ProGaming
Latest
Logitech and Herman Miller team up to design ergonomic gaming furniture
Plenty of gaming chairs look cool, but whether or not they're actually good for your back is another question. Furniture company Herman Miller and Logitech's gaming hardware brand Logitech G want to change that. They're teaming up to create a line of ergonomic furniture for gamers, starting with a gaming chair that could arrive as soon as this spring.
It's peak esports season: Here's how to watch the games
Happy esports season! Summer is the ideal time to sit back (with a glass of lemonade in one hand and a burrito in the other in an air-conditioned room) and watch the best video game players in the world battle it out for millions in prize money. However, diving into this digital world can be daunting, since each game has its own schedule and unique set of rules. Here we offer a handy viewing guide for upcoming matches in five major esports titles: Overwatch, League of Legends, Fortnite, Arena of Valor and Call of Duty. It's nearly championship time for most of these games, so matches are primed to be extra exciting. Sit back, take a big ol' bite of that burrito, and watch some esports with us:
ESPN missed a big eSports opportunity with its new streaming service
ESPN's new, $5-a-month streaming service allows sports fans to watch games, access original programming and view scores, all without a cable subscription. ESPN+ is a tool for the digital age, and another attempt by the company to attract a younger, cord-cutting audience -- which is why it's so surprising to see the service doesn't include eSports. ESPN has a tumultuous relationship with professional gaming. Today, the sports-media giant has a digital vertical dedicated to eSports and it covers the industry in-depth, with player interviews, on-the-ground reporting from major tournaments, power rankings and analysis. ESPN has even aired a handful of eSports tournaments on its cable channels, and this year it signed a deal with Electronic Arts to host Madden NFL tournaments on Disney XD, ESPN2 and other stations.
Retired at 24: The life of a pro 'Call of Duty' player
Matthew "Burns" Potthoff retired when he was 24. He'd spent 11 years building a career as a professional Call of Duty player, and when he realized his time in front of the screen was up, he made a graceful transition into eSports management. Today, he's 26, and he works behind the scenes with eUnited, a North American eSports squad with teams across Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Gears of War, Smite and PUBG. Potthoff's story sounds more suited to someone in their 50s or 60s -- traditionally, retirement is something that happens after decades of work in a chosen field. However, eSports is a new, rapidly evolving industry, largely staffed by young people with big dreams. Potthoff's career mirrors eSports' recent rise to mainstream fame, but it also serves as a cautionary tale for new players, many of whom are diving into the scene straight out of high school -- or even before.
College esports is set to explode, starting with the Fiesta Bowl
As executive director of the Fiesta Bowl, one of the largest postseason college football games of the year, Mike Nealy was more familiar with shoulder pads than mousepads. Six months ago, he didn't know people were making money playing video games professionally, he'd never heard of Twitch, and the last time he picked up a controller, it was attached to an Atari 2600. That all changed after a conversation with John Pierce, an esports consultant and former marketing head for the Phoenix Coyotes and US Olympic Committee. Pierce outlined the professional-gaming boom to Nealy and explained how it could tie into the collegiate football scene. He put Nealy in touch with Blizzard, the studio behind Overwatch.
Pro-gaming giant Fnatic is introducing eSports to CES
Sam Mathews founded Fnatic about 13 years ago, when he was just 19. Today, Fnatic is a household name for eSports fans: It's one of the most successful and prolific professional gaming franchises in the world, regularly competing at the top tier in games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The brand has expanded past the games and into hardware, and Mathews showed up at CES this year to demo Fnatic's latest keyboards and mice, which are due to hit the market in the coming months.
Overwatch League pro players will earn at least $50,000 a year
Activision Blizzard is taking Overwatch eSports seriously. The Overwatch League begins next year and it completely transforms the face of professional play, tying teams to specific cities around the world and establishing a baseline of player protections, including minimum salaries and benefits. But, Blizzard has kept most details of its new system under wraps -- until today.
