Esports Archives - Page 47 of 97

Melee Player’s Criminal History Divides Smash Bros. Community

In the Super Smash Bros. Melee community, how you play can matter far more than who you are. Recently, a top Melee player made his grand re-entry into the game’s competitive scene a little over a year after assaulting a Florida gas station clerk, causing a rift among fans and pros over whether it’s proficiency…

By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published July 25, 2017

Esports

What Prevents Esports From Taking Off In Japan

Esports is big business. Yet in Japan, home to many talented players, it has yet to reach the same money-making heights as elsewhere. The recently foundedJapan Esports League has big-time sponsors like Twitch and Mainichi News, one of Japan’s biggest newspapers. Japanese pro soccer team Verdy also has an esports team in the league, but…

By Brian Ashcraft Published July 25, 2017

Esports

ESL Lifts Lifetime Ban On Counter-Strike Match Fixers

Esports organization ESL announced on Monday a number of changes to its rules regarding cheating, doping, bribery, and most notably, match-fixing. In accordance with these changes, four former players from iBuyPower who were lifetime banned for fixing a match will be allowed to compete in ESL events After consultation with “a number of” Counter-Strike: Global…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 24, 2017

Esports

‘Dicks Out 4 Winston’ And Other Signs At The Overwatch World Cup Qualifiers

If you’re headed to one of the Overwatch World Cup qualifiers and thinking of bringing that letter ‘D’ and a white picket fence scrawled on poster board, don’t. After all, Overwatch is a game built on around bizarre characters that encourage a sometimes frightening level of fandom. Nothing demonstrates that more clearly than taking a…

By Ethan Gach Published July 23, 2017

Esports

Counter-Strike Team Caps Off Dominant Run With First-Ever Majors Win

Nine of the ten players in today’s PGL Major finals had never made it to a Valve major finals before, with one team having never qualified for a major ever. Only Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko had competed in the finals of a major prior, and he’d been snubbed twice. In a tense match between the two…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 23, 2017

Esports

When You Want Everyone To Know You Made That Overwatch Play Of The Game

Tanks, next to supports, are the often the unsung heroes of a match. So when you make one of the bigger plays of the game, even on the main stage of the Overwatch World Cup qualifiers, it’s fine to gloat a little. During the last night’s group stage matches in the Sydney qualifiers, Sweden took…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 23, 2017

Esports

Pro Smash Bros. Melee Fox Player Is Merciless

Nobody likes getting trapped in the corner. The Pokémon Stadium level had moved into its sheer rock wall phase when Justin “Plup” McGrath decided to knock off another one of David “R2DLiu” Liu’s lives without breaking a sweat. Nobody wants to meet one of the best Melee players around (Plup finished fifth at Evo) so…

By Ethan Gach Published July 22, 2017

Esports

So Here’s What Waka Flocka Thinks Of Dota 2

Rapper Waka Flocka Flame was in town for DreamHack Atlanta, performing a set at the tournament and video game convention. It so happens that Flocka is a fan of games, and so during a desk segment for a Dota 2 match between Team Secret and Planet Odd, he joined the panelists to give his thoughts…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 22, 2017

Esports

Knife In Overtime Steals The Show At Counter-Strike Major

There’s flashy ways to win in overtime, but few as good as a leaping knife slash to ensure a bomb goes off. The PGL Major, playing out in Kraków, Poland this weekend, has had its fair share of both drama and compelling matches. In the quarterfinals between BIG and Immortals yesterday, the first game went…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 22, 2017

Esports

The Weekend In Esports: DreamHack Atlanta, Counter-Strike Finals In Poland, And More

With Evo now in the rear-view mirror, the focus this weekend shifts to the Poland for a major Counter-Strike tournament and Atlanta for the latest DreamHack LAN. Below you’ll find where and when you can catch all the weekend’s biggest events in competitive gaming. Let us know what you’ll be watching in the comments or…

