Home Blog Page 1407

Riot Games collaborates with PUBG Mobile to promote Arcane launch

Divyesh Moghe
-
0
Riot Games collaborates with PUBG Mobile to promote Arcane launch

Riot Games is partnering with PUBG Mobile to promote the launch of their first animated series Arcane. The series is based on League of Legends and its lore and is releasing on Netflix this weekend.

Arcane was announced during the tenth anniversary of League of Legends alongside other big revelations like the release of Valorant and Wild Rift. Riot Games bifurcated its portfolio during this announcement and entered into multiple new industries and markets.

The developers are currently promoting their new animated series in LOL, Wild Rift and Valorant but apparently, they took it a step further to partner with PUBG Mobile and promote its launch.

PUBG Mobile is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, battle royale title in the mobile gaming market and enjoys millions of active players on a daily basis. Its social media handles were teasing this collaboration for the past few days. In a short teaser, PUBG Mobile suggested that a new game mode will be coming to the game.

A post also had silhouettes of League champions like Caitlyn, Jinx, Jayce and Vi. They confirmed this crossover soon afterwards. Players can expect to see several elements of League and its universe in PUBG Mobile in the upcoming update.

Arcane explores the world of League of Legends and its a story of two champion sisters, Jinx and Vi. Readers can watch it on Netflix from 6th November.

NiKo Shines as G2 Eliminate NiP from PGL Major to Go Through to the Semi-Finals

Mohd Laraib
-
0
NiKo Shines as G2 Eliminate NiP from PGL Major to Go Through to the Semi-Finals

The international roster defeated the Home team in a swift 2-0 series, with the Ninjas falling flat at every step to bow out in 5-8th.

This is G2s first semi-final appearance at a Major since DreamHack Cluj Napoca Major in 2015, almost 6 years since that Major in Romania. The Kovac brothers powered them to a convincing 16-11 on Inferno and also on Mirage with the same score to continue their undefeated run at PGL Stockholm.

MAP VETO

1. NIP removed Vertigo

2. G2 removed Overpass

3. NIP picked Inferno

4. G2 picked Mirage

5. G2 removed Nuke

6. NIP removed Dust2

7. Ancient was left over

The first map started with absolute wreckage from Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac and co. They didn’t let the Swedes win any consecutive rounds and were 10-1 up after 11 rounds. The crowd was dead silent at this display from the Swedes, as they were flying high after their qualification to the Legends Stage. G2 had their fair share of clutches as well, with nexa first, and then huNter- going ham in the second half. But it was ‘NiKo’ that truly set the stage on fire with 23 CT kills and only 8 deaths.

After a 12-3 half, G2 let their foot off the pedal and NiP seemed to mount a comeback of their own much to the crowd’s pleasure. But G2 comfortably got the 4 needed rounds with a string of 3 towards the end, although things looked scary as the score read 13-11 at one point and NiP were in touching distance.

Things were a little different on Mirage as G2 started on the T side. But good calling from nexa coupled with the Kovac brothers’ Heroics were a question that NiP didn’t have the answer to. G2 was up 8-3 and looked set for a 12-3 half yet again but hampus’ B defense shut it down. G2 ended with 9 T rounds which were more than respectable.

Despite the score lines saying otherwise, NiP were never truly there in the game. They did win the pistol and converted the next but once the guns came out, it seemed all over Red Rover for the home team. G2 went 6 in a row without a round loss, owing it to ‘NiKo’ again, as he took over the server and the crowd, as his experience at the highest level prevailed yet again. G2 ended the map 16-11 again, to move to the semis.

The Kovac brothers had a combined 93 frags, while the rest of G2 had 92 combined.

G2 are through to the Semi Finals of the PGL Major and will play Heroic, after they won vs Virtus.pro. The semi final will take place on Saturday, as 2 more teams are to be determined between NaVi-Vitality and Gambit-FURIA.

