Esports

The Weekend In Esports: Call Of Duty Anaheim Open, DreamHack Summer, And CEO 2017

Watch all the weekend’s best pro gaming until your eyes bleed. 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 if you think there’s something we might have missed. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare It’s a…

Long-Time Commentator Says Dota 2 Is Reaching A Breaking Point

Toby Dawson has been commentating in the Dota pro scene for over a decade, and has been the voice behind some of its biggest moments. In a recent post on the Dota 2 subreddit, Dawson voiced his concerns on the continued viability of the scene. It started with a tweet, where Dawson laid it out…

Tekken 7 Player Turns Down Tournament’s T-Mobile Phone Prize, Because He Uses AT&T

Tekken 7 player Bronson Tran lived up to his nickname “the mouth of NorCal” this past Wednesday night when he received and rejected the MVP prize at E3’s Twitch Esports Arena invitational. Fans nominated the MVP via Twitter hashtag, and the winner was supposed to get a T-Mobile phone. Except, as Bronson explained while standing…

Nintendo Responds To Smash Bros. Pro’s Callout, Wants To Keep Scene Grassroots

One of the world’s top Super Smash Bros. players recently knocked Nintendo for not sufficiently supporting the scene and said he hoped that Nintendo heard him. This week in Los Angeles, they did—after we played a clip of his speech to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma, a top-three-ranked Super Smash Bros.…

The 15-Year-Old Smash Pro Who Finds Confidence In Dancing Like Bayonetta

It’s Tuesday, and Zack “CaptainZack” Lauth is waiting on a plane. His flight’s been delayed twice. At 15 years old, he’s one of the youngest signed players in Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, and one of the best Bayonetta players in the world—a character as strong as she is controversial. Lauth, like his other…

Arms Player Tears Through E3 Tournament, Only To Get Wrecked By Game Producer

After winning yesterday’s E3 Arms Invitational, the people’s champ Zerk had the chance to play the game’s producer, Kosuke Yabuki, in an exhibition. Mr. Yabuki showed no mercy. At the end of the first match, Yabuki (on Min Min, the right-hand side character) executed a combo that had been tossed around in testing during the…

The Sole Pokken Pro Won The E3 Pokken Tournament Invitational, Unsurprisingly

Nintendo’s Pokken Tournament DX invitational tournament at E3 this afternoon served as a way to signpost the game’s upcoming re-release on the Nintendo Switch. But instead of featuring a roster of Pokken pros, the E3 competition featured several popular YouTubers, as well as top fighting game players who specialize in other games. Allister Singh, the…

Inside The University Of Utah’s First-Of-Its-Kind Varsity Esports Program

Compete’s video team headed to the University of Utah to check out their varsity esports program, which began as a League of Legends fan club that grew into the student-run organization Crimson Gaming, which helped pave the way for the school’s official scholarship program for budding pro gamers. (UPDATE: 5:00 pm- This paragraph has been…

Splatoon 2’s Competitive Scene Has A Strong Showing During E3

An invitational was hosted yesterday on Nintendo’s E3 stream for Splatoon 2, featuring four teams competing for a sweet silver squid trophy. Surprisingly, it was a strong showing for the game’s competitive aspirations. E3 has had no shortage of “esports” presentations, from Electronic Arts showing off Star Wars: Battlefront II with a commentated live match…

Bethesda Announces Quake World Championships

The first world championship for the upcoming Quake Champions will take place on August 26 in Dallas, Texas at the eponymous QuakeCon. Competitors will play for a piece of a $1 million prize pool, sure to draw out Quake talent both new and old. In the same trailer, Bethesda showed off three new maps for…

Eleague will host the first Injustice 2 World Championship this October at their studios in Atlanta, GA. Four different tournament circuits and one last-chance open qualifier will seed into this $250,000 prize pool event, starting Oct. 21.

Dota 2 Tournament Ends With A Fountain Dive

Even in professional matches, sometimes you have to dive the fountain. Team Liquid ended their run at this weekend’s Epicenter Dota 2 tournament with a bang, as a rush from Amer “Miracle” Al-Barkawi into the enemy team’s spawn highlighted their 3-1 win over Evil Geniuses. EG, who came into the grand finals having dropped only…

Major Smash Tournament Using Mods To Add New Colors And Sounds To Matches

This weekend’s Nairo Saga tournament may be part of the 2GG circuit for Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, but it has a few unique twists. A mod pack is used during the games to add new music, team-specific colors and other competitive features. Mod packs for the Wii U Smash can range from full rehauls…

These are the first glimpses of NBA Live 18, a return to the basketball court for Electronic Arts. A new campaign mode, split between the streets and the league, boasts a Destiny-esque growth and loot system for your virtual player.

The Weekend Esports: Epicenter 2017, Nairo Saga, And More

The spring Rocket League Championship Series is over and the League of Legends summer season is just getting started, but punctuating the relative quiet this weekend are some big showdowns in both Dota 2 and Smash Bros. Wii U. Also Nintendo seems to have finally gotten on board with its grassroots competitive fans. Below you’ll…

New Injustice 2 Update Shows Which Online Competitors Are Using Wi-Fi, Whether They Like It Or Not

Injustice 2 received its first major update on June 5, courtesy of developer NetherRealm Studios. The patch largely addresses lingering bugs in the DC Comics fighter, but it also included a new indicator that notes whether online opponents are playing over wi-fi. While it may seem like a minor addition, this represents a major step…

Dota 2‘s Brutal Co-op Campaign Might End Some Friendships

Siltbreaker, a cooperative Dota 2 campaign event, launched its first act yesterday, and it’s been driving my Dota group mad. Between the exponential difficulty spikes, impossible bosses and wave after wave of enemies, it plays less like a jolly ol’ game of Dota and more like a genuine raid. A comic handles most of the…

Local Player Defeats Tekken 7 World Champion At Philippines Event

The Philippines played host to a major Tekken 7 event this past weekend, allowing local competitors to try their skills against two of the world’s strongest players. South Korean masters Hyun-jin “JDCR” Kim and Jin-woo “Saint” Choi stopped in the city of Makati for the Rage Art tournament after placing first and second, respectively, at…

What Makes Hooks So Damn Good In Competitive Video Games

The hook is a simple but effective tool in games: a chain, thrown accurately, pulling enemies back to their likely doom. But in the realm of competitive games, hooks seem almost ubiquitous. The reason why a hook is a near-necessity for any competitive game, is simple: They’re the biggest moments in games, boiled down to…

Overwatch Pro Suspended After Griefing And Streaming Anime Porn

Daniel “Dafran” Francesca is an extremely skilled DPS player for Selfless, one of the best pro Overwatch teams out there. He’s also an unapologetic griefer and troll, and his antics have finally come back to bite him. Today, both Blizzard and Dafran’s own team have suspended him from play. This means he’s no longer allowed…