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Riot Games and Intel continue their commitment towards Esports in the MENA region

Md. Naseer Fuad Khan
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Riot Games and Intel continue their commitment towards Esports in the MENA region

Dubai: Riot Games and Intel have reinforced their commitment to promote the eSports sector in the MENA region and provide regular opportunities for gamers to compete against each other at the highest level following the conclusion of the Intel Arabian Cup (IAC).

Based on the League of Legends title, the second edition of the IAC, organized by Riot Games and Intel, came to an exciting end recently with the Geekay Esports team from Saudi Arabia crowned champions after their victory over runners up Anubis Gaming. 

The IAC showcased the best talent from across the MENA region across three seasons from March to October. The best teams from the Country Qualifiers, Competitors League, and Champions League were given a chance to showcase their skills, dominate the playfield and build momentum leading up to an epic finale at the end of last month.

During a virtual press conference attended by key officials from Intel and Riot Games, Karim Hachani, Head of Publishing MENA – Riot Games, emphasized the importance of collaboration in the gaming industry.

He said: “Our collaboration with Intel is extremely important because the gaming industry does not involve just the publishers as there are several pillars to the gaming industry. Among them are the players, the publishers, technology providers such as Intel, the broadcast teams and many other pillars that are key in the gaming industry. 

“We believe that by bringing all of these experts together to create an experience for the players is always the right approach. Intel and Riot Games share the same core positioning of putting the players experience and create a memorable environment for the players.”

The virtual press conference was attended by Intel’s Director of Desktop Gaming and Creator, Mark Subotnick and Ali Riza Kucuk, Regional Consumer Director, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa – Intel. They highlighted how organizing the Intel Arabian Cup is part of their efforts to deliver enjoyable gaming experiences in the region and also delved into how the newly launched Intel 12th Gen processor is perfect for gaming.

The 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake processor aims to be the foundation for the next era of x86 computing and is the most significant shift in architecture since the beginning of Core™. It is re-envisioned to provide the performance to match the way real people use their PCs today. 

Hachani added: “The IAC provides an opportunity for amateur and professional gamers to test themselves in a competitive environment while allowing us to recognize and nurture local talent as well as further developing the gaming landscape in the region.”

Over 1,000 teams registered and participated during the course of the three seasons of IAC. Fans across the region were also able to follow the action live with the competitions broadcasted over League of Legends channels on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook.

With matches streamed online, the competition has also allowed gamers to be recognized for their talent. The tournament received over 6.1 million views in total with the grand finale garnering over 1 million views.

PGL Stockholm Major Becomes Most Watched CS:GO Major in History

Mohd Laraib
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PGL Stockholm Major Becomes Most Watched CS:GO Major in History

The first Major in 2 years is living up to the hype on every front, with the numbers to back it up. After breaking the opening day viewership record with 667k viewers, the tournament has only increased in popularity. With the playoffs hitting the 1 million mark on the first day at the Avicii Arena, it was expected that games between the best teams would only hit bigger milestones.

And it was true, as the game between Natus Vincere and Team Vitality, the last quarter final of the PGL Major hit a peak of 1.37 Million viewers. That is the most out of every CS:GO Major till date. PGL Stokcholm had already surpassed the last Major – StarLadder Berlin 2019 on the first day of the Legends Stage itself.

As per escharts.com, ELEGAUE Atlanta Major in 2017 had the record till now with 1.33 Million viewers followed by ELEAGUE Boston in 2018 at 1.32 Million.

PGL Major Stockholm overcame that with a whopping 1.35 million concurrent viewers, tuning in for the NaVi-Vitality Game. What was more, it didnt stop there. The streams kept gaining viewers and the overall peak was 1.37 Million.

NaVi Overcome Team Vitality To Set up Semi Finals Date with Gambit at PGL Major

Mohd Laraib
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NaVi Overcome Team Vitality To Set up Semi Finals Date with Gambit at PGL Major

The CIS squad had to fight tooth and nail against the French, but they reigned supreme at the end to complete a 2-0 win. NaVi extended their Nuke streak to 17 maps undefeated in the process and are now in the Semi-Finals.

Termed as the El Clasico between ‘s1mple’ and ‘ZywOo’, the series delivered in every way with both the Gods of CS stepping up for their teams but in the end, it was NaVi that sent Vitality home.

Vitality go out in 5-8th place alongside NiP, FURIA and Virtus.pro leaving us with just 4 teams in the PGL Major.