PGL Major: Heroic beat Virtus.pro to book semi-final berth

Bharat Kotwani
-
0
PGL Major: Heroic beat Virtus.pro to book semi-final berth

Heroic will take over the main stage on Saturday in the Semi-final of the PGL Stockholm Major as they beat Virtus.pro in a best of three Quarter-Final.

Match Details :

  • Heroic Vs Virtus.pro.
  • Time : 21:00 PM IST.
  • Venue : Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Match format : Best Of Three.
  • Match type : Played on LAN .
  • Tournament : PGL Stockholm (Valve Major Championship Tier).

Veto:

  1. Virtus.pro removed Nuke.
  2. Heroic removed Dust2.
  3. Virtus.pro picked Mirage.
  4. Heroic picked Ancient.
  5. Heroic removed Vertigo.
  6. Virtus.pro removed Overpass.
  7. Inferno was left over.

Map 1: Mirage (Picked by – Virtus.pro, Winner – Heroic, Final Score – 16:10)

Starting on Virtus. pro’s pick of Mirage, Heroic started on the defensive side. After losing the pistol and a second-round Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali and his men took the game by the scruff of the neck, trading rounds back and forth as Heroic struggled to find any traction on the offense. Despite Mareks ‘YEKINDAR’ Gaļinskis’ efforts to cut off the CT’s rotations towards the plant, VP didn’t build up the economy you might expect, as the Danish side managed to break them towards the end of the half to recover to a 7-8 score.

With little room for error, Heroic picked up the pace and took the first three rounds as Terrorist to get within touching distance of Virtus.pro. The CIS team did try to retaliate but it all came down to René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen and Ismail ‘refrezh’ Ali who won it for Heroic and r put his team back in their team into the driver’s seat, eventually running away with their opponent’s map pick, 16-10.

Map 2: Ancient (Picked by – Heroic, Winners: Virtus. pro, Final Score – 16:13).

Ancient was a close affair as at the beginning none of either side really took off, showing dominance. Although a combined effort from Evgeny ‘FL1T’ Lebedev, Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov, and YEKINDAR saw Virtus. pro exploit their reinforcements set to deny Heroic and win three rounds in succession over the Danes going up eight rounds against a previous deficit of 5-6.

The first half eventually went in favour of the CIS heavyweights, 8-7.

Jame and co piled up more misery on Heroic by winning the pistol round on the Terrorist side and the corresponding anti-ecos, bringing the scoreline to 11-7. Heroic then found a lifeline as they put together a small run of rounds, forcing VP to re-evaluate their strategies going forward. The momentum had indeed shifted in favor of Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møllerand and his troops as Heroic once took a lead over the Berlin Major runner-ups, but the latter had their final laugh as buster and Alexey ‘Qikert’ Golubev drafted a perfect game-plan to overwhelm Heroic as both the teams traded off their map picks.

Map 3: Inferno (Ancient was leftover in the veto and was won by Heroic, Final Score – 16:12).

Virtus.pro came out of the gate looking scary, with Jame racking up two kills to open the A site up for business only to be denied by TeSeS who snatched the pistol victory for Heroic. Nothing seemed to work for VP until the ninth round hit where they managed to secure more four rounds to their name, ending the first half with just six rounds on the board to those of nine in favour of Heroic.

The second half of Inferno witnessed an unparalleled dominance from Heroic as they ran away with a mammoth lead of 14-7, not letting their opponents win a single round in that half.

Jame and his men looked completely destitute and listless prior to the former’s 2K with his sniper to lock Heroic from the A-site as Virtus.pro started to reset their mental state amid the impending regulation. They rallied over to a scoreline of 15-12 but an A execution saw the CIS side fall apart as cadiaN pulled off the final honours to send his team to the Semi-final of the PGL Stockholm CS:GO Major.

Heroic will now play the winner of G2 Esports Vs Ninjas In Pyjamas on Saturday, to start from 21:00 PM onwards.

