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Sea Ltd. Parent Company Of Garena Lost $16 Billion After India’s Ban On Free Fire

Prateek Jain
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Sea Ltd. Parent Company Of Garena Lost $16 Billion After India’s Ban On Free Fire

Garena’s parent company, Sea Ltd. lost more than $16 billion of value on 14th Feb after closing at $129.17 per share on NYSE in its biggest daily market drop after a strong closing of $158.40 per share on 11th Feb. The share closed the week in red at $127.69 after losing more than 20% of its value compared to the closing of $158.40 in the previous week.

The drop in its value comes after India abruptly banned its most popular mobile gaming title, Free Fire which commanded a comfortable lead in the battle royale category in India after the PUBG ban in 2020.

Investors are growing concerned the ban may just be the start of the company’s troubles as the company has been shedding its value since the start of the year and one of its key investors, Tencent Holdings Ltd. also sold some of its stake in the company to raise funds. 

While the revenue of the company is skyrocketing YoY, Sea Ltd is far from making any profits. The company heavily relies on the popularity of Free Fire to push people towards its e-commerce platform Shopee.

Also Read | India Bans Free Fire

The company generated a net loss of $571 million in Q3, but that news didn’t cause much panic among investors as its behemoth Free Fire was still growing like crazy. 

India contributes to more than 1/3rd of Free Fire’s player base and is the biggest market of the game in terms of players. While the revenue from India represents a measly 3% of Sea’s gaming revenue, or roughly $33 million, or roughly 1.2% of total sales, the immense Indian player base benefited the game in reaching the top chart of “The Most Played Game” in both iOS and android store.

The stock price also benefitted heavily from Free Fire’s popularity last October as Sea Ltd’s stock hit an all-time high of $372. The rise at the time was also backed by heavy buying in tech and gaming shares caused by the pandemic surge.

Since then the stock price has plunged 63% as the markets are slowly turning away from previously high-flying tech and gaming stocks even after a piece of slight negative news. 

The most immediate question is whether Sea Ltd. can appeal to India’s decision to ban its gaming app and reverse it. If the talks with India fails, the uncertainty of the ban extending to its other businesses in the world’s fastest-growing internet economy also looms on the horizon, which will cause a further drop in investor confidence and result in more “sale” calls. 

Fortnite Creative v19.30 Update Patch Notes: A significant update with multiple bug fixes

Aritra Patra
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Fortnite Creative v19.30 Update Patch Notes: A significant update with multiple bug fixes

Epic Games is well known for providing regular updates. After the major Fortnite 19.10 and 19.20 updates, Epic has launched the 19.30 update today. Apart from a few major in-game changes, the Fortnite 19.30 update comes with a lot of bug fixes.

Keep reading as the Fortnite Creative v19.30 update patch notes are a few lines away.

Developed by Epic Games, Fortnite is an online multiplayer battle royale game that is available on all platforms.

This update is now live and you can download it just by updating the game through Epic Game Store. The Fortnite Creative v19.30 update patch note is a bit longer as it contains a lot of in-game changes and bug fixes. Therefore, have patience and read till the end.

Fortnite Creative v19.30 Update Patch Notes

GAME MODE SELECT SCREEN REMOVED

With this week’s v19.30 update, Epic removed the initial game screen (which appeared on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC) where players would select either Save the World, Battle Royale, or Creative. You’ll now boot up directly into the Lobby, ready to join the party and explore Fortnite!

What does this mean for Creative? You can now find Creative via the “Discover” screen, accessible by clicking on the “CHANGE” button above “PLAY!” Read the Load into the Lobby in Fortnite – Game Mode Select Screen Removed blog.

NEW: FIRE VOLUME DEVICE

After the release of Fire into Creative in the v19.20 update, you asked for more control over the flames – the first iteration of that is now here with the release of the Fire Volume. With the Fire Volume you can override island-wide fire settings in a localized area, as well ignite or extinguish fires inside the volume via Channels.

UPDATE: PROP MANIPULATOR – RESOURCE NODE

Epic added new features to the Prop Manipulator which allow you to turn any prop into a resource node for any type of resource. You can choose the type of resource to grant when the prop is hit – including the option to add your own items to the device. (A rock that gives mushrooms when you hit it? Sure, why not?) You can also choose to have the node restock after a delay or gradually over time.

UPDATE: HUD CONTROLLER

The HUD controller now has Team and Class support, allowing you to create different HUD setups for each individual Team and Class, ideal for asymmetric game modes or contextual HUD layouts. Want to hide the HUD just for players in a specific area? Now you can set everyone in the area to a specific Class and then change the HUD just for them, leaving everyone else in the game unaffected.

