Esports

Competitive Halo Is Back After Almost A Year Out Of The Spotlight

Halo has always had a rich history in eSports but as of recently it has fallen from the spotlight thanks to a lack of a presence at some of the larger eSports events like Major League Gaming’s Pro Circuit. While Halo took a backseat in the competitive gaming scene, games like League of Legends, StarCraft…

Curious as to how much money professional gamers make? Business Insider lists the earnings of some of the top-paid pro gamers in the world—these folks can make up to six figures. Dang.

EVO Wasn’t The Only Impressive Tournament This Weekend

It was a massive weekend for eSports. Gfinity—a Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Tournament that granted the winner $55,000—dominated the UK and EVO broke new ground for the fighting game community in Las Vegas. Not only were the events themselves a big deal but there were shake-ups with some of the top Call of…

Missed This Year’s EVO? Watch All The Grand Finals Here.

People competed in nine different fighting games in last weekend’s EVO 2013 tournament in Las Vegas. To see everything, you had to continuously switch between two streams back and forth from Friday to Sunday evening, so even hardcore fighting game fans might have missed one or two. Nine different games mean nine grand finals and…

The Best Storyline of EVO 2013 Was Justin Wong’s Amazing Comeback

Justin Wong, one of the all-time top fighting game players, lost to Job “EMP Flocker” Figuerora early in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament at EVO 2013. But that was only the start of an incredible comeback that you’ve got to see. Here’s how Wong got kicked into the losers bracket and climbed back……

Pro Video Gamers are Athletes, Says U.S. Government

Pro gamers may now travel to the United States on the same visas given to professional athletes, thanks to a long lobbying effort by Riot Games, the makers of the eSports staple League of Legends. Riot told GameSpot about the effort in a video interview published yesterday. “It was a lengthy process,” said Nick Allen,…

The League of Legends season 3 world championship is happening at the Staples Center on October 4th. The competition has a $2 million prize pool. Tickets, along with more details, here.

E-Sports League Hit With Lawsuit Over Bitcoin-Mining Scandal [Update]

Three gamers have sued the ESEA League, one of the largest PC gaming leagues, for the surreptitious installation on their computers of malware that “mined” the virtual currency called bitcoins, netting a rogue ESEA employee some $3,700 back in April. Their lawsuit seeks class action status. The suit was filed in San Francisco on Wednesday…

How (Some) Pro League of Legends Players Got Their Names

Online handles are important, and that’s especially the case if you’re a pro player. Your name frames how people will see you as a public figure. Maybe you want to sound threatening. Maybe you want people to hate saying your name. People think about this stuff! It should be no surprise, then, that pro League…

The Must-See League of Legends Match Of The Weekend

Over the weekend, many professional League of Legends, StarCraft II and Call of Duty players convened in Anaheim, California to compete in Major League Gaming’s Spring Championship. But one of the most riveting battles involved American pro Xpecíal’s incredible, 40-minute play displaying some of the most impressive unit-control and micro-management I’ve seen. For those of…

This League of Legends Pro Has His Whole High School Cheering For Him

League of Legends pro player ZionSpartan has just graduated high school and is ready to jump to the LoL scene full-time. Five years ago his teachers, schoolmates and parents would have laughed at the idea. Today they treat him like a champion. This video, part of the LoLChampSeries, demonstrates how eSports like League of Legends…

Starcraft II‘s Marine And Hellbat Units Clash In An Epic Rap Battle

The Hellbat would win in a one-on-one battle against a single Marine in Starcraft II, but in an epic rap battle it’s anybody’s game. Video creator Temp0 is well-known for his hip-hop songs about Starcraft. Hopefully he’ll do more rap battles in the future. Something featuring the widow mine (those can’t talk though) would make…

After getting booted from his team Evil Geniuses last week, pro StarCraft player Greg “IdrA” Fields went on Real Talk with host JP McDaniel to discuss his plans for the future. Sounds like he’s moving away from professional playing and getting into commentating. (Via PC Gamer)

I Think I’m In Love With This Dreamy StarCraft II Dating Sim

Someone just made a faux dating sim—in line with a game like Katawa Shoujo—using Korea’s top StarCraft II players. Thank god the StarCraft esports scene is full of great personalities and players, because a funny dating sim like this would actually work. The two guys featured here—SK_MC and Marinekingprime—have been competing since the launch of…

E-Sports League Mined Bitcoins with Subscribers’ Computers [UPDATE]

ESEA League, one of the largest PC gaming leagues, has admitted to putting code into the league’s client software to “mine” bitcoins, the open-source Internet currency now exchanging for around $130 per. The league is offering free memberships as some members complain the code damaged their video cards. Eric Thunberg, a league administrator (who goes…

A Blizzard/MLG Tournament Is Not The Place To Cheat At StarCraft II

The 2013 World Championship Series, a massive global StarCraft II tournament being put on by Blizzard and MLG, ran into some controversy last week, with some Chinese players found guilty of cheating in the tournament’s qualifiers. Speaking with GameSpot, MLG and Blizzard reps said “During the qualifier there was suspicion of player maphacking, cheating, and…

Kicked Out By His Parents, He Played League of Legends To Make Rent

This new documentary short from Machinima shares the story of Peter “Doublelift” Peng, a professional League of Legends player who was kicked out of his home and relied on pro gaming to pay his rent. (Thanks, Ryan and Zach.)

A Rare Look at the Blazing-Fast Hands of a StarCraft II Champion

Korean players excel at StarCraft, putting enormous effort into improving their game. We see the results of those efforts in game replays, but rarely do we get to peek over the shoulder of one of the world’s top players as their supernatural hands do horrible things to their opposition. This is Korean pro gamer StarTale_Sound,…

It’s just been announced that Blizzard—makers of Diablo III and Starcraft 2—just bought the technology and assets for the IGN Pro League eSports promotion

Blizzard’s Boss Shows Everyone How To Watch A Starcraft Tournament Properly

This awkward yet funny moment happened during yesterday’s stream of the Starcraft II WCS series in South Korea, showing Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime making himself at home (well, technically he is). Front row, some pizza and the best pros in front of you—that’s the way to do it. Blizzard just announced its plans for a…