eSports Weekly Update – Stories you may have missed!
Following the successful 2016 Halo World Championships, Xbox and 343 Industries are teaming up this year to present the Halo Championship Series Pro League.
As rival tournament organizations seek to carve out their piece of ballooning revenues, players find their days filled with the rigorous demands of pro-gaming life.
There’s a lot of hype surrounding the massive, hugely popular League of Legends tournaments that are streamed on Twitch. Some of those events have attracted more viewers than the NBA Finals!
TyLoo have knocked out MLG Columbus champions Luminosity from DreamHack Masters Malmö with a 2-1 victory in the Decider match (16-14 on Cache, 7-16 on Overpass and 16-12 on Inferno).
CS:GO sets new eSports Viewership Record
Activision Blizzard Media Networks, today announced that Major League Gaming’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship (CS:GO Major) set new viewership records during its March 30 – April 3 broadcast from Columbus, Ohio. Audiences generated 71 million video views, watched a record-breaking 45 million hours of live broadcast and set a new record of 1.6 million concurrent viewers across OTT, web, mobile and in-game streaming during this year’s event.
This breaks the previously-reported CS:GO Major record of 34 million hours viewed and 1.3 million concurrent viewers set at the 2015 CS:GO Major in Cologne, Germany.
“Last year, more than 225 million people watched competitive gaming, and the passion, engagement and size of this audience only continues to grow,” said Mike Sepso, Senior Vice President of Activision Blizzard Media Networks and Major League Gaming (MLG) co-founder. “As this year’s CS:GO Major numbers show, Activision Blizzard Media Networks’ commitment to broadcasting premium content and creating incredible events is resonating with players and fans around the world.”
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THE RISE AND FALL OF STARCRAFT II AS AN ESPORT
StarCraft and its expansion Brood War arrived in Korea at a time where the infrastructure development required to catapult online gaming to mainstream success was blossoming. While there were growing pains and lessons learned along the way, Korea’s adoption of the first ‘Orcs in Space’ was ultimately the first step in their incredible international success in competitive gaming.
StarCraft II seemed to have all the ingredients to improve upon the original StarCraft: A new engine, state-of-the-art physics, updated graphics, and an all-star overhaul of the game’s balance and design. Blizzard also came to the table this go around with a deeper understanding of the emergent competitive scene, and aimed to build it out aggressively in the earliest years of StarCraft II, with the hope of expanding beyond Korea to become a true global esports phenomenon.
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Halo Championship Series Pro League to launch May 31, will feature $250,000 prize pool
Following the successful 2016 Halo World Championships, Xbox and 343 Industries are teaming up this year to present the Halo Championship Series Pro League.
That league will feature 14 of Halo’s biggest teams — eight in North America and six in Europe — and will begin May 31 and end July 28.
The league will feature a $250,000-per-season prize pool. The finals will occur in Los Angeles in July. At the 2017 World Championship, the prize pool will be $1 million with potential crowdfunding to increase the pot.
ESL will broadcast the tournament three days a week (two in North America and one in Europe).
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How League of Legends, Other eSports Are Spreading Across the Country (USA)
There’s a lot of hype surrounding the massive, hugely popular League of Legends tournaments that are streamed on Twitch. Some of those events have attracted more viewers than the NBA Finals! This rapid growth has inspired many within the industry – including former NBA star Rick Fox and Xbox Head Phil Spencer – to proclaim that eSports will match (and possibly surpass) the popularity of traditional sports.
Big events are only one source of growth, however. eSports are also thriving in local communities as new events pop up throughout the country.
“I hosted [my first] tournament with 10 people,” said Jacob Bogert, founder, co-owner and CEO of MES Events. “The next one had 20. The one after that had 40 people. In two or three weeks I went from 10 to 40 people, and it kept growing and growing.”
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LIFE IS TOUGH ON THE COUNTER-STRIKE PRO CIRCUIT
As rival tournament organizations seek to carve out their piece of ballooning revenues, players find their days filled with the rigorous demands of pro-gaming life. While their lifestyles are seemingly glamorous and their salaries are attractive, their careers are short and their days are long. Unlike mainstream sports, esports players have no union or collective organization.
“When you’re traveling to LAN after LAN, it really takes a toll on you,” says Jonathan Jablonowski, a player with Team Liquid. Jablonowski says he spends about four hours a day practicing alone, and then another six hours practicing with the team. When he’s not on the road, he says, “I’m at my house all day, trying to get better.”
The CS:GO professional calendar is crammed with competing events and leagues, which also demand online playing sessions for qualification. Last week, Twitch partnered with FaceIt to launch a new league, the Esports Championship Series
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Azubu Looks To Bring 4K Game Streams To Gamers Everywhere
Azubu, the global broadcasting platform with a dedicated focus on eSports and the people that love the eSports lifestyle, today launches an all new online media player, code named Everest. Now eSports fans can catch their favorite eSports broadcasters and Azubu streams in up to Full HD at 60 fps resolution across multiple platforms.
In addition, Azubu understands that viewers want the ability to watch multiple streams at the same time, and Everest’s peak performance, which draws up to 80% less CPU power than previous Azubu players, makes this possible without missing a frame of quality.
The new, greatly optimized Everest player is designed with HTML 5 in mind. Capable of 60 fps, handling up to 4K content, and built as a Flash-free player, Everest offers a multitude of new features to enhance the eSports streaming experience for viewers, broadcasters and brands. Plus, our live DVR feature also enables viewers to easily rewind or record live broadcasts, making Azubu’s new media player the pinnacle of the eSports viewing experience.
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TyLoo stun Luminosity in Malmö
TyLoo have knocked out MLG Columbus champions Luminosity from DreamHack Masters Malmö with a 2-1 victory in the Decider match (16-14 on Cache, 7-16 on Overpass and 16-12 on Inferno).
Day three of DreamHack Masters Malmö opened with a shocking result as TyLoo, fresh off the back of an overtime victory over Team Liquid, defeated MLG Columbus winners Luminosity in a best-of-three game following impressive displays on Cache and Inferno.
It all came down to Inferno, where TyLoo got out to a 4-0 start as Luminosity struggled to keep up with the pace of the Chinese. The following round then went the Brazilians’ way, but TyLoo regained control of the game and continued to rack up rounds.
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FaZe Adds kioShiMa from Team EnVyUs
ioShiMa has been in the professional Counter Strike scene dating back to Counter Strike 1.6. In 2014 kioShiMa (Then of team LDLC) placed 1st at DreamHack Winter 2014 cashing in a $100,000 prize and since that has placed first in 8 additional events making him one of the more rewarded players of all time. HLTV.org voted him the 19th best player in 2014. With EnVyUs seemingly falling apart FaZe has made a fantastic move here adding a solidified veteran to their group.
FaZe clan acquired G2 Esports roster in Janurary for a reported $700,000. KioShiMa will be replacing Maikelele who departed FaZe about a week ago. kioShiMa seems excited for his new opportunity on twitter.
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