UPDATE: TELEPORTER LINKING

Teleporters can now be linked together allowing for two-way travel. This can be used along with randomized teleport targets to create a ‘different every time’ map layout which is random when a player first goes through the teleporter but then remains constant for the rest of the game (or until the link is broken via Channels).

OTHER FEATURE UPDATES

  • Class support has been added to the Beacon device.
  • Added Old Cartoon filter to the My Island Camera Filter settings.
  • Added the Resources Gallery – A variety of new STW props that work nicely with some of the Consumable Resources.
  • Added some new basketball assets to the Sports Gallery.
  • Fixed some collision issues with assets in the Elemental Cube Gallery.
  • Fixed an issue with football goals spawning when destroying the sports fields from the Sports Gallery.
  • Fixed an issue with the ivy, from Princess Castle Tower prefab, giving the wrong resource materials.
  • Fixed an issue with planter props, from The Sanctuary set, with giving no resource materials.

CONSUMABLES UPDATES

  • Added some New Consumables to coincide with the New Resources Gallery.
    • Rainbow Crystal
    • Honey
    • Vindertech Mechanical Parts
    • Blue Mushroom
    • Pink Mushroom
    • Red Mushroom
    • White Mushroom
    • Yellow Mushroom
    • Spectrolite Ore
    • Spectral Twine

DEVICE FIXES

  • Tracker Device
    • Previously if you attempted to add multiplayer players to the tracker simultaneously, only one would get added. This has been fixed.
    • Previously if the tracker goal was reduced, non-instigator players would not be checked to see if they were at the new goal. This has been fixed.
  • Conditional Button 
    • Fixed an issue where the conditional button would not reset if its requirements were only partially completed
  • Barrier Device 
    • Enabling the Barrier while standing inside will no longer push the player under the map
  • Prop Manipulator 
    • Pre Game Only is no longer an available option
    • Resource Depletion transmit on will now transmit correctly
  • Skydive Volume 
    • Fixed an issue where sometimes the Skydive Volume ‘Lock Affected Players in Volume’ set to ‘Yes’ would not apply correctly if the launch velocity was too high 

ISLAND FIXES

  • . Fire will now spread correctly on the grass of the Tropical Island

GENERAL 

  • In some cases creative islands could fail to load after entering island rift in Creative HUB
  • Players wearing the bush disguise will take explosive damage 
  • Fixed an issue where Item Granter and Switch Persistence options do not activate “Clear All Player’s Data” option when publishing

UI UPDATES

  • Updated some of the icons for Devices:
    • Customizable Lighting
    • DBNO Device
    • Elimination Manager
    • HUD Controller
    • Race Manager
    • Race Checkpoint
    • Save Point

UI FIXES

  • Fixed an issue where the Galleries tab was appearing ahead of the Prefabs tab.

Recommended | How to get the Mace of Hearts pickaxe for free in Fortnite Chapter 3?

IEM Katowice 2022 Day 1 – Wins for FaZe, Astralis, OG. fnatic Handed Upset

Mohd Laraib
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IEM Katowice 2022 Day 1 – Wins for FaZe, Astralis, OG. fnatic Handed Upset

The play-in stage of IEM Katowice 2022 kicked off today, with the first set of Best of 1 matches being played out. Most of the games went as one would expect, with the exception of fnatic and Copenhagen Flames. CPF beat fnatic convincingly, trying to prove to the world that their PGL CSGO Major run wasn’t a fluke.

Making their debut as a roster at IEM Katowice were MOUZ, who added NBK- and torszi, Renegades, who added Liazz back to their roster, and ENCE who completed the signing of Maden. 

IEM KATOWICE 2022 Opening Round 1 Results

  • Ninjas in Pyjamas 16-12 Wisla Krakow
  • MOUZ 16-8 GODSENT
  • Copenhagen Flames 16-7 fnatic
  • FaZe Clan 16-12 Sprout
  • OG 19-16 Renegades
  • ENCE 16-9 Entropiq
  • Astralis 16-11 MIBR

Back on LAN, Astralis showed promise, despite having a few hiccups on the CT side. CPF were in their PGL Stockholm form as they played a perfect T side, winning all 8 rounds after an 8-7 half to send fnatic to the lower bracket. 

OG CSGO, fresh after the addition of nexa cut it close with Renegades but fought back to take the game to overtime and eventually win 19-16.  FaZe Clan, playing with a stand-in had a stellar 12-3 CT side but had to fight tooth and nail on the T side as Sprout almost closed the distance. They eventually won the map 16-12 courtesy of rain and broky popping off.

