MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Time changes things. Ken Hoang, known to Melee fans simply as Ken, was a monster. In the early days of Melee, Ken was a force in the scene. Smart, skilled, and driven, he won nearly every tournament he attended between 2002 and 2007, talking trash and taking down every opponent …
Read More »Mike Sepso on Activision Blizzard’s new esports division (and why StarCraft is like baseball)
In terms ofesportsgame developers and publishers, it doesn’t get much bigger than Activision Blizzard—just thinkStarCraft,Hearthstone, andCall of Duty. With its new new esports division, the company is taking a serious look at the future of the industry and what it will mean for the company and its gaming titles. The …
Read More »TSM and H2k locked in public tug of war over Svenskeren
Amidst a flurry of offseason roster changes inLeague of Legends, one player’s future has become the subject of a very public and potentially litigious battle. BothTeam SoloMidandH2k-Gamingattempted to secure the services of jungler Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen, who had been playing forSK Gaming. First reported byRichard Lewis at Breitbartand later confirmed …
Read More »Report: Uzi transfer bidding reaches $7.85 million
When aLeague of Legendsteamchanged handsfor a shade over $1 million it made big headlines in the West. But in China, the signing fee for just one player may soon make that seem like pocket change. Rumors out of China are putting Jian Uzi” Zihao, the current AD Carry forOMG, at …
Read More »Is eSports too dependent on sponsors?
In a rather ironic short posted to eSports weekly, Steven Arhancet, co-owner of Team Liquid, and Jason Lake, owner of Complexity, discussed the involvement of sponsorship in eSports. Host Kevin Knocke opened the segment with an astounding figure of 80% which makes up eSports revenue, which begs the question – …
Read More »SteelSeries have moved an e-sports team into their HQ, and don’t they look thrilled about it
E-sports sponsorship deals have come a long way fromhiring Fatal1ty to apologetically hold up a motherboard– peripherals manufacturer SteelSeries have announced that they’ve moved the Winterfox CS:GO team into their Chicago HQ. There, they’ll train as normal in conjunction with SteelSeries staffers, and provide insight and feedback on new products. …
Read More »How This Tech Company Benefits From ESports
Video game accessories company Mad Catz has worked with pro gamers to design eSports products and improve consumer gaming peripherals. The sales of video game controllers, headsets, steering wheels, fight sticks, PC keyboards, and mice is big business worldwide. The North American console and PC video game accessories and peripherals …
Read More »CS:GO is currently 100 times more popular than Call of Duty on Steam
That got your attention, didn’t it? Yup, turns out Counter Strike: Global Offensive has a hundred times as many Steam users as the most popular COD on the platform. Turns out you really can’t keep a good terrorist-kiboshing force down. A quick look atSteam’s stats pageshows you a hundred of …
Read More »Turner plans to partner with an online streaming company, expand into other esports
Esportsis coming back to television, and it could be bigger than ever before. Media giantTurnermade waves in September with theannouncementit would hostan esports league featuringCounter-Strikeon the company’s cable television channelTBS. The league is set to play host to some of the world’s biggest teams and best players while presenting the …
Read More »Blizzard Unveils Its Plan For Full-Spectrum Dominance Of The Esports Scene
Blizzard wants to dominate the esports landscape. That much was evident after the keynote at its annual convention Fridaymorning in Anaheim, which opened with emphasis onStarcraft II: Legacy of the Void,Heroes of the Storm,Overwatch, andHearthstone, with only a passing mention ofDiablo(new patch coming, guys!) and aWorld of Warcraftsegment that offered …
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