By Ethan Gach Published July 22, 2017

Esports

Game Developer Makes Soccer Game Without Learning How Soccer Is Played

Dan Marshall set out to make a game based off a single tweet, where he admitted to having very little knowledge of how soccer is played and, frankly, not caring to learn. The result of that exercise is Behold The Kickmen (on Steam for $4), an irreverent caricature of soccer that somehow makes the full loop…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 22, 2017

Esports

Finland Out-Dances Russia, Great Britain At In The Groove World Cup

Markus “Hippaheikki” Kokkonen just secured a second first-place finish in this year’s In The Groove World Cup. The Finnish dance gamer is a well-known champion in Europe’s In The Groove scene, having placed first in the Doubles tournament at last year’s EuroCup. He scored first in yesterday’s Doubles tournament at the World Cup. There are…

By Maddy Myers Published July 21, 2017

Esports

Risking Scorn, Former Pro Is Trying To Make A Simpler Fighting Game

Fighting games are complicated. That’s just a simple truth. As the genre has developed over the last few decades, franchises have become inundated with mechanics that both alienate newcomers and drive divisions between players. The makers of the upcoming game Fantasy Strike are trying to change that. Developed by Sirlin Games, a studio founded by…

Ian Walker Published July 21, 2017

Esports

League of Legends‘ World Champions Suddenly Can’t Stop Losing

After this week’s League Champions Korea matches, the reigning world champions of SKT T1 have gone 0-8 in the last two weeks. It’s an unprecedented slide for a team that has been the de facto best in the world. SKT T1 is a three-time world champion, whose roster includes not just the god of mid…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 21, 2017

Esports

Valve Closes Annual Dota 2 Merch Shop Amid Community Backlash

WeLoveFine, a nerd-goods merch company, won’t play host to this year’s Dota 2 International Secret Shop, Valve announced last night The Secret Shop, Valve’s seasonal memorabilia shop that opens once a year for The International, has been run through WeLoveFine for the last couple Internationals. For the Dota 2 community, this has been a point…

By Eric Van Allen Published July 20, 2017

Esports

New Fighting Game Doesn’t Have An Official Name, But Fans Are Excited Anyway

After showing off their first original fighting game in decades last April Fool’s Day, respected Japanese game studio Arika arrived at Evo 2017 this past weekend ready to demo the project for the genre’s most passionate fans. Hopes were high for the fighter currently known as “Mysterious Fighting Game (Title Undecided),” and while it may…

Ian Walker Published July 19, 2017

Esports

CM Punk Consoles Street Fighter‘s Punk, One Punk To Another, About Losing

Victor “Punk” Woodley has had a tough week. After months of first-place finishes on the Street Fighter V competitive circuit, most notably the $150,000 top prize in the Eleague SFV invitational, Punk experienced serious heartbreak in the Evo 2017 finals this past Sunday. Evo is the biggest, longest-running fighting game tournament in the world, and…

By Maddy Myers Published July 19, 2017

Esports

Last Year’s CS:GO World Champions Still Haven’t Been Paid Their Prize Money

On October 9, 2016, Team Argentina placed second in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive World Championships, winning $20,000. But months later, they still haven’t seen the money, and other teams who competed and won prizes say they haven’t been paid either. “The CS:GO Argentinian Team didn’t receive their payments yet, and we also never received our…

By Maddy Myers Published July 19, 2017

Esports

Compete Is Hiring For An Editor

Are you an experienced journalist with a background in sports and investigations who’s interested in hype, game theory, scams, gambling, and people competing to be the absolute best in the world at something? If so, we want to talk to you—Compete is looking for an editor Since starting up earlier this year, Compete has covered…

Tim Marchman and Stephen Totilo Published July 18, 2017

Esports

ESPN Makes Street Fighter Player Change Character’s Thong Due to ‘Broadcast Standards’

On Sunday night, ESPN aired Evo 2017’s Street Fighter V finals. During Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue’s match, in which he played as the character Cammy, ESPN requested that Kazunoko change the character’s costume from her default thong leotard to her formalwear DLC outfit. (Cammy does not wear pants in this formal outfit, either, but she does…

By Maddy Myers Published July 18, 2017