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Esports
Professional Video Gamer Suspended for Saying He Had Sex With a 14-Year-Old
Well, if there’s a big lesson of the past week, it’s that cretinous online behavior may not be illegal in and of itself, but that doesn’t mean you won’t face consequences for engaging in it. Take the case of Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri, a member of the StarCraft team for Evil Geniuses, the renowned pro gaming…
By Owen Good Published October 13, 2012 -
Esports
Guild Wars 2 Adds PvP Features, Plans For a Future Jump Into eSports
If there is one overwhelming theme to gaming in 2012, it seems to be the rise of eSports and competitive PvP. MOBAs attract millions of players and tens or even hundreds of millions of watchers logged into livestreams. Prize pools for competitions grow ever larger, and more and more games are jumping into the fray.…
By Kate Cox Published October 9, 2012 -
Esports
Riot Addresses Allegations of Cheating and Network Failures During League of Legends Championship Tournament
The playoffs in the League of Legends season two championship began on Thursday and were scheduled to conclude on Saturday, but ran into a series of troubles along the way. The first day went smoothly, as did day two. On Saturday, though, matches had to be paused and restarted more than once. Streaming and play…
By Kate Cox Published October 8, 2012 -
Esports
Cheating Allegations Surface in League of Legends Playoffs
When it was shut down and moved to a “secure location,” the $2 million League of Legends world playoffs was thought to be plagued only by technical issues, possibly a denial-of-service attack to cripple the event. Now, however, come accusations of cheating, in this thread on the game’s official forums. As Massively explains it, at…
By Owen Good Published October 7, 2012 -
Esports
Watch The League of Legends World Playoffs Right Here
League of Legends draws in some of the most enthusiastic, and biggest crowd of eSports gamers. As of today, the multiplayer online battle arena game developed by Riot has entered the World Playoffs, to be followed shortly after by the World Championships You can watch the live stream of the tournament on Twitch.tv, embedded for…
By Tina Amini Published October 4, 2012 -
Esports
Free-to-Play Considered for Multiplayer StarCraft, Says Designer
At the inaugural eSports Congress in Valencia, StarCraft II‘s lead designer was asked of the possibility his game would go free-to-play, considering the potential that has to grow a game’s user base and competitive population. According to PCGamesN, that concept has been discussed. Blizzard, the game’s publisher is “looking at free-to-play as an option for…
By Owen Good Published September 23, 2012 -
EsportsDota Dispatch: Watching People Play Video Games For $1.6 Million
The crowd roars. It’s thrilling. So are the gasps of disbelief, the sudden outbursts of raucous applause whenever someone does something extraordinary. Even when I can’t tell why they’re on their feet, I want to join in. The energy is infectious. This sort of high-octane atmosphere makes sense: the stakes are enormous. The players on…
By Jason Schreier Published September 4, 2012 -
EsportsLeague of Legends Pro Gamers Stripped of Winnings for Scheming on the Side
The Major League Gaming (MLG) summer championship events took place this past weekend, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Teams competed in several games, including StarCraft II, Mortal Kombat, and Soul Calibur V. But the biggest upset happened in the League of Legends tournament, which found both the first and second place winning teams disqualified and the…
By Kate Cox Published August 27, 2012 -
EsportsLeague of Legends E-Sports Just Kicked It Up A Notch
For most League of Legends fans, the game is, well, a game. But for world-class competitive, professional players, the cutthroat, competitive online battle arena is a serious business. And it’s one that’s about to get even bigger and more lucrative. Riot Games announced today their plans to form the League of Legends Championship Series, an…
By Kate Cox Published August 6, 2012 -
EsportsWatch Some Of The Greatest Moments In StarCraft II History
Even if you’re not an avid StarCraft II fan, you still might enjoy this montage of the competitive game’s greatest moments, all compiled from high-level tournaments in which professional StarCraft II players compete for cash and glory. The last moment is the best, but the whole video is pretty damn great. I made a video…