WHO WILL ADVANCE TO IEM KATOWICE 2022 MAIN EVENT?

4 teams will qualify for the main stage of IEM Katowice 2022. The remaining games will be Best of 3s and will be either qualification or elimination matches. The upper bracket stands as follows:

  • NiP vs Copenhagen Flames
  • MOUZ vs FaZe Clan
  • OG vs ENCE
  • Astralis vs BIG/Movistar Riders

Lower Bracket Matches

  • Wisla Krakow vs fnatic
  • GODSENT vs Sprout
  • Renegades vs Entropiq
  • MIBR vs Movistar Riders/BIG

How to claim ‘Dance of Luck’ Buddy in Valorant through Prime Gaming?

Bharat Kotwani
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How to claim ‘Dance of Luck’ Buddy in Valorant through Prime Gaming?

Valorant, Riot’s FPS, has been a resounding success since its release in 2020, thanks to its unique blend of tactical shooting mechanics and ability-based gameplay along with a wide selection of incredible-looking cosmetics that entice the player-base to grind the game out.

The community of Valorant can now clinch another exclusive gun buddy by linking their Prime Gaming account if they are subscribed to Amazon Prime. With their Prime Gaming account, the players would be able to grab the “Dance of Luck” Buddy which will be deployed to the Amazon Prime users from February 26 onwards.

As said above, the unique blend of Riot’s first person shooter does totally make the players show active participation in the game with a rotating weapon cosmetic line, with exotic bundles up for sale to the Night Market which comparatively allow the players to get the same at discounted rates.

Similarly Gun Buddies can be acquired by either completing your agent contracts or by signing up for special events including completing the free Battlepass circuit, most notably that of the ongoing Lunar New Year.

Below are the steps to get the Prime Gaming powered “Dance of Luck” Gun buddy.

  • Step 1: You would need to visit the Prime Gaming website and login with your Riot Games ID .
  • Step 2: Upon entering your details, you will now be redirected to the Prime Gaming page.
  • Step 3: You can claim ‘Dance of Luck’ gun buddy by clicking the option ‘Claim Now’.
  • Step 4: Once done, you may now launch Valorant and head over to the ‘Collection’ Tab.
  • Step 5: Search for the “Dance Of Luck” Gun Buddy and select a weapon to equip it.

Valorant Valentine’s Cards: Fan Makes Valorant-Themed Cards for Valentine’s Day

Pranav Nalawade
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0
Valorant Valentine’s Cards: Fan Makes Valorant-Themed Cards for Valentine’s Day

Does your significant other play Valorant? If so, what better way to celebrate the day of love than to send that special someone some Valorant-themed Valentine’s Day cards. 

If cheesy Valentine’s Day cards and greetings are not your thing, Reddit user ‘katsugyu’ has got you covered. The avid Valorant fan has expressed their endless creativity through some unique Valentine’s Day cards based on the competitive shooter, and they’re certain to make almost anyone blush. 

The Valentine’s Day cards feature various Valorant Agents with added variations to their in-game voicelines that are as cringy as they’re adorable. Take a look at them below:

VALORANT Valentine Cards
by u/katsugyu in VALORANT

So what are you waiting for? Pick a card that you like best and send it to your loved one. Too many choices? Just find out what agent your partner mains in and send them that card.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD VALORANT VALENTINE CARDS PACK

Garena addresses Free Fire fans in India; no mention of game ban

Divyesh Moghe
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Garena addresses Free Fire fans in India; no mention of game ban

Garena has finally addressed the awaiting Free Fire player base in India. A statement by Garena was received to Dot Esports’ Wasif Ahmed. This statement says that Garena is aware about the situation and working towards solving it. The interesting fact here is that they have not mentioned the ban imposed on Free Fire by Indian Govt. in any way.

Indian Government took a big action today afternoon and banned a total of 54 apps in the country. A list of apps was revealed and Free Fire was included in it. Apparently, the main motive of this ban wave was the exterminate any kinds of “app clones” of previously banned applications but Free Fire was also added to it.

The list of apps included one other game called Onmyoji Arena. Before the ban was even announced, the game was taken down from Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Players also faced login issues and now, only Free Fire Max is available on the store.

As the game was banned, the Indian Free Fire community expected a response from the game developers Garena and they now have it. The announcement was not made via any official Garena channels but a statement was provided to Dot Esports by the company.

It reads, “We are aware that Free Fire is currently unavailable in the Google Play and iOS app stores in India and that the game is currently not operable for some users in the country. We are working to address this situation, and we apologize to our users for any inconvenience.”

It is interesting to note that there is no mention of the game’s ban in India. This might imply several things but players can now rest assured that the developers are actively working to bring the game back in India.

