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Fnatic bench JW

Bharat Kotwani
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Fnatic bench JW

Fnatic on Twitter have announced the departure of Jesper “JW” Wecksell from their active CSGO division. The 26-year-old has been placed on the team’s bench and may consider his options in Valorant, going further. 

An 89-month-long illustrious career comes to an end for JW at Fnatic as the latter has been moved to the bench by the Swedish side. Jesper rose to prominence in the second half of November in 2014 as one of the main engines in Fnatic’s success in Jönköping, Sweden where they secured their first Major title, going past Ninjas In Pyjamas in the Grand finale of DreamHack Winter 2013. With JW on board, Fnatic were able to bag two more majors in 2015 at ESL One: Katowice and Cologne, getting their count up to three across six majors played. 

Post their major glory, Fnatic always maintained their spot at the top with JW steering them to a plethora of championships across his time at the same. Fnatic however seemed to enter the downward spiral post their recent roster changes, succumbing to mid-lower table finishes from their last five outings. JW’s status follows the recent benching of Fnatic’s ex-IGL Maikil “Golden” Selim which leaves the former with three active players on the roster, Freddy “⁠KRIMZ⁠” Johansson, Ludvig “⁠Brollan⁠” Brolin, and Jack “⁠Jackinho⁠” Ström Mattsson. 

JW in a press release added,

It’s a strange, yet exciting feeling, after 2709 days /or/ 1658 official maps played under the same club to wake up and not knowing what’s next. I have always tried my best every single day during these past almost 8 years to make Fnatic the absolute best it could ever be, sometimes it was harder and sometimes “easier” but in the end, I’m happy with what I have achieved here. Now it’s time to take some time to reflect upon things, what I could possibly have done better or different, and bring that with me to whatever is next in life, be it CS, Valorant, or esports in general. Thank you for everything thus far and stay tuned for my next step.

Fnatic are now down to three players as mentioned above and are on the course of undergoing a major revamp in a bid to restructure their CSGO division. The Swedish organization is rumored to field an international squad, but haven’t yet disclosed their plans. 

The team is now left with:

  • Freddy “⁠KRIMZ⁠” Johansson
  • Ludvig “⁠Brollan⁠” Brolin
  • Jack “⁠Jackinho⁠” Ström Mattsson
  • Andreas “⁠Samuelsson⁠” Samuelsson (Head coach)
  • Maikil “⁠Golden⁠” Selim (Inactive)
  • Jesper “⁠JW⁠” Wecksell (Inactive)

Recommended | PGL to consider other venues for next 2021 CSGO Major

How to register for Tom Clancy’s XDefiant beta?

Mohammed Sadiq
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How to register for Tom Clancy’s XDefiant beta?

Ubisoft’s next Tom Clancy’s title, XDefiant, which is a free-to-play class-based first-person shooter, was announced yesterday. Teams consisting of 6 players will be able to choose a character each from four factions – Cleaners, The Wolves, Outcasts, and Echelon, each having their own roles and abilities. Ubisoft’s creative director Jason Schroeder and executive producer Mark Rubin have stated that XDefiant combines “realistic gunplay with personalized classes” where players have the freedom to customize and create their own load-outs, regardless of the character they’ve chosen.

While the game is still in the early stages of development, players can register for XDefiant’s closed beta which is set to launch on August 5 for PC, Xbox One & Series S|X, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

  • To enroll in the beta preview of the game, head to XDefiant’s official site and log in using your Ubisoft connect account.
  • Select your preferred platform and you’ll be registered for the upcoming closed beta.

Although invites aren’t guaranteed, there will be more tests in the future based on adjustments made due to player feedback.

Ubisoft’s previous free-to-play shooter title, Hyperscape, which is a battle-royale game, failed to garner attention as Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Call of Duty: Warzone still remains largely popular among battle-royale fans so it’ll be interesting to see how XDefiant performs. Ubisoft has more free-to-play titles in the works, mainly another Tom Clancy title called The Division: Heartland which is likely to release sometime next year.

Recommended | PGL to consider other venues for next 2021 CSGO Major

H3H3 roasts Trainwrecks, Adin Ross, and more upon Twitch return

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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H3H3 roasts Trainwrecks, Adin Ross, and more upon Twitch return

Popular YouTube commentator/podcast host Ethan Klein aka H3H3 has returned to Twitch after 3 years of inactivity on the Amazon-owned streaming platform.

Klein was popular for his controversial actions during his podcast which put him at odds with many. It did not take long for him to put out unsatisfactory comments on Twitch content creators including the likes of Adin Ross and Trainwrecks.

H3H3 announced his return with a “daily entertainment” stream where he’ll react to everything that viewers provide. The stream did not take long to get controversial in typical H3H3 fashion.