Sports and tech pros own the first seven Overwatch League teams
"I think the next six months are going to determine what eSports will look like for the next few decades." That's Noah Whinston, the 22-year-old college dropout who in 2015 founded Immortals, one of North America's leading eSports teams. Whinston believes in a future where the eSports industry is stable, capable of launching careers, generating buckets of cash and sustaining incredible hype around the world. And he's not alone. Whinston is just one of seven owners who bought a spot in the Overwatch League, Activision Blizzard's international eSports endeavor that aims to root professional Overwatch teams in specific cities -- a lot like the NFL or NBA operates, but on a global scale. Today, Blizzard revealed the Overwatch League's first seven team owners, who run the gamut from tech companies to traditional-sports investors:
How 'League of Legends' can shape the future of esports
League of Legends is a driving force of the esports industry. With more than 100 million players around the world and tournaments that regularly sell out stadiums including the Staples Center and Madison Square Garden, League represents the epitome of mainstream professional gaming. League sets the esports standard. That's one reason it was such a big deal when Riot Games announced massive changes coming to the North American League of Legends Championship Series, which decides the team competing in the World Championship every year. The new rules are designed to give North American players and franchises more security, more money, and more input in league decisions. After about a month to absorb the new regulations, we spoke with leaders and coaches of three major League of Legends teams -- Immortals, Team Dignitas and Team Liquid -- about what this means for the future of professional play.
Nickelodeon is betting on amateur, kid-focused eSports
Nickelodeon and a handful of other investors -- including professional sports-team owners -- have just thrown $15 million at Super League Gaming, an organization that holds amateur eSports tournaments in movie theaters across the US for kids, teens and adults. Super League is best known for its national Minecraft championship, which last year paid out $15,000 to a winning team of kids age 10 to 14, though it also regularly holds nationwide League of Legends tournaments for players of any age.
A chat with the 76ers' first all-female eSports team, Dignitas
Back in September, the Philadelphia 76ers bought Team Dignitas -- an established esports organization with teams across League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Heroes of the Storm -- making it the first North American sports franchise to plant a flag in the world of professional gaming. In February, Dignitas picked up its first all-female professional team with players from Selfless Gaming, which had just placed second at the Electronic Sports World Cup in Bordeaux, France.
Razer claims its wireless mouse is good enough for eSports
For pro gamers, wired mice have always been the only option, but now it looks like Razer is trying to change that. Following in the footsteps of Roccat, the peripheral company is releasing Lancehead - a wireless mouse which it claims is the most reliable ever made. Powered by Razer's new Adaptive Frequency Technology, the mouse automatically switches between the strongest frequencies available within its 2.4 Ghz band - resulting in lag-free mouse movement. As well as boasting a resolution accuracy of 99.4 percent, the Lancehead also allows users to save mouse settings directly to the device while simultaneously uploading them to the cloud.
Lionsgate makes another move into eSports
Film and television production company Lionsgate has invested an undisclosed amount into Immortals, an eSports organization with teams competing in League of Legends, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Super Smash Bros.
'Orcs Must Die' developers are plotting to enter eSports
Competitive online games are a rapidly growing industry, driven by the explosive popularity of eSports. Titles like League of Legends, Dota 2, Call of Duty and Overwatch dominate the professional gaming scene, and studios across the globe are implementing competitive modes in their games. Robot Entertainment, the studio behind the tower defense series Orcs Must Die, is no different. "I can't tell you everything, obviously, but we're always working on some maybe head-to-head competitive style gameplay with this," Orcs Must Die Unchained designer Jerome Jones says. "We have to figure out the right way to do it. ... We'll have to figure out our little niche, but we are definitely working on those types of things."
