Last weekend was huge for eSports with some awesome tournaments covering the most popular titles. San Jose X IEM showcased LoL and CS:GO providing fierce competition with Origen and Navi taking top spots respectively. Competition aside, the big news from the event was Mark Cuban, the US billionaire, dropping the “F” bomb and getting himself into deep S**T as a result. He was fined $30,000 for his use of “inappropriate” language but the good news is all of the money went to charity.
Roster changes continue and Fnatic announced the departure of two of their League of Legends stars (Huni and Reignover) this week. It will be interesting to see who replaces these strong players ahead of Fnatic’s 2016 campaign.
Talking of 2016, it’s looking like Hearthstone is set to grow next year. Blizzard have announced that the prize pool will increase to $2,000,000 meaning it’s definitely time to start crafting some cards and decks.
Read on for more exciting news.
1. How OG surprised the world at the Frankfurt Major
“The Frankfurt Major will go down as perhaps the most important Dota tournament since The International back in 2011. It was the start of a new era for Valve’s MOBA – a test to see if the tournament structure that has served Counter-Strike so well could work for another title. More importantly, it was a chance for a team to take a place in the history books as the first ever Dota 2 Major champions.”
Read the full story here
2. Mark Cuban fined $15,000 for “F” Bomb and responds by Doubling it to 30k – IEM San Jose
3. Hearthstone gets serious about esports in 2016 with nearly $2 million in prizes
“Though many of its most vocal fans still debate over whether or not it can actually be a legitimate esport, Hearthstone had a great 2015 full of competition, ending in a fun World Championship series at BlizzCon. The competition was fierce, especially considering that the prize pool totaled a mere $250,000. Next year, Blizzard will be quadrupling that prize pool as it focuses on making Hearthstone a bigger esport.
Today Blizzard announced its ambitious plans for Hearthstone esports in 2016, including a $1 million prize pool for the World Championship. As part of increasing the competitive profile of the game and keeping fans engaged.”
Read the full story here
4. eSports by numbers–Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca boasts 25 million unique viewers for CS:GO
“Dreamhack reported yesterday on the numbers from their final Major of the year in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. While the event seemed a bit smaller than usual, the numbers broke records for online gaming. According to their statistics over 85 million people clicked on the stream, 25 million unique viewers tuned in, over 30 million hours were watched and the peak concurrent viewership was over 900 thousand. It’s important to understand that 25 million people did not tune in at once, but rather that was the unique views throughout the event.
The concurrent viewership is slightly lower than last year’s final major which peaked at over one million concurrent viewers, but the 25 million unique views is a new record for CS:GO.”
Read the full story here
5. Major League Gaming to Host Counter-Strike:Global Offensive Major Championship at Nationwide Arena
“The first-ever Major to be held in North America will kick off Tuesday, March 29 at the MLG Arena with 16 of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams from around the world battling it out over 4 days in front of a live audience for the Group Stage Matches and Quarterfinals. In addition to the live event, fans will also be able to attend a one-of-a-kind viewing party hosted by MLG in the nearby Arena District.
On April 2, the action will shift to the state-of-the-art Nationwide Arena, home of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Over 2 days, the remaining teams will compete in front of thousands of fans during the Semifinals on Saturday, with the Grand Finals and All-Star Match taking place on Sunday.”
Read the full story here
6. Farewell Huni and Reignover – GL,HF!
“Now that the rollercoaster ride of the League of Legends World Championship is over, our team has been taking some time to recover and spend some time with their families. As the team have returned from their break, we’ve some news to share regarding our League of Legends lineup.
After a breakthrough year for both players as part of our team that achieved an undefeated Summer Split and a strong run to the Worlds Semi-finals, they’ve naturally been the subject of intense interest and offers from other parties.”
Read the full story here
7. 2016: The Year of Esports – Esports Weekly with Coca-Cola Episode 8
8. Why Disney XD Is Driving ESports With Nintendo ‘Mario Kart’
“Disney XD is reteaming with Nintendo for its second original eSports TV show. “Clash of Karts: Mario Kart 8” (Dec. 5 at 8 p.m.) is a one-hour special that pits four two-person teams of kids ages 13 to 17 coached by YouTube influencers Mari Takahashi, Meghan Camarena, Seth Bling, and Andre Meadows in a Mario Kart 8 video game tournament.
Alison Haislip and Matt Rife host the original eSports competition, which is played on Nintendo’s Wii U console in front of a live audience of about 50 kids.”
Read the full story here
9. Caster Semmler Warns CSGO Scene That It Needs Help to Ensure Success – Esports Weekly with Coca-Cola
10. Thorin’s Thoughts – seangares Steps Down (CS:GO)
