Welcome to the Weekly Recap, where we gather the top stories that happened in the past week to help you catch up with the busy world of eSports!
GENERAL NEWS
NBA to hold league-like Esports tourney
NBA announced that it will enter the esports world with the NBA 2K eLeague, which will be as close to the real basketball league.
Commissioner Adam Silver said he hopes that all 30 franchises join the eLeague, which will debut in 2018 and will also have an 82-game regular season with playoffs for a championship.
“The large part of my mission is to grow the game of basketball,” said Silver. There’s going to be an opportunity for this first of a kind league to attract a group of gamers who might be playing some other game… Now, they [gamers] can say ‘Maybe I couldn’t play for the [New York] Knicks, because I didn’t have the physical prowess to compete at that level. But I do have the mental and physical prowess to compete as an egamer for the eKnicks.”
SuperData: ESports to reach 303M viewers in 2019
On its current skyrocketing pace, viewership can breach the 300 million mark in 2019, according to a study released by SuperData.
According to the review, over 213.8 million watched competitive gaming last year, and that esports reaped a revenue of over $892 million in 2016.
The study also revealed that 46% of the audience are between 18 to 25 years old, and that 85% of the total number are males.
DOTA
Mushi leaves Fnatic
Fnatic announced that its captain and midlaner Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung has left the team after spending almost two years with the organization.
Mushi joined the team in 2015 when it was still known as Team Malaysia. Fnatic picked the team up before the International 2015, paving way for a successful run for the team and saw them place fourth in TI6.
“I would like to start off by saying thank you to Fnatic for supporting me all the way from when we had just started off, and all my teammates along the way for your support,” said the 26-year-old veteran.
VP out of DAC qualifiers due to connection problems
Virtus.pro have been kicked out from the Dota 2 Asia Championships after suffering internet connectivity issues that forced them to forfeit two series in the qualifiers.
VP general manager Roman Dvoryankin claimed a “preventable” DDoS attack was behind their connection issues and blamed roster manager Andrey Kvasnevsky for not doing something about it.
The Russia-based squad lost their first series in the CIS qualifiers, bowing down 0-2 to Group A leader Effect before forfeiting their match against LQ.
LaNm returns to EHOME active roster
After a month in the coach’s seat, Xhang “LaNm” Zhicheng has moved back to the active roster and will once again serve as the team’s captain and support player.
Because of the move, the team bade goodbye to hopes of earning an invite at the Kiev Major regional qualifiers.
LaNm left the active roster last January but was forced to play again after EHOME placed low in three big time competitions and finished last in the qualifiers for Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017 and StarLadder i-League Star Series Season 3.
LOL
Faker’s Twitch debut draws record audience
Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok, recognized as League of Legend’s best player, broke the record for most concurrent Twitch viewers, drawing more than 245,000 watchers in just his debut stream.
Faker and his teammates from SKT T1 finally made the switch to Twitch after the team’s obligation to stream in Azubu ended.
In a surprise twist, Faker lost in his first game, despite using his signature hero Ryze.
C9 drops out from IEM Katowice
Direct invitee Cloud 9 will not be competing at the IEM Championships Katowice, according to a statement from tournament organizers.
According to the statement, C9 were the ones who wished to step down from the tournament, as the team want to stay focused on the new NA LCS season, where they are currently undefeated in six games.
“Although we would have loved to see them live, we understand their reasons and wish them the best of luck in the LCS,” said the organizers, who are yet to name a replacement team.
Regional Split Update
In the 2017 LPL Spring Split, Snake Esports have climbed up to the top of Group A, after former leaders iMay lost two straight maps. EDward Gaming remain as Group B leaders.
Cloud9 extended its fantastic start to the new NA LCS Spring Split season with their fifth and sixth wins, now becoming the only undefeated team in the league after second-running Fly Quest lost to FOX.
KT Rolster are still unbeaten in the LCK Spring Split, with only one map lost in five games. Samsung Galaxy are now second in the table after world champions SKT T1 lost to Afreeca Freecs.
In Europe, G2 Esports and Unicorns of Love dominate their groups respectively, with the former standing at 10-3 in Group A and the latter at 10-2 in Group B.
CS:GO
IEM Katowice participants now complete
IEM has completed the list of the 12 teams who will fight over for the biggest share of the $250,000 prize pool in the main event in Katowice.
ELEAGUE Major winners Astralis are in Blue Group with FaZe Clan, Fnatic, OpTic Gaming, Immortals, Ninjas in Pajamas. In Red Group are Virtus.Pro, SK Gaming, North, Cloud 9, Na’Vi and Heroic.
In the women’s event called IEM Challenge, there will be a $30,000 prize pool to be fought over by eight teams. Counter Logic Gaming Red, Team LDLC.com Female, Team Secret, Selfless Gaming Female, EYESports Female, Team expert Female, Property Female and silhouette are the participating teams.
Swedish Shuffle
In a confusing twist, Fnatic and GODSENT have once again swapped players, months after they controversially switched some key players.
Fnatic have re-signed Jesper “JW” Wecksell and Robin “flusha” Ronnquist, while GODSENT acquired Joakim “disco doplan” Gidetun and Simon “twist” Eliasson.
In August last year, JW and flusha were traded to GODSENT along with Freddy “KRiMZ” Johansson for twist and Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson.
