eSports Weekly Update – Stories you may have missed!
Football and esports took a few steps closer to each other this week with English Premiership team, West Ham United, signing their first ever esports player. Just one day after this was announced German Bundesliga side FC Schalke were rumored to have bagged a spot in the LCS. If the deal is confirmed it will the first time that a traditional sports franchise has lined up alongside established esports teams in the LCS. Pretty epic, right?
While the LCS is on a break, LoL fans have MSI to focus on, and the final this weekend is going to make for immense viewing, especially after all the upsets at the bracket stage. If you are following MSI we have a great preview for you.
A World Esports Association may be on the cards following a leaked picture on Reddit. Going by the image it looks like some of the heavyweights are getting involved. We’ll need to watch this space.
Read these stories and more from esports this week.
World Esports Association seemingly leaked, includes major esports teams and brands
In a post on the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sub-Reddit today, someone leaked the picture of a poster above. This image appears to reveal the existence of something called the World Esports Association, or WESA. The Redditor was then accused of leaking a major announcement and deleted the image.
So what is WESA? The mystery figure who leaked the image did not provide that information. However, it’s clear from the picture that this Association includes some big names in the esports world, including tournament organizer ESL and major esports teams such as Fnatic, Na’vi, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Mouseesports, G2, Virtus Pro and more. Read more here.
Overwatch Coke eSports Trailer
LoL Mid-Season Invitational – Knock-out stage preview
The Bracket Stage of MSI 2016 in Shanghai starts on 13 May with the Semi-finals before culminating in the Finals two days later. Four teams have made it through last week’s Group Stage: Royal Never Give Up (China), Counter Logic Gaming (North America), Flash Wolves (Taiwan) and SKT T1 (Korea). All matches will be played in a best-of-five format.
Take a look at the semi-final match ups here
Reality Television-Based Producer To Create Media Based on Esports
Lionsgate announced on Tuesday that a new television and digital media based on esports would be coming soon.
The partnership responsible for this a conjoint production between production company Pilgrim Media Group and ESL.
On the collaboration, Pilgrim Media Group founder Craig Piligian said in a media release, “Pilgrim [Media Group] has a long history of creating competition programming that taps into the passion of fans – whether the playing field is the Octagon, the wilderness, on a fishing boat or in an arena. We’re extremely excited to bring the power, scope and mental muscle of gaming to television in a way that helps these loyal fans experience esports as never before.”
Lionsgate president of interactive ventures and Games Peter Levin added in the media release,“We see tremendous growth potential in esports as it becomes a major player in the gaming ecosystem, and we’re thrilled to bring esports to more fans on an expanding array of platforms.”
Read the full story here
FC Schalke reportedly purchase Elements’ LCS spot
Just a day after English Premiership side West Ham United signed its first esports player, German Bundesliga side FC Schalke has reportedly done them one better.
According to Esports Observer, Schalke 04 has purchased a spot in the biggest competitive league in Europe: The League Championship Series.
If the deal is confirmed, it would be the first time that a traditional sports franchise had lined up alongside established esports sides in the LCS. According to the report, Schalke bought the spot from Elements.
Elements has been looking to sell its spot since December 2015, but failed to do so before the window closed ahead of the Spring Split. The team was forced to scrape together a roster at the last minute, then finished just one place above relegation—making it the third split in a row the team finished in seventh place.
Read the full story here
Next Generation Esports to Produce Twitch and Psyonix’s Rocket League Championship Series
Next Generation Esports (NGE) and Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, today announced a partnership to produce Psyonix’s Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS). Twitch manages operations and is the exclusive broadcasting platform for the RLCS, while working alongside Rocket League’s publisher/developer, Psyonix, to build the community and infrastructure to foster long-term growth of their critically-acclaimed game. NGE will provide the backbone of live production for each weekly RLCS broadcast, streamed directly from NGE studios in Burbank, CA.
“As we’ve seen by the overwhelming response, Rocket League is a game with a vibrant community and unparalleled competitive potential,” said Justin Dellario, Senior Esports Program Manager, Twitch. “We chose NGE as our production partner because they deliver a high level of entertainment and competition for both players and spectators. We know fans will love what they see.”
Read the full story here
Life after eSports: When a player retires
The concept of eSports has been around since Doom tournaments became a thing, but in recent years services like Twitch and Youtube have really changed the game by making it easier to stream tournaments and view events.
In other words, television no longer has the monopoly on entertainment, and I have to say that I’m pretty happy about that. The problem is that not ALL of the jobs in the industry are great. The job of a video game tester, for example, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, you sit around and play video games all day, but you don’t have much control over WHAT you play. I mean it could be some crappy mobile game that’s going to give you PTSD. Look at the Android market and remember that someone had to TEST all of that crap at some point. Do you really want to make a career out of that?
Then there are the lucky few who go on to play games on the professional circuit, competing in eSports like League of Legends, DOTA 2, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, and so many others. I mean damn, the industry has come a long way.
Read the full story here
Tracing the 70-year history of video games becoming eSports
The first weekend in May annually features some of the greatest spectacles in sports.
Garish hats, mint juleps and racehorses conquer Louisville, Ky., for the Derby. Early spring is a grand time for a big fight, too, be it in UFC or boxing. In basketball, meanwhile, the NBA’s playoffs roll into their second round as the true championship contenders separate themselves from the squads that are happy to be in the postseason. The same can be said of the NHL.
And this year, video game players from around the country will congregate in Austin, Texas, for 2016’s Dreamhack — a computer and technology event that has grown into one of the largest eSports events. More than $300,000 is on the line in games such as Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, Counter-strike: Global Offensive, Super Smash Bros.: Melee, and more.
Like it or not, gaming has matured from a nerdy, niche hobby to big business — and one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. How did we get here?
Read the full story here