PGL Major: Heroic beat Virtus.pro to book semi-final berth

Bharat Kotwani
-
0
PGL Major: Heroic beat Virtus.pro to book semi-final berth

Heroic will take over the main stage on Saturday in the Semi-final of the PGL Stockholm Major as they beat Virtus.pro in a best of three Quarter-Final.

Match Details

  • Heroic Vs Virtus.pro.
  • Time : 21:00 PM IST.
  • Venue : Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Match format : Best Of Three.
  • Match type : Played on LAN .
  • Tournament: PGL Stockholm (Valve Major Championship Tier).

Veto

  • Virtus.pro removed Nuke.
  • Heroic removed Dust2.
  • Virtus.pro picked Mirage.
  • Heroic picked Ancient.
  • Heroic removed Vertigo.
  • Virtus.pro removed Overpass.
  • Inferno was left over.

Map 1: Mirage (Picked by – Virtus.pro, Winner – Heroic, Final Score – 16:10)

Starting on Virtus.pro’s pick of Mirage, Heroic started on the defensive side. After losing the pistol and a second-round Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali and his men took the game by the scruff of the neck, trading rounds back and forth as Heroic struggled to find any traction on the offense. Despite Mareks ‘YEKINDAR’ Gaļinskis’ efforts to cut off the CT’s rotations towards the plant,  VP didn’t build up the economy you might expect, as the Danish side managed to break them towards the end of the half to recover to a 7-8 score.

With little room for error, Heroic picked up the pace and took the first three rounds as Terrorist to get within touching distance of Virtus.pro. The CIS team did try to retaliate but it all came down to René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen and Ismail ‘refrezh’ Ali who won it for Heroic and r put his team back in their team into the driver’s seat, eventually running away with their opponent’s map pick, 16-10. 

Map 2: Ancient (Picked by – Heroic, Winners : Virtus.pro, Final Score – 16:13)

Ancient was a close affair as at the beginning none of either side really took off, showing dominance. Although a combined effort from Evgeny ‘FL1T’ Lebedev, Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov and YEKINDAR saw Virtus.pro exploit their reinforcements set to deny Heroic and win three rounds in succession over the Danes going up eight rounds against a previous deficit of 5-6. 

The first half eventually went in favor of the CIS heavyweights, 8-7.

Jame and co piled up more misery on Heroic by winning the pistol round on the Terrorist side and the corresponding anti-ecos, bringing the scoreline to 11-7. Heroic then found a lifeline as they put together a small run of rounds, forcing VP to re-evaluate their strategies going forward. The momentum had indeed shifted in favor of Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møllerand and his troops as Heroic once took a lead over the Berlin Major runner-ups, but the latter had their final laugh as buster and Alexey ‘Qikert’ Golubev drafted a perfect game-plan to overwhelm Heroic as both the teams traded off their map picks. 

Map 3: Inferno (Ancient was left over in the veto and was won by Heroic, Final Score – 16:12)

Virtus.pro came out of the gate looking scary, with Jame racking up two kills to open the A site up for business only to be denied by TeSeS who snatched the pistol victory for Heroic. Nothing seemed to work for VP until the ninth round hit where they managed to secure another four rounds to their name, ending the first half with just six rounds on the board to those of nine in favor of Heroic.

The second half of Inferno witnessed an unparalleled dominance from Heroic as they ran away with a mammoth lead of 14-7, not letting their opponents win a single round in that half.

Jame and his men looked completely destitute and listless prior to the former’s 2K with his sniper to lock Heroic from the A-site as Virtus.pro started to reset their mental state amid the impending regulation. They rallied over to a scoreline of 15-12 but an A execution saw the CIS side fall apart as cadiaN pulled off the final honors to send his team to the Semi-final of the PGL Stockholm CSGO Major.