By Jason Schreier Published July 23, 2012 -
Esports
Heroes of Newerth Ready to Give All Players All Heroes for Free
Heroes of Newerth, originally launched in 2010, is one of the many multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games clamoring for attention these days. The genre grows more popular almost daily, with millions worldwide logging in to the generally free-to-play games and millions more tuning in to streaming matches online. Heroes of Newerth is trying a…
By Kate Cox Published July 19, 2012 -
EsportsWatch All The Amazing Evo 2012 Fighting Game Finales Right Here
We rounded up livestreams of the EVO fighting championships for you before it began this past weekend, but if you weren’t around to watch and want a peek at the last battles and winners of the individual tournaments, you’re in luck. I’ve rounded them up for you down below. Enjoy! Oh, and don’t blame my…
By Tina Amini Published July 9, 2012 -
Esports
Watch The EVO Tournaments (and Panels) Live, Right Here
Watch two separate tournaments and a livestream of the EVO 2012 panels right here on Kotaku, presented to you by Shoryuken and Twitch.TV. You can also find the full, three-day schedule down below. Gameplay 1 Gameplay 2 Panels & Interviews Or, if you prefer, you can always grab the HD PPV option from Shoryuken. All…
By Tina Amini Published July 6, 2012 -
Esports
Report: eSports Team Owner Arrested by FBI Over Internet Crimes
According to a report on Russian news site Fontanka, prominent eSports personality Dmitry Smilyanets has been arrested in Amsterdam. Smilyanets is the owner and leader of successful eSports outfit Moscow Five, who are big on the League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike scenes. While the charges haven’t been made public, Fontanka understands he was…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 4, 2012 -
Esports
Racist Comment Leads DOTA 2 Commentator To Apologize To Community
Toby “Tobi Wan” Dawson is a professional commentator for esports site JoinDOTA. He covers DOTA and now DOTA 2 matches and tournaments, and is considered to be quite entertaining. Unfortunately, the commentary he was caught making while playing in a live-streamed public match over the weekend is not so much entertaining as it is inexplicably…
By Kate Cox Published May 18, 2012 -
EsportsLeague of Legends World Championship Promises ‘The Biggest Payday in eSports History’
League of Legends will put $5 million up for grabs this summer and fall in its second annual world championship series, pitting the winners of six regional championships against one another at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center on Oct. 13. The world champion will take home what Riot Games is billing as “the…
By Owen Good Published May 16, 2012 -
Esports
International Dota 2 Championships to be Held During PAX Prime, Says Valve
The International Dota 2 Championships will be held during this year’s Penny Arcade Expo, Aug 31 to Sept. 2, the organizer and Dota 2 publisher Valve just announced. The International launched last year in Cologne, Germany during Gamescom. On the Dota 2 blog Valve confirmed that the teams DK and Na’Vi (the defending champion) are…
By Owen Good Published May 10, 2012 -
EsportsWhat My Favorite Fighting Game Character Says About Me
I almost flunked out of college because of Mortal Kombat on the Genesis. (Yes, that’s how old I am.) Classes skipped, papers turned in late and reading assignments left barely skimmed, all because I was trying to perfect my Scorpion technique. And while the undead ninja from the gory fighting series is a favorite of…
By Evan Narcisse Published May 4, 2012 -
Esports
Gamers Watch Over 3 Billion Minutes of Competitive Gaming Per Month
Thinking of “CBS” and “sports” conjures up images of quiet rounds of golf, or the contained frenzy of a college basketball game. Now, however, CBS Interactive is throwing its hat into the world of virtual competitions, focusing its energies on the rapidly growing world of eSports. Competitive gaming is growing rapidly, here in the early…
By Kate Cox Published April 17, 2012 -
Esports
Watch This Pro Gamer Go Bananas, Live, When He Misses His MLB 2K12 Perfect Game Bid
This is Justin Masterson, the Cleveland Indians’ opening day pitcher, being controlled by Richie Martinez, aka TeRRoRR of Major League Gaming, and the captain of Legacy, the pro Gears of War 2 team. Right now, he’s trying his hand at the million dollar prize in 2K Sports’ perfect game challenge for Major League Baseball 2K12,…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2012