MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The last time that William Leffen” Hjelte played Super Smash Bros. in North America, he swept Juan Hungrybox” Debiedma in the Grand Finals of HTC Throwdown. Just a month later, a visa issue kept him from competing in NA competitions for eight months, and by the time he got back, …
Read More »Power Dynamics in Esports – the Role of the Publisher
Last week will go down as one of the most significant in the history of esports. Riot dropped the ban hammer in League of Legends, compelling the sale of League Championship Series teams Renegades and Team Impulse, and Challenger Series team Team Dragon Knights. Meanwhile, the Electronic Sports League (ESL) …
Read More »No Coaching: The FGC Debate Continues
Over the last couple of weeks, the Fighting Game Community has lit up again over the long debated issue of coaching. The Street Fighter V grand finals at Texas Showdown kicked everything off with a new twist. Echo Fox’s Julio Fuentes was facing the fact the bracket was reset when …
Read More »An interview with CS:GO world champ FalleN: on duelling, playing in arenas and how to improve
On Sunday night, under the giant roof of London’s O2, two fearsome teams of pro-gamers went head-to-head in a grueling six hour battle for the title of ESL Pro League champions. The game: Counter Strike: Global Offensive. The teams: Brazilian based Luminosity Gaming and Franco-Spanish G2 eSports. Before the five-round …
Read More »International Factfile 2016: Germany
Half of the German population plays games according to data firm Newzoo. These 41.5m consumers allowed the German market to increase by two per cent in 2015, generating $4bn (2.7bn) in revenues. Germany is the biggest games market in Europe and Newzoo predicts that its revenues will continue to grow …
Read More »League Of Legends MSI 2016 Finals: The Winners Are…
The final of League of Legends’ Mid Season Invitational saw Counter Logic Gaming represent North America (a milestone in Riot tournament progession for the region) against South Korea’s SK Telecom T1. But would LoL wunderkind Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok get to complete his trophy collection with an MSI win or would …
Read More »Science shows that eSports professionals are real athletes
Scientists at the German Sports University have conducted a study of eSports athletes and they were surprised by their results. They found that they are exposed to physical strains similar to those of "normal" athletes. Professor Ingo Frobse began studying eSports athletes five years ago. This made Frobse something of …
Read More »What did we learn at Interface 2016?
Following MCV and Develop’s third Interface event, we round up the biggest learnings from our schedule of speakers and panels. 1. ‘A great Kickstarter is 50 per cent having a great idea and50 per cent being able to convince people you can finish it’ This year’s Interface kicked off with …
Read More »The constant flux of Mew2King
Genesis. What an appropriate name for the first tournament Adam Armada” Lindgren would play in the United States. Once upon a time Armada was the actual underdog when going into a set, and Genesis was the first of many in which he would beat Jason Mew2King” Zimmerman. Mew2King was once …
Read More »League Of Legends: What G2’s Disastrous MSI Performance Actually Tells Us
Heading into the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), most fans of the European League of Legends’ scene were pleased to see G2 eSports representing their region. The team had stormed the EU LCS in their rookie split, with a combination of individual skill and teamwork. They also had a cocksure aura around …
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