'League of Legends' is about to change and it's all your fault
League of Legends players should probably give up on the idea of a game editor. Riot Games lead designer Greg Street hates to slam the door on any particular idea, but he's fairly confident that players will never be allowed to mess around with the game's core mechanics. Riot simply doesn't want players to create 1,000 new versions of League of Legends in the hope that one new game mode might stick. "Philosophically, that's something we're really reluctant to do," Street says. This doesn't mean Riot is afraid of change. League of Legends patch 6.24 goes live on December 7th, and it should be game-changing enough to satiate fans hungry for something new. For example, the 2017 season update introduces a practice mode where players can try out tricky maneuvers over and over again, with the option to instantly reset cooldowns, test out new paths through the jungle, play around with infinite gold and lock champions at specific levels.
The 'Game Fnatic' finale crowns a new 'League of Legends' pro
And then there was one. The final five episodes of Engadget's behind-the-scenes video series, Game Fnatic, follow four League of Legends players as they vie for a single spot on one of the world's leading eSports organizations. The second half of Game Fnatic kicks off with an elimination, followed by a dramatic day of go-kart racing and even more League of Legends skill challenges, until just two candidates compete head-to-head in a tense two-part finale. The first five episodes introduced the challengers, four semi-pro and amateur players with the in-game talent to go pro. But after a series of tests, it's clear only one of them has the stamina and demeanor that Fnatic demands. Playing professional League of Legends takes more than dexterity and focus; it also means you have to play well with others -- literally. Catch up on Game Fnatic and watch the brand new episodes (including the finale and its surprise twist ending) right here.
'Game Fnatic' unveils the realities of being an eSports pro
Fnatic is a big name in professional League of Legends lore. Just four teams have claimed victory in the World Championship since the circuit began in 2011, and Fnatic was the first team to ever lift up the Summoner's Cup. Since then, Fnatic has proven itself to be a top-tier League of Legends organization, attracting talent and fans from around the globe. Its current roster includes superstars Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten and Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim, all of whom have competed in World Championship tournaments. But now, Fnatic is looking in an unlikely place for its next eSports star. In Game Fnatic, a 10-part video series, Engadget goes behind the scenes as four amateur and semi-pro players battle it out for a single spot on Fnatic's League of Legends roster.
eSports powerhouse Team Liquid picked up by new investor group
While 2016 has been a great year for eSports exposure — several championships have gotten screen time on ESPN networks — it's also been a great year for money. Not only is it estimated to grow to a $500 million industry this annum, but traditional sports conglomerates like the Philadelphia 76ers and German soccer club FC Schalke 04 are buying pro gaming teams outright. But the latest news isn't just another purchase deal. An odd assortment of entertainment and investors created aXiomatic, an ownership group dedicated to scooping up eSports teams, and are starting off by purchasing one of the more famous ones: Team Liquid.
'League of Legends' owners open up revenue streams to pro teams
"We recognize that the current ecosystem isn't consistently profitable yet for team owners or for the league." That's how Riot Games' directors of eSports Jarred "Bradmore" Kennedy and Whalen "Magus" Rozelle laid out the studio's plans to funnel more money to professional League of Legends teams in 2017. The changes come after four years of explosive growth across the eSports industry, with League of Legends leading the charge, but it also follows a public spat between coaches and founders about the game's booming economy.
UC Irvine debuts the first public college esports arena in the US
The University of California, Irvine, is serious about esports. This fall it will officially launch a competitive-gaming initiative, complete with scholarships and an already-decorated League of Legends team, and it's just finished construction on a 3,500-square-foot esports arena that's set to open Friday, Sept. 23rd. The arena is packed with 80 gaming PCs loaded with top eSports titles, a webcasting studio and viewing screens. The arena will serve as a home base for the university's gaming community and a place for its competitive players to train. It also represents another step forward for collegiate esports across the country. "Esports is the future of competition. Period," UCI's Acting Director of Esports Mark Deppe says. "It transcends language, geography, race, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability and many other identities. In five years many more schools will official programs and more structure will be in place to regulate and provide guidance to schools. Esports also has a huge opportunity to learn from the successes and shortcomings of traditional sports and provide a model for collegiate competition in the 21st century."