Having called Adin a “little punk,”. He continued “This kid… has been really p*ssing me off lately. The gambling sh*t and the crypo sh*t, he’s just not a good dude.”

“I don’t know him personally, but it seems like he’s willing to do anything to make money off the back of his fans and laugh about it,” he added.

His rant on Ross was followed by similar comments on Trainwrecks “I’ve heard about this guy. [He] just gambles all day,” he said. “I personally find this to be really, really, really, really messed up. Let’s see what he’s up to right now. Let’s watch Trainwrecks get kids hooked to gambling.”

He moved on to like Amouranth, whose content was too “graphic” to his taste, and believes that it would get age-restricted had the platform been YouTube.

Even though the drama did not escalate any further after he ironed the wrinkles with Adin over a phone call. Not to mention that this was his first stream and the risk of yet another H3H3 controversy was looming over Ethan.

PGL to consider other venues for next 2021 CS:GO Major

Bharat Kotwani
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PGL to consider other venues for next 2021 CS:GO Major

Earlier in January 2021, the North American event organizer had announced that it would host CS: GO’s 16th Major on LAN in Stockholm in Sweden from October 23 till November 7 with a whopping $2M USD up for grabs.

The venue decided is the famous Ericsson Globe which had earlier hosted the DreamHack Invitational in 2014 and DreamHack Masters Stockholm in 2018.


Ericsson Globe, Stockholm (Sweden)

Today, the event organizer has further decided to explore other options for the Major if they are unable to execute the said proposition in Sweden, the heart of Counter Strike.

Through their blog post, PGL has stressed upon the same where they have established connections with two other European countries, which have provided the former with “necessary guarantees to organize the CS: GO MAJOR” i.e. having a larger VACCINATED audience and players on-site.

Earlier, the authorities in Sweden had come up with an audience limit of just 300 heads to be present at the Major. In addition to this, these restrictions might even get lifted post-September 15 but PGL seems to have a backup plan as they want the fans and players to unleash their true passion for the game.

Mr. Vlad Ispas, Social Media Coordinator at PGL stated, “We are in touch with two other European countries who have already offered us all the necessary guarantees to run the CS:GO MAJOR by having all the players on-site and a large audience inside the venue. With certain European countries reopening really fast for events, we have a very short window of opportunity to secure a new venue that will allow a large vaccinated audience, even with an uncertain COVID situation.”

Though the Sweden Major hasn’t been scrapped by the event organizer, we might need to weigh up our expectations as per the backup plans PGL has on their board.

Valorant 3.02 Patch Notes: What’s New?

Bharat Kotwani
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Valorant 3.02 Patch Notes: What’s New?

After the massive Episode 3 update that Valorant received on June 22nd, Riot developers took things slow with the following patch 3.01 that was shipped to the tactical shooter on July 7th.

The 3.01 patch focused on fixing the existing bugs in the title alongside implementing other quality of life changes.

It seems like Riot Games is following the same route once again as Valorant patch 3.02 brings with it some small, yet important changes to the game. Here’s what you need to know about Valorant patch 3.02 and what’s new in this new update.

Perhaps the most important bug fix that Valorant patch 3.02 brings to the players is Sage no longer being able to place her Barrier Orb between the pyramids on Breeze to create a ‘Sliver Peek’. For the unaware, a “Sliver peek” refers to a very small gap created by sandwiching two things and creating an advantageous line of sight.

Other than this, KAY/O’s textures applying themselves to weapons when he is re-stabilized during NULL/cmd(X) and the ability to place Raze’s Boombot through some walls have been fixed as well. 

There are no major agent ability changes in this new update, but the developers have confirmed that they’re evaluating KAY/O’s impact on the game. It’s likely that players will be able to see some big agent improvements and balance changes in the next update. 

Also, the annoying bug where the team-voice volume sliders would always reset to 50 has also been fixed in this update. 

You can read the detailed patch notes of the Valorant 3.02 update on Riot’s official website. 

ESL Pro League Season 14 Shifted To Online Amid Delta Variant Scare

Mohd Laraib
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ESL Pro League Season 14 Shifted To Online Amid Delta Variant Scare

With the recently concluded Intel Extreme Master Cologne, fans and players alike were hyped up for a gradual return to LAN, with ‘gradual’ being the keyword. ESL announced earlier today that with multiple countries reporting cases of the delta variant of COVID-19, it would be very risky to host such an event.

More and more countries have been imposing travel restrictions again, to prevent the spread for a second time, and being the global esport title that CS:GO is, it would be extremely difficult to manage this.