MAP VETO

1. Vitality removed Ancient

2. Natus Vincere removed Vertigo

3. Vitality picked Dust2

4. Natus Vincere picked Nuke

5. Natus Vincere removed Inferno

6. Vitality removed Overpass

7. Mirage was left over

MAP 1 : Natus Vincere 16-11 Team Vitality

Team Vitality chose to test NaVi on the New Dust2, as it was changed in the Operation Riptide update. NaVi hadn’t played the map since but had been very very good on it before that, having beaten the French on it too.

Vitality, on the T side, started off on the right foot and exploited the B bombsite, with the new gun ‘B1T’ having trouble keeping up. They shut down ‘s1mple’ as well as he couldn’t go ham on the CT side with his AWP on a sniper heavy map like Dust2. It was ‘Perfecto’ that kept things even for NaVi as they trailed at the half 7-8.

Once the sides shifted, the Russians tore Vitality apart. Fuelled by a 1v1 from IGL ‘Boombl4’ in the pistol, NaVi went on to win every round until they were at match point, almost giving us a perfect T side.

‘Perfecto’ was again, the best player for NaVi – unexpected when you have ‘s1mple’ and ‘electronic’ on the team as he had ridiculous multi-kills in both halves.

3 rounds from Vitality did bring it close but it was never going to be enough as NaVi closed the map 16-11.

MAP 2 : Natus Vincere 16-13 Team Vitality

NaVi then took ‘apEX’ and co to Nuke, a map they haven’t lost on since May 2021. They came into the game with 16 wins on the trot but Vitality gave them the toughest fight possible. NaVi won the pistol and conversion but ‘ZywOo’ and ‘apEX’ locked down yard and secret and helped Vitality rack up 7 without reply, as s1mple sat at the bottom with 2 kills. Things changed a bit as NaVi kept planting the bomb and eventually secured 3 more rounds but Vitality had a convincing 9-6 lead at half time.

On the favoured CT side, NaVi won the pistol again, and evened out the score at 9-9. But Vitality, with their relentless gimmicks won 4 of the next 5 and sat at 13-10. Things looked dire as a lost round would send NaVi’s economy to the bin. But that is when ‘s1mple’, ‘electronic’ and of course the top fragger ‘B1T’ stepped up. 

They shut Vitality out in every round from that point and even ‘ZywOo’ had no answer to the World’s best team. They succumbed to a 16-13 loss to NaVi, going out from the PGL Major.

Natus Vincere will face domestic rivals Gambit in the Semis for a spot at the Grand Final. But first, G2 will take on Heroic to find the first Finalist of the PGL Stockholm Major.

Gambit Overrun FURIA To Qualify for PGL Major Semi Finals

Mohd Laraib
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Gambit Overrun FURIA To Qualify for PGL Major Semi Finals

Gambit esports survive an early scare from FURIA to make it to the Semi Finals of the PGL Major. They beat the Brazilians 19-16 and 16-10 to win the series 2-0, and cement their top 4 spot. A lot of people doubted Gambit, and they were often given the ‘onliner’ tag but they have shut down each and every critic of theirs, in their run at the Major with incredible showings throughout. 

FURIA, will go out in 5-8th position after this loss but their run at the Legends Stage has been nothing short of commendable. Playing with ‘drop’ who they added just 2 months ago and who has only played 2 tournaments before the Major, no one expected FURIA to do this good but they shone through the setbacks and made it to the top 8.

MAP VETO

1. FURIA removed Dust2

2. Gambit removed Nuke

3. FURIA picked Inferno

4. Gambit picked Overpass

5. Gambit removed Ancient

6. FURIA removed Vertigo

7. Mirage was left over

MAP 1 : Gambit 19-17 FURIA

FURIA chose to go with their reliable pick of Inferno but their T side was passable to say the least. Their aggression and unpredictable gameplay with PP-Bizons and P90s was handled by Gambit with not too much trouble, but they still managed to post 6 rounds.

FURIA’s CT side looked shabby as well, as their aggression was again met by patience from Gambit and they were almost always at a man advantage. ‘arT’s smoke pushes were no good either as gambit raced to 15 rounds, and had 4 map points to close it out.

But FURIA turned the tide there with the old guard of ‘KSCERATO’ and ‘yuurih’ locking down the A bombsite for them as FURIA mounted a comeback to take it to overtime.

FURIA looked flawless on the first 2 rounds of OT and were almost on the verge of winning a 3rd but a brillian 3v5, led by IGL ‘nafany’ gave Gambit a much needed round on the T side.

Once the sides switched, FURIA fell flat again and Gambit took all the 3 rounds needed to win the map 19-17.

