eSports Update – 10 Things You May Have Missed!

 

There is a feeling of deja vu in the air this week as the familiar story of G2A failing to pay their sponsorship money hits the headlines.

Quake announces the return of it’s competitive scene by releasing it’s dates for Quakecon.

Thorin has his say on the enemies of eSports, most of whom are slowly entering the industry.

Valve unsurprisingly bolsters the prize-pool for all upcoming majors to a whopping $1m.

Huni and Reignover may have departed from Fnatic where they were part of the 18-0 split but they are keeping up their form with their new org.

We’ve got all of these top stories for you below and more. Read on and get up to date.

 

G2A Accused of Failing to Pay Esports Organisation compLexity Sponsorship Money

G2A, the online games retailer and re-seller, has started 2016 in much the same way they ended 2015, finding themselves accused of unethical business practices. This time their eSports sponsorship program has been accused of a series of late or outstanding payments to their partners.

The online computer games retailer consistently made negative headlines over the course of 2015. Their business model of re-selling keys for games has often drawn criticism for the grey market ethics behind it, and in February of this year Polygon ran a lengthy exposé detailing some of the shady practices behind their success.

Read the full story here

 

Quakecon 2016 tournament’s announced

To celebrate 20 years of Quake, we’re pleased to announce this year’s official tournaments to be held August 4-7, 2016 in Dallas, TX in the Wedgwood Ballroom at the Hilton Anatole Hotel.

Players from around the globe will once again come together to compete for their share of $25,000 cash in the QUAKEWORLD 2on2 Team Deathmatch Open and the Quake Live masters will be invited back to battle for the 2016 title in the QUAKE LIVE Duel Masters Championship.

For all the official details on QuakeCon tournaments and trials, including rules, requirements, prize money distribution, pool of arenas and additional information, visit www.quakecon.org.

 

Huni and Reignover Achieve 32-Win Streak in Regular LCS Splits

After Immortals’ performance during week five, the internationally successful top and jungle duo, Huni and Reignover, are poised to repeat the undefeated split they had last season here in the North American LCS after successfully beating every other NA team. The two have found their way to a record setting 32 win streak in regular LCS splits, running all the way back to the last two weeks of the 2015 European Spring Split that was continued all throughout the 2015 European Summer Split.

Whether the name of the team is Fnatic or Immortals, Huni and Reignover have victory in their sights and are on their way to their second consecutive undefeated split in their careers. That is, if they are able to overcome some of the problems that were exposed in their week six performance.

Read the full story here

 

Valve announces $1m prize-pool for CS:GO Major’s

Since then, the professional CS:GO community has been growing at an incredible rate. CS:GO tournaments are now among the largest esports events in the world, drawing global audiences of millions of viewers, filling massive venues, and garnering higher prize pools. Professional CS:GO has grown, and the CS:GO Major Championships are about to grow with it.

We’re pleased to announce that beginning with MLG Columbus 2016, each CS:GO Major Championship prize pool will be $1,000,000.”

Read the full story here

 

Riot aims for greater transparency with new penalty indexes

Fines for breaking the rules of the LCS have often seemed arbitrary and even unfair. That should soon change. Riot Games has released “penalty indexes” for its LCS and global ruleset. The new documents contain specific information on what penalties they will impose on those who break those rules.

The company has caused controversy in the past by dealing with offences on a case-by-case basis, often leading to inconsistency in the application of penalties for rule violations. Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg, for instance, was fined $2,000 in January 2014 for approaching a player to join his former team while that player was still contracted. Renegades owner Chris “Doombang” Badawi, meanwhile, was banned from participating in the LCS or owning a team for a year after committing a similar offence.

Read the full story here

 

Halo World Championship’s $2.5M prize pool is the largest in esports shooter history

Microsoft announced today that 16 teams from across the globe have earned a spot in the Halo World Championship, which features players competing in Halo 5: Guardians. The event has a prize pool of $2.5 million. The tournament will take place from March 18 to March 20 in Hollywood (although Microsoft has yet to announce an exact venue).

According to Esports Earnings tracking site, this will be the seventh largest prize pool in esports history and the highest ever for a first-person shooter. While most of the popular esports games have a home on PC, Halo is perhaps the best example of a console hit having success in the esports maket, which will hit $463 million this year and $1.1 billion by 2019, according to Newzoo.

Read the full story here

 

Q&A: Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez on preparing Team EnVyUs for IEM Katowice

Maniac didn’t attend the ESL Barcelona Expo over the weekend due to being the best man at his best friend’s wedding, but Team EnVyUs’ preparation for IEM Katowice, which runs March 4-6, will be top priority.

Despite a fifth place finish at Barcelona over the weekend, EnVyUs has been in mostly good form as of late. It won the Global Esports Cup at the beginning of the month after making the semifinals of the StarLadder i-League StarSeries XIV Finals in January.

Maniac has only been with EnVyUs for about a month, as the former Titan player is new to coaching. But after a strong start, he looks ahead to IEM Katowice, which will be loaded with the world’s best teams.

Read the full story here

 

Thorin’s Thoughts – Considering the Enemies of Esports

 

C9 Balls Bounces Sky Hai Vs TSM

Even before the rise of the Diamond 2 OP meme at Worlds 2015, C9 Balls had become a shadow of his former self. At the very least, it had become accepted among reddit analysts that he had fallen substantially in the power ranking of NA top laners. At the beginning of season 6, however, Balls seemed determined to rise again. He declared that his goal was to become the best top laner in NA again, and presumably, propel C9 to the international success that has eluded them. I have voiced my skepticism that Balls can accomplish this.

But on day one of week six, Balls turned in a performance which will certainly get people talking. This game was indeed an important test for Balls, C9 would be facing their perennial rivals and the e-sports version of the vuvuzela, TSM, and Balls specifically would be facing their heavily celebrated top laner, Hauntzer. What transpired, however, put Balls in a position that he hasn’t been in a long time. C9 needed him to carry, and he delivered. But what happened in this game that allowed Balls to shine so brightly? Has he truly bounced back?

Read the full story here

 

THE SHANGHAI MAJOR: GROUP STAGE PREVIEW

We now stand at the forefront of the second edition of the newly introduced Major Dota 2 tournament series as the Shanghai Major Groups have been announced.

Following the success of the first event in Frankfurt, expectations are high and the community is eager to witness their favourite teams battle for the title once again, not to mention the seven-figure paycheck.

The group stage will begin next Thursday, running until Sunday, and will determine which teams will end up in which brackets for the Main Event, which is scheduled to take place between 2-6 March.

Read the full story here