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EsportsThe Weekend In Esports: Evo 2018, StarCraft II, And More
With the Overwatch League’s inaugural season firmly in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to move on to the fighting game world. This weekend’s Evo is the biggest tournament of the year, starring street fighters, smash brothers (and sisters) and a crap ton of Gokus Evo 2018 will be home to a number of heated rivalries…
By Ethan Gach Published August 3, 2018 -
Esports
Overwatch League’s TV Ratings Were Low, But It Doesn’t Matter
If you followed the Overwatch League’s first season, odds are good that you mostly did it on Twitch. Over the weekend, the grand finals got airtime on television networks, too, and they didn’t exactly draw a Beholder-load of eyeballs. The Nielsen overnight estimates for Overwatch League’s grand finals broadcasts on ESPN and ABC are in,…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 30, 2018 -
Esports
Chinese Esports Team Has An Amazing Training Facility
China’s OMG (Oh My God) dominates not only dominates League of Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, but also esports compounds. Check out its training facility. The digs were designed to look like a spaceship (success!) and were completed last year. Recently images have been circulating on websites like Sohu.com, HK01 and Dexerto Here are more photos…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 30, 2018 -
Esports
Street Fighter Pros Appear On Prime Time Japanese TV
Yesterday, popular Japanese sports talk show Junk Sports featured Street Fighter pros Momochi and Chocoblanka. Professionally gaming still doesn’t quite get the respect it deserves in Japan, so for fighting game fans, simply seeing these two on mainstream Japanese TV was a big deal. Junk Sports features a handful of guests, and this episode featured…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 30, 2018 -
Esports
London Spitfire Wins The First Overwatch League Finals, $1,000,000
The first-ever winner of the Overwatch League season playoffs is the London Spitfire. After a rocky season spent wobbling between commanding victories and unexpected defeats, the Spitfire earned a $1,000,000 prize, as well as a silver gauntlet in the style of publisher Blizzard’s sword-and-sorcery roots. Their underdog opponents, the crowd-favorite Philadelphia Fusion, retreated with the…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published July 28, 2018 -
Esports
Battle Mercy
It’s a viable strategy! Even in the Overwatch League. The first match of Overwatch League’s grand finals just wrapped up, with London Spitfire taking a commanding lead after a shaky first map. But on the final map, Volskaya, Philadelphia Fusion gave it their all and then some in an attempt to shoot down a surging…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 27, 2018 -
Esports
The Weekend In Esports: Overwatch Finals, PUBG Invitational, And More
The inaugural season of the Overwatch League comes to a close this weekend. It’s been a long, winding, and at times downright weird road to the finals which now see two underdog teams face off for cash and glory. I was not a believer. I enjoy Overwatch but am not among its biggest fans, and…
By Ethan Gach Published July 27, 2018 -
Esports
The Long Road That Landed Two Underdog Overwatch Teams In The Finals
This weekend, Overwatch League’s first season—at times thrilling and at others absolutely grueling—reaches its conclusion. The final showdown pits two inconsistent underdog teams, Philadelphia Fusion and London Spitfire, against each other in a match that just so happens to sum up the vibe of the whole season. Sports are, first and foremost, about competitors throwing…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 26, 2018 -
Esports
Blizzard Accidentally Gives Fans Access To Treasure Trove Of Overwatch League Stats
For as long as the Overwatch League has been around, its most diehard contingent of fans has clamored for in-depth, match-by-match stats. Earlier this week, they got what they wanted. By mistake. First, the good news: through the Overwatch League app, fans can finally access map stats that include each players’ contributions to eliminations, deaths,…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 20, 2018 -
Esports
YouTuber Keemstar Makes A Fuss After Epic Muscles In On His Fortnite Tournament Turf
For millions of Fortnite fans, Friday Fortnite—a YouTuber- and streamer-focused tournament series hosted by shameless drama profiteer Keemstar—has become a weekly ritual. This week was supposed to be its swan song, but the party’s been called off because Epic decided to host an even bigger shindig just down the block. Keemstar’s series took off due…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 20, 2018 -
Esports
Last Night’s Upset Shows Cracks In The Overwatch League’s Best Team
Last night, something went terribly wrong with Overwatch’s best team. It became apparent early on in a match, when Do-hyeon “Pine” Kim, New York Excelsior’s unstoppable, sawed-off shotgun, switched off the sniper hero who made him famous and onto Doomfist, a character notorious for being high-risk but high-reward. This time, there was no reward. The…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published July 19, 2018 -
Esports
Despite Its Best Efforts, NBA 2K League Can’t Beat The Real Thing
The NBA is doing its best to put the “sports” into esports. For the past two months, the NBA has run the first video game league sponsored by a major sport, NBA 2K League, featuring 17 teams connected to franchises within the association. But sports simulation games, despite seeming like an obvious choice to go…
By Jack Moore Published July 18, 2018 -
EsportsThe Best Call Of Duty Zombies Players Throw Down Next Month
The Zombies World Championship is returning on Sunday, August 5, and the future looks positive for competitive Call of Duty Zombies. Highly-skilled finalists will compete for an increased prize pool in a tournament that promises to be more polished than last year’s inaugural event. The Call of Duty Zombies community loves a good challenge, whether…
By S.E. Doster Published July 16, 2018 -
Esports
Overwatch League’s First-Ever MVP Illustrates Its Support Problem
NYXL support player Sung-hyeon “JJonak” Bang is a monster. He came out of nowhere during Overwatch League’s inaugural season and single-handedly redefined the way people perceive peace-loving robo-monk Zenyatta, transforming him into a lightning-handed murder machine. The league has just awarded him as its first-ever “MVP,” but what’s weird is, we haven’t seen him play…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 12, 2018 -
Esports
Esports Player’s Use Of Homophobic Slur Sets Off Unexpectedly Long Debate
This week, esports host Frankie Ward won “Presenter of the Year” at the UK Esports Awards, and she used her acceptance speech to make a pledge: “There is no room for homophobic or racist or misogynist language in the esports industry.” Her pledge follows on the heels of a week-long debate among esports stars and…
By Maddy Myers Published July 11, 2018 -
Esports
A Note To Our Readers
Here’s our most heated gaming moment yet: Compete in its current iteration is shutting down next week. Esports coverage at the company will live on at Kotaku, but this joint project that Deadspin and Kotaku started in March 2017 to cover competitive gaming is ending. It was a joy to bring this weird little corner…
By Dennis Young Published June 29, 2018 -
Esports
To Eliminate Match-Fixing In Esports, Pay The Players More
Spend an afternoon at a Top 8 Finals of any fighting game tournament, and you will find there is a robust side-betting culture in esports. Pseudo-gambling activities like “skin wagers” in Counter-Strike have been a part of esports culture from the beginning, and fringe sites like XLBet have included StarCraft games next to MLB games.…
Jack Moore & Trevor Strunk Published June 29, 2018 -
EsportsBig Data Is The Future Of Esports
“Game developers don’t like me,” said Sabina Hemmi. “Before I came around, there was no insight into how balanced a game was.” Hemmi is joking. Partially. As the co-founder of DotaBuff, a site that provides statistics about Dota 2 gameplay, she can show with hard data if certain characters are stronger or weaker, and in…
By Eric Van Allen Published June 29, 2018 -
EsportsWith Its Massive Cast, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Desperately Needs A Tournament Mode
When it arrives in December, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will feature over 60 playable characters from the franchise’s 20-year history. While this caters to both the nostalgia-minded and completionist alike, it has the potential to be a nightmare for anyone looking to host competitive events. As the Smash cast has grown over the years, so…
By Ian Walker Published June 28, 2018