MAP 2 : Gambit 16-10 FURIA

Gambit have never lost on Overpass in the last 3 months and that is a statement in itself, and today was no different. Gambit got off to a good start after a lost pistol and put up 5 on the trot. It was then FURIA’s turn to stack up rounds as they came up with 4 of their own. They didnt let Gambit run away with it and thanks to a 1v2 clutch from ‘yuurih’ they ended with a 7-8 score at half time.

After winning the force buy FURIA were hyped as ever but it didnt last very long. As soon as the CIS squad came back with the guns, they locked the bombsites down in every round. ‘Hobbit’ was correctly termed as being in Championship mode as FURIA couldnt get past him at all. Gambit went on a streak of 7 to win the game 16-10 and confirm their spot at the semis.

Gambit will play the winner of Natus Vincere and Team Vitality’s game which takes place later today. The first Semi Final would be between Heroic and G2, and on Sunday night we will crown a new CS:GO Major Champion.


Call of Duty: Vanguard Trailer, Specifications and System Requirements

The Crew
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Call of Duty: Vanguard Trailer, Specifications and System Requirements

Recently, Activision released a new game ‘Vanguard’ under the Call of Duty franchise. It is the eighteenth installment in the overall Call of Duty series developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. The game’s trailer got released and got positive reviews from the gamers. More details on PC preloading, file size requirements, and specs for minimum, recommended, competitive, and Ultra 4K play also got released by the publishers.

PRE LOADING

All players who pre-purchased the game digitally on Battle.net can preload the title so they’re ready to play the moment the game goes live.

Preloading for PC began on November 2 at 10 AM PT. If you purchased a digital version of the game but it does not download during the preload period, find Vanguard under “Partner Games” in the Battle.net Launcher and follow the prompts to begin the download.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Operating System

  • Minimum: Windows 10 64-bit (latest update)
  • Recommended/Competitive/Ultra 4K: Windows 10 64-bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64-bit (latest update)

CPU

  • Minimum: Intel Core i3-4340 or AMD FX-6300
  • Recommended: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
  • Competitive: Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
  • Ultra 4K: Intel Core i9-9900K or AMD Ryzen 9 3900X

RAM

  • Minimum: 8 GB
  • Recommended: 12 GB
  • Competitive/Ultra 4K: 16 GB

Storage Space

  • Minimum: 36 GB at launch (Multiplayer and Zombies only)
  • Recommended/Competitive/Ultra 4K: 61 GB at launch

Hi-Rez Assets Cache

  • Minimum/Recommended/Competitive: Up to 32 GB
  • Ultra 4K: Up to 64 GB
  • Hi-Rez Assets Cache is optional disk space that can be used to stream high resolution assets. That option can be turned off in the game’s settings.

Video Card

  • Minimum: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon RX 470
  • Recommended: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
  • Competitive: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070/RTX 3060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 5700XT
  • Ultra 4K: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

Video Memory

  • Minimum: 2 GB
  • Recommended: 4 GB
  • Competitive: 8 GB
  • Ultra 4K: 10 GB

Recommended Drivers of NVIDIA/AMD

  • NVIDIA: 472.12
  • AMD: 21.9.1

Epic Games add Valorant, League of Legends to their store

Bharat Kotwani
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Epic Games add Valorant, League of Legends to their store

Valorant, League of Legends and other titles under Riot Games including Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra have been added to the Epic Games Store as a part of the promotion campaign for their upcoming animated Netflix series “Arcane”, set to be released on November 6. 

This partnership with Riot will indeed prove to be a boon for Epic Games spearheading the former’s desperate bid to compete with Valve’s steam, an international video game digital distributor. By 2017, users purchasing games through Steam totaled roughly US$4.3 billion, representing at least 18% of global PC game sales as they further expanded to 95 million monthly active users while Epic Games had reported 160 million users via PC at the end of 2020.

Steve Allison, Epic Games Store general manager stated in a press release,

Riot Games is one of the world’s best developers and creators of groundbreaking entertainment franchises. We’re excited they’ve chosen to partner with us to bring their titles to millions of new players through the Epic Games Store.

Epic Games undoubtedly will have some resounding success ahead of showcasing Valorant and League of Legends on their store as the former has been hot property on the shelves ever since its launch in June, 2020. With the first person tactical shooter now on Epic Games, the numbers will seem to have bolstered new heights for both the game and Riot.

To further commemorate the launch of Arcane, Riot Games have added some confetti by introducing a special battle-pass and collectors set to Valorant, only to be secured during the event. This event will run from November 5-22 and may also require you to connect your Twitch account with that of Valorant.