Also Read | INDIAN GOVT. BANS FREE FIRE ALONG WITH 53 OTHER APPS

Indian Govt. bans Free Fire along with 53 other apps

Divyesh Moghe
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Indian Govt. bans Free Fire along with 53 other apps

The Indian Government has released a list of 54 new applications that have been officially banned in the country. This list includes several “clones” or replicas of previously banned Chinese apps and Garena Free Fire has been added to it as well.

Several Chinese apps were initially banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) of India and this action was first taken in 2020. After several ban waves, the total number of applications restricted in India has reached more than 270 till date.

The list of 54 new applications that are banned in India are as follows:

Credits: ET NOW

The Twitter handle of ET Now first reported that GoI had banned around fifty new applications and according to the list, Free Fire has is under the banhammer as well.

Free Fire was delisted from Apple App Store yesterday and soon afterwards, it was removed from Google Play Store as well. Some players also reported that their game was not working very well and they were facing issues while logging in.

It was initially speculated that this was due to the lawsuit filed against Garena by Krafton Inc. for allegedly copying PUBG and its characteristics.

Battlegrounds Mobile India is apparently safe in this ban wave. Its previous iteration, PUBG Mobile was banned in India for more than a year but BGMI was not included in the list of recently banned apps.

BGMI might be safe due to the fact that 2022 Asian Games are right around the corner and PUBG Mobile is a medal event. Every participating nation will be sending their own team at this first ever official Asian Games esports event and considering the fact that India is the household of some of the best PUBG Mobile rosters in the world, the game might have swerved past the banhammer this time.

Team Vitality announces its Free Fire roster in India

Divyesh Moghe
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Team Vitality announces its Free Fire roster in India

Team Vitality, a leading esports organization from Europe, has announced their entire Free Fire roster based off India. Vitality initially revealed that Indranil “FABINDRO” Saha would be the IGL and coach of this roster and now, the remaining four have been revealed.

FABINDRO is one of the Free Fire stars in India with ESPL and Free Fire Tri-Series under his belt. The new Vitality roster will compete in the upcoming Free Fire India Championship 2022 Spring, which has a prize pool of ₹1 Crore.

Team Vitality has signed the following players to their Free Fire division:

  • Mehul “MEJUSTMEHUL” Rawat
  • Dipu “Dipu” Subba
  • Sanjog “AIZEN” Thapa
  • Sangram “Sangram” Kunwar

Mehul has been a part of many Indian organizations like of True Rippers, Nigma Galaxy, Noble Esports and more. He will be joining the roster alongside Dipu, Aizen and Sangram.

This trio has been a part of KM Brotherhood and they placed eighth in WEC 2021. They climbed their way up through many stages and as a result, they were awarded with the title of “Best Underdog Team” at WEC 2021.

With the addition of Free Fire roster, Vitality has diversified their mobile esports portfolio. Nicolas Maurer, the CEO of Team Vitality, talked about this signing and said, “Free Fire has seen immense growth over the last couple of years and I’m excited to see Team Vitality enter the fold and showcase what we can do.

With this new roster, we also now field athletes from 17 different nationalities as we look to nurture talent across the biggest global esports titles.”

Randall Fernandez, the managing director of Team Vitality India, shared his own views on this signing. He said, “While we are French rooted, our company’s philosophy is about having amazing esports talent and teams that transcend physical boundaries. Indranil has done a great job in scouting for and cherry-picking this roster.

We trust his decisions fully and are happy that the team is bonding and grinding hard at our Training Facility for the upcoming FFIC. We are very excited to see them achieve great feats in Free Fire.” 

The new Vitality roster will be practising and competing from the Mumbai-based Team Vitality Training Facility. An announcement regarding their BGMI roster is expected to be right around the corner as well.

Also Read | Valorant: Team Envy rebrands to OpTic Gaming

Bymas to Miss IEM Katowice 2022 Due to Covid-19 

Mohd Laraib
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Bymas to Miss IEM Katowice 2022 Due to Covid-19 

Lithuanian CSGO Pro, Aurimas ‘Bymas’ Pipiras tested positive for Covid-19 just 2 days before the start of IEM Katowice 2022. This renders him ineligible and he will have to sit out the whole tournament, after contracting the Virus so close to the start of the competition. 

MOUZ will replace their young rifler with Jon ‘JDC’ de Castro from their academy team, MOUZ NXT. The 21-year-old has been with MOUZ NXT since the inception of the roster and won 2 back to back WePlay Academy Leagues with them. MOUZ’s remaining roster will be playing in Poland, as they did not test positive for COVID-19.

