Pro Series, will have you vying for Formula E glory starting on March 24th. If you place well enough in time trials and full-on races, you'll win a trip to London to compete in a championship with cash prizes.