A free for all battle pass will be soon deployed by Riot into Valorant. It’s been learnt that the special collectors set would have a purple and golden-themed sheriff and would be the only item in the set and does resemble the theme of Jinx, the main protagonist of the Riot’s Netflix series. Epic Games in association with Riot too have shipped a Jinx themed Costume set into Fortnite, made available to be purchased from the in-game store starting November 4. 

Recommended | HOW TO QUICKLY LEVEL UP YOUR BATTLE PASS IN VALORANT?

iBUYPOWER X Mythic Masters announced

Bharat Kotwani
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iBUYPOWER X Mythic Masters announced

Mythic in association with iBUYPOWER and Intel have announced the iBP Masters winter tournament with a cash prize of $50,000 on the line and have rolled out invites to eight teams exclusively from the North American region. The tournament will feature regional giants like Evil Geniuses and Extra Salt.

The iBUYPOWER Mythic masters event would run from November 11-14 with eight teams to contest from North America further bifurcated in two groups which are yet to be revealed. As headlined in a press release by iBUYPOWER, “Mythic masters is a confident step towards the revival of the NA CSGO scene looking to jumpstart the competitive spirit of all NA players.”

According to multiple sources, especially by HLTV.org, top regional teams have been invited with the likes of Evil Geniuses and Johnny ‘JT’ Theodosiou’s Extra Salt. Team Liquid were also among the list who received an invite for the tournament but were later replaced by Team RBG while EG’s European squad have extended their stay in Europe following their recent exit from the PGL Stockholm Major, the North American organization won’t use their main roster and instead would be spearheaded by Tarik “Tarik” Celik as the latter would list down players of his own choice for the tournament who will play under the banner of EG. 

As said, the tournament would be played from November 11-14 and in a GSL format. Top two teams would advance onto the playoffs from their respective groups while the loser from the winner’s bracket would play the winner of the lower bracket. Teams seeded in the playoffs would face single elimination towards the grand finals. All the matches would be played under the best of three series format. You can sign-up your team for the open qualifier over here. 

An open qualifier for the same has been scheduled to fill up the lone open spot at the iBUYPOWER Mythic Masters and will be played from November 8-9.

The entire format of the main event is as follows:

Nov 11, 2021

5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST:

  • Group A Opening Match 1
  • Group A Opening Match 2

8:30PM EST / 5:30 PM PST:

  • Group A Winners Match
  • Group A Losers Match

Nov 12, 2021

5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST:

  • Group B Opening Match 1
  • Group B Opening Match 2

8:30PM EST / 5:30 PM PST:

  • Group B Winners Match
  • Group B Losers Match

Nov 13, 2021

5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST:

  • > Group A Decider Match

8:30PM EST / 5:30 PM PST:

  • Group B Decider Match

Playoffs:

Nov 14, 2021

  • 2:00 PM EST / 11:00 AM PST : Semi-Finals #1
  • 5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST : Semi-Finals #2
  • 8:30 PM EST / 5:30 PM PST : Grand Finals

Recommended | NiKo Shines As G2 Eliminate NiP From PGL Major To Go Through To The Semi-Finals

Valorant: All you need to know about the RiotX Arcane event in Valorant

Bharat Kotwani
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Valorant: All you need to know about the RiotX Arcane event in Valorant

The developers at Riot have decided to commemorate their forthcoming series, Arcane on Netflix based on their MOBA game League of Legends by introducing a special event, RiotX Arcane and in addition, have added a special battle-pass and collectors set to be scored during the event. This event will run from November 5-22 and may also require you to connect your Twitch account with that of Valorant.

A free for all battle pass will be soon deployed by Riot into their first-person tactical shooter, Valorant as a part of the brand new Netflix series, Arcane. The content which will be made available during this event will be based on the series and the game League of Legends. It’s been learnt that the special collectors set would have a purple and golden-themed sheriff and would be the only item in the set and does resemble the theme of Jinx, the main protagonist of the Riot’s Netflix series.