IEM Katowice would be the debut tournament for the current iteration of MOUZ, after they added NBK- and torszi in place of ropz and acoR back in January 2022 once the 2021 CSGO season had ended for them. NBK- would be returning to CS after a short stint in Valorant while torszi has been promoted from the academy roster to take over as AWPer.

JDC will play in yet another Grand Final of the WePlay Academy League on Sunday, before he travels to Poland to play with MOUZ’s main team. “Auri (Bymas) really deserved to play this tournament. The situation is unfortunate. The team has made tremendous progress daily, and this is a true bummer. JDC is a great stand-in though, so let’s go!”  said MOUZ coach Dennis “⁠sycrone⁠” Nielsen

This isn’t the first case of a player having to sit out of IEM Katowice, as earlier FaZe Clan’s star ropz contracted Covid-19 too and would be out of action for the early stages of IEM Katowice 2022. FaZe Clan CSGO called upon former Complexity player Justin ‘jks’ Savage to take ropz’s place. Should FaZe advance, ropz would be back in the team by February 19 after he completes his permanent quarantine period and tests negative again.

MOUZ’s CSGO roster for IEM Katowice will be:

  • David “⁠frozen⁠” Čerňanský
  • Christopher “⁠dexter⁠” Nong
  • Nathan “⁠NBK-⁠” Schmitt
  • Ádám “⁠torzsi⁠” Torzsás
  • Jon “⁠JDC⁠” de Castro (stand-in)
  • Dennis “⁠sycrone⁠” Nielsen (coach)

f0rest Becomes First CSGO Pro With More than 40,000 Kills

Mohd Laraib
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0
f0rest Becomes First CSGO Pro With More than 40,000 Kills

Swedish CSGO Pro Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg set a new record in the game as he has now amassed over 40,000 kills in professional play. f0rest achieved this record during a game between Dignitas and 9z Team at ESL Challenger in February 2022. Although dignitas lost the game, f0rest had 55 frags in the 3 map series, which brought his tally from 39,999 to 40,054. 

f0rest has been playing CSGO professionally ever since its launch in 2012. Before that f0rest was a legendary name in the CS 1.6 and the original Counter Strike days, starting his career back in 2003. During his 1.6 days he played for big names such as SK Gaming and Fnatic and won multiple Counter Strike Majors.

After moving to CSGO in 2012, f0rest represented legendary org Ninjas in Pyjamas for 7 years from 2012 to 2019. f0rest, along with former teammate GeT_RiGhT, is widely regarded as one of the best players of his time with so many accolades to his name. f0rest and GeT_RiGhT formed one of the longest partnerships of all time in Counter-Strike. Their first stint of partnership lasted 3,902 days, from the time GeT_RiGhT joined Fnatic on January 19, 2009, to when he stepped down from NiP on September 26, 2019.

They then reunited on Dignitas in January 2020, but GeT_RiGhT was benched in September, while f0rest is still going strong at the age of 33. f0rest’s consistency and longevity at this age and the ability to keep up with players a lot younger than him is admirable as a lot of players from his time have either retired or are unable to keep up, yet f0rest keeps going.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE F0REST TO GET TO 40,000+ CSGO KILLS?

f0rest started playing CSGO back in 2012 and has played the game professionally for almost 10 years now. f0rest has played 2040 maps in CSGO and got his 40,000th kill in his 2040th map. If we crunch the numbers, f0rest averaged about 19.63 kills every map, which is no mean feat at the highest level of CS. To this day f0rest maintains a rating of 1.11 with a K/D ratio of 1.17. f0rest re-signed with Dignitas for the 2022 CSGO season and will stay with them for another year, and has shown no signs of slowing down.

WHO HAS THE MOST KILLS IN CSGO?

f0rest tops the list for the highest kills in CSGO with 40,054 but there are other players in the list who are still active in the game. Top 5 CSGO players with most kills:

  1. Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg – 40,054
  2. Janusz ‘Snax’ Pogorzelski – 39,043
  3. Richard ‘shox’ Papillon – 37,770
  4. Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub – 37,067
  5. Nathan ‘NBK-’ Schmitt – 36,741

f0rest is active with Dignitas’ CSGO roster while Polish legend ‘Snax’ currently plays for MONKEsports after a year with Anonymo. shox joined Team Liquid this year, after spending 2 years with Team Vitality. kennyS is currently the only one without a team after his benching from G2,  and it is rumored that he will be building a roster with former teammate amaNEK. Lastly, NBK- is back in CSGO with MOUZ, after spending a few months playing Valorant once he was benched from OG CSGO back in February 2021. He will play his first game for MOUZ at IEM Katowice 2022 play-ins.

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