Even for IEM Cologne, ESL had to cover leaps and bounds to ensure players could come to Cologne without any problems, stay in quarantine, and prevent contact with other teams and outsiders as much as possible and was a huge success, with no positive cases being reported.

To do that for an event as long as EPL, which usually lasts for 4 to 5 weeks and includes more teams, was not considered optimal. ESL has also announced that their focus is to bring LANs back again later this year, for IEM Fall which is scheduled for late September.

This would take the pressure off from teams like Gambit and Heroic, who despite their commendable performances at Cologne, crumbled under the LAN pressure. They will look to bounce back, once the player break ends to once again establish themselves as world-beaters.

With their thumping win at Cologne, Natus Vincere secured the number one spot in the HLTV world rankings for the foreseeable future.

They have the chance to become only the third team to win the Intel Grand Slam and million dollars in prize money if they win at Pro League season 14, but it won’t be easy as all the top contenders will be present to fight for the title.

Presently, the confirmed entries are –

  • Natus Vincere,
  • G2,
  • Astralis,
  • Faze,
  • NIP,
  • Vitality,
  • Mouseports,
  • Team Liquid,
  • Complexity,
  • Evil Geniuses,
  • Ence,
  • Fnatic,
  • Entropiq,
  • Renegades,
  • Sinners,
  • TeamOne, and
  • Bad News Bears

The remaining 7 teams will be determined as per the ESL World Rankings as they stand on July 19. EPL Season 14 begins on August 16, 2021, after the player break ends.

FIFA 21 Challenge: One of the most well-organized esports events

Ngugen Tshoma
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0
FIFA 21 Challenge: One of the most well-organized esports events

The FIFA 21 Challenge event saw a record viewing time of more than double that of previous FIFA Global Series events with an average audience of 250,000, proof that e-sport tournaments have a bright future ahead!

A global football culture

The EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Challenge, a one-day esports tournament that featured top professional soccer players alongside top FIFA players, drew an average audience of 254,057 viewers with 1,024,696 cumulative hours, making it EA’s most-watched esports event in history.

This competition is now over and can be proud of its success. Football fans will be able to turn to real tournaments, such as the Premier League, whose 2021/2022 season will begin shortly.

This is an opportunity for FIFA fans to recapture the feeling of the game and to follow the players’ actions. To experience the tournament more intensely, why not place a bet? You’ll be joining a great betting community and you might even win some money in the process! You can easily find the latest Premier League odds on the internet to help you bet.

EA SPORTS FIFA and football bets are now part of the global football culture. Bringing together professional soccer players and esports professionals has created a level of entertainment that sets the tournaments apart in the e-sport world, it underscores the value of entertainment-based events that go beyond traditional esport.

A recipe for success

During the competition, four esport players were paired with four professional soccer players from Liverpool, West Ham United, Inter Milan, and Borussia Dortmund clubs and competed against each other on October 29 in the EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Challenge.

The team made up of Liverpool player Trent Alexander-Arnold and Tekkz from esport outfit Fnatic won the trophy and donated $20,000 in their name to the charities of their choice.

The EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Challenge broke new ground, not only by incorporating celebrity participation, such as Dua Lipa to attract a non-traditional audience for video game streaming but also by being the first event to incorporate the all-new FIFA Global Series Viewership Rewards, which created interactivity during the broadcast by offering viewers in-game rewards and engaging players on FIFA 21.

The FIFA 21 Challenge is part of a series of EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Global Series pre-season invitational tournaments featuring top influencers, soccer players and FIFA professionals in partnership with some of the world’s largest content and video streaming platforms.

This is in line with EA’s renewed strategy around video game competitions, aiming to converge the worlds of traditional sports, video game competition and pop culture to deliver innovative, engaging, and accessible forms of delivery to audiences of all kinds.

The rising star for the upcoming FIFA Challenges: Anders Vejrgang

With very impressive stats in FIFA 21’s FUT Champions mode, Anders Vejrgang, a 15-year-old Danish player for RB Leipzig Gaming, is causing quite a stir at the moment. Despite his performances, Anders is too young to take part in the official tournaments organized by the publisher of FIFA games, Electronic Arts, which are reserved for players over the age of 16.

Yet the young phenomenon has been in the news for a long time. “He’s been competing since 2017, and at the age of twelve he was beating the Danish number one,” says Alexandre Hernandez. That’s when we started talking about him. He was putting up impressive scores against the world’s best. And the idea of having to wait a whole year before being able to enter him in the Majors, the most prestigious events of the season, does not really motivate his club, which is trying to find a solution with EA.