Here is some trivia you may need to know before heading into the event :

1. The bundle will be priced at  2,380 VP


2. This exclusive content is only available for sale from Friday, Nov. 5, 2 p.m. PT to Monday, Nov. 22, 2 p.m. PT

3. Items won’t return to the VALORANT Store or Night. Market and must be purchased as part of the complete bundle

Alongside the exclusive collector set, a free for all battlepass has also been revealed by Riot and you will have exactly eighteen days to progress the said pass by earning experience points against your games played.  A total of ten items would be up for grabs and the list for the same is as follows and in order :

1. “Arcane” Title
2. “Welcome to the undercity” playercard
3. 10 Radiante points

4. “Calculated” Spray
5. “Liar” title
6. “Arcane Embrace” player card
7. 10 Radiante points8. “Boom!” Spray
9. “Cupcake” Title
10. “Arcane cupcake” Gun Buddy

You may also secure four more items by linking your Prime Gaming account to your Twitch ID and by completing a specific set of missions in-game. An exclusive “Arcane Jinx” player card will also be made available, details yet to be revealed by Riot. 

How to quickly level up your battle pass in VALORANT

Bharat Kotwani
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How to quickly level up your battle pass in VALORANT

Earlier today, Valorant launched a brand new battlepass, a part of the Episode 3 Act 3 and the 3.09 patch update and we at Talksport stumbled upon the most common question asked, “How do I quickly upgrade my battlepass?” 

Battlepass in Valorant is a set of cosmetic items that players can obtain by progressing through the same. Comprising 50 Tiers across 10 acts, the player can earn a certain number of free rewards (marked with the green gradient) and premium prizes (marked with the red gradient).

The paid track can be redeemed by getting the premium version of the ACT 3 Battlepass which would cost you 1000 Valorant points in-game, near to around USD 10$ and 700 INR for players across India.  Each player is given access to a free version of the Battlepass and can earn rewards labeled as “free”. Other prizes are available when you purchase a special Premium version of the Battle Pass.

Here are some tips and tricks to quickly progress through your free and paid battlepass tracks by gaining a considerable amount of Experience points :

As we all know, the game gets updated with two sets of missions, Daily and Weekly. The weekly missions do yield a mammoth amount of experience points than the daily once. Daily missions at the most would secure you 2000 XP while the weekly missions may reward you upto 21.250  XP.

Although the daily missions are way easy to get done with, the weekly ones might be an uphill task if you’re constantly trying to queue up some long games. You may not worry so as you always get a chance to pile up your current weekly set onto the next week until the final week arrives, prior to the battlepass timer runs out.

Other game modes like Spike Rush, Deathmatch would also help you to further ease down on your current goal but again that might be a slow channel you can farm XP from. Unlike your ranked and unrated games, you would just receive 900 XP from a normal Deathmatch while Spike Rush would gather you 1000 XP towards your experience pool.

You may also choose to purchase the levels if you wish to claim the paid track and not grind the entire thing out. Each level is made available at 200 Valorant Points to purchase.

FunPlus Phoenix Pulls Out of CS:GO After Just 1 year

Mohd Laraib
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FunPlus Phoenix Pulls Out of CS:GO After Just 1 year

Chinese Org, FunPlus Phoenix or FPX announced via twitter that they’ll be discontinuing their CS:GO project. They cited reasons of “limitations and difficulties during remote management” as part of the reason to stop working in CS:GO. The Org had acquired the GODSENT roster of Jesse “⁠zehN⁠” Linjala, Martin “⁠STYKO⁠” Styk, Pavle “⁠Maden⁠” Bošković , Asger “⁠Farlig⁠” Jensen, and coach Jonatan “⁠Devilwalk⁠” Lundberg and later added Luka ‘emi’ Vukovic to the lineup as IGL.

FPX weren’t able to qualify for the PGL Stockholm in Major after a disappointing performance at IEM Fall, losing out in the Group Stage. Apart from that they have had little success, not qualifying for IEM Winter and placing 9th at Flashpoint 3 RMR. 

They also won a tier 2 Snow Sweet Snow tournament but that was far too little than what the org expected of them.

There used to be weeks where the team would go without playing an Official game, as they dont have a pact with ESL either (Louvre Agreement). This left them with little options to grind out the game, and were dependent on invites from tier 2 tournaments such as Pinnacle Cups and RepubLeague.

“All our members now are available to explore more options in CS:GO esports,” FPX said in their statement. “We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.”
With teams looking to rebuild post Major, a lot of roster shuffles could be on the cards, we will have to wait and see whether the players are Free agents or would still need to be bought out from the contracts, especially AWPer ‘Farlig’ who has caught many eyes after his prowess with the AWP.

FPX had the following roster until now:

  • Jesse “⁠zehN⁠” Linjala
  • Martin “⁠STYKO⁠” Styk
  • Pavle “⁠Maden⁠” Bošković
  • Asger “⁠Farlig⁠” Jensen
  • Luka “emi” Vukovic

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