IEM Cologne 2021 becomes the highest viewed CS:GO tournament in 2021 with 800K peak viewership

Arpita Tewari
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0
IEM Cologne 2021 becomes the highest viewed CS:GO tournament in 2021 with 800K peak viewership

ESL Gaming, the world’s largest esports company, and Intel® Corporation, one of the leading brands in esports, celebrate the successful conclusion of the Intel® Extreme Masters Cologne 2021.

With a peak of more than 840,000 people watching the 3-0 grand final between Natus Vincere and G2 Esports at the same time (excluding China), the competition became the second-highest viewed non-Major CS:GO tournament of all time, after IEM Katowice 2020.

For the first time in 504 days, the world’s best CS:GO teams have been brought together in the German city of Cologne to battle over the US $1 million of prize money.

Bringing in from all over the world approximately 200 players, coaches, and staff from the 24 competing teams, IEM Cologne 2021 is the very first in-person CS:GO tournament taking place in almost one and a half years.

Over 1,000 PCR tests have been conducted with 0 positive infectious test results, ensuring a secure environment for the teams to practice and to relax together, and to ultimately face their opponents in person in the studio again.

After two weeks of competitive and exciting matchups, Natus Vincere beat G2 Esports in a 3-0 sweep in the grand final taking place on Sunday, July 18th, making it one of the greatest CS:GO teams and leaving it only one win away from winning the Intel® Grand Slam Season 3.

On top of that, Natus Vincere’s player Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, was nominated as the ESL Pro Tour: DHL MVP of the tournament by fans and experts. With four aces, a KPR of 0.96 and an ADR of 93.1 across the whole tournament, he is currently widely considered to be the best CS: GO player of all time by the wider community.

“It was a great tournament,” said Natus Vincere player Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. “For like one and a half years – I think 500 days, I was in my city and now everything is perfect and I hope that ESL and all the people who are involved are going to keep doing this great job.”

HyperX Renews Sponsorship with Valkyrae as Brand Ambassador and HyperX Hero

Lauren Rasmussen
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HyperX Renews Sponsorship with Valkyrae as Brand Ambassador and HyperX Hero

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – July 19, 2021 – HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced the re-signing of top female variety streamer Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter as a brand ambassador and HyperX Hero.

As part of the sponsorship, Hofstetter will participate in various HyperX marketing initiatives, including social activations and brand campaigns.

“I’m thrilled to re-sign with HyperX and am looking forward to working together and using HyperX gear on my streams,” said Hofstetter.

Hofstetter started her streaming career as an extension of her love of games and has been a full-time streamer since 2016. Hofstetter has continued to grow her audience on Twitch and in 2021 became one of the top female streamers and influencers on YouTube.

A beacon of positive vibes, Hofstetter uplifts and encourages her audience with strong messages around the importance of mental and physical wellness.

Through her dedication and passion for gaming, she has become one of the most notable female streamers and recently co-owner of 100 Thieves. As a HyperX brand ambassador, Hofstetter will continue to deliver the HyperX gaming story to her growing audience.  

“HyperX is excited to be working with Valkyrae for another year and supporting the larger gaming community,” said Khoi Nguyen, influencer marketing manager, HyperX. “Valkyrae is constantly pushing the limits of what it means to be a content creator, bringing her positivity-focused message to her fans, and we are thrilled to be part of that narrative for all that is good in gaming.”

As someone who spends a lot of time gaming, Hofstetter knows that a comfortable headset and reliable, responsive equipment are a must.

HyperX headsets, mice, keyboards, and mouse pads give her great sound and accurate inputs as gaming gear that she can count on to produce professional-grade content and streaming activities.

Garena Free Fire announces collaboration with McLaren

Johnathan Rainworth
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0
Garena Free Fire announces collaboration with McLaren

The Free Fire collaboration with McLaren is now live in Free Fire, featuring a thematic takeover of the game. 

Players will be welcomed as soon as they open Free Fire with various collaboration elements featuring across the game.

The lobby of Free Fire will feature a car garage, with a couple of McLaren P1™s – the world’s first hybrid hypercar – on display, with several other mechanics and features decked out to the theme of McLaren, spotting the signature papaya orange and blue, including the airplane, airship, and airdrops.

Race to Ace with the exclusive collaboration event feature

From 23 July, players can log in to participate in Race to Ace, which will see players receive rewards for every lap they complete. Complete at least 5 laps to win the grand prize. Continue racing and complete more laps to win the McLaren P1™ – Mantis skin for FREE and more prizes!

4 McLaren P1™s – each with different base speeds – will be available for you to choose from. 

Have more than one favorite? Not to worry, players can switch between cars anytime during the race. You can also collect Chequered Flag tokens along the way to receive speed boosts.

Not fast enough? Invite your friends to participate with you so that the group of you will receive speed boosts for the race!

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