Heroic will now play the winner of G2 Esports Vs Ninjas In Pyjamas on Saturday, to start from 21:00 PM onwards.

Recommended | Astralis Sign k0nfig and blameF; dupreeh and Magisk to leave in January

Elden Ring Pre-Order Details – All Editions Revealed

Mohammed Sadiq
-
0
Elden Ring Pre-Order Details – All Editions Revealed

FromSoftware just streamed over 15 minutes of Elden Ring PC gameplay but that wasn’t the only reveal as pre-orders for the game are now live. Although Elden Ring’s Collector’s Edition(s) were leaked ahead of the reveal through Twitch advertisements.

https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1456240689184915457

Elden Ring comes in three physical editions – Launch Edition, Collector’s Edition, and Premium Collector’s Edition, and two digital editions – Standard Edition, and Deluxe Edition.

Elden Ring Launch Edition

  • Exclusive to EU, EMEA, and Africa
  • Game: Physical ELDEN RING game disc (except for PC where it will be a code in a box).
  • Art cards: 3 Exclusive Art cards depicting the scenery of the LANDS BETWEEN, Size: 135X170mm 
  • Woven Patch: An exclusive woven patch, bring the rune everywhere with you.
  • Stickers: 3 exclusive stickers featuring in-game emblem patterns. 
  • Poster: An exclusive poster representing a hero from the past, Size: 39X334mm 
  • An alternative Steelbook: an exclusive and limited Steelbook depicting a hero of the past

Elden Ring Collector’s Edition

  • Game: Physical ELDEN RING game disc (except for PC where it will be a code in a box).
  • Art cards: 3 Exclusive Art cards depicting the scenery of the LANDS BETWEEN, Size: 135X170mm 
  • Woven Patch: An exclusive woven patch, bring the rune everywhere with you.
  • Stickers: 3 exclusive stickers featuring in-game emblem patterns.
  • Poster: An exclusive poster representing a hero from the past, Size: 39X334mm
  • Digital Soundtrack: Discover the complete ELDEN RING original soundtrack. Be enchanted by the rhythms of the Lands Between. 
  • Exclusive Steelbook : An exclusive STEELBOOK featuring the Elden Ring. 
  • 40-page hardcover Artbook: An exclusive 40-page art book. Deep dive into the world of ELDEN RING with never-before-seen visuals. Learn more about the Lands Between, its environments, monsters, and the strongest warriors living within them. Size: 241X215mm 
  • Language: ENG Hardcover book 
  • Statue of Malenia – Blade of Miquella (23 cm): A finely detailed 23cm figure of Malenia – Blade of Miquella, Size: 23cm

Elden Ring Premium Collector’s Edition

  • Game: Physical ELDEN RING game disc (except for PC where it will be a code in a box).
  • Art cards: 3 Exclusive Art cards depicting the scenery of the LANDS BETWEEN, Size: 135X170mm Woven Patch: An exclusive woven patch, bring the rune everywhere with you. 
  • Stickers: 3 exclusive stickers featuring in-game emblem patterns. 
  • Poster: An exclusive poster representing a hero from the past, Size: 39X334mm
  • Digital Soundtrack: Discover the complete ELDEN RING original soundtrack. Be enchanted by the rhythms of the Lands Between. 
  • Exclusive Steelbook : An exclusive STEELBOOK featuring the Elden Ring.
  • 40-page hardcover Artbook: An exclusive 40-page art book. Deep dive into the world of ELDEN RING with never-before-seen visuals. Learn more about the Lands Between, its environments, monsters, and the strongest warriors living within them. 
  • Size: 241X215mm 
  • Language: ENG Hardcover book.
  • Statue of Malenia – Blade of Miquella (23 cm): A finely detailed 23cm figure of Malenia – Blade of Miquella, Size: 23cm 
  • Official Helmet replica, 1:1 scale: An official Helmet Replica of Malenia – Blade of Miquella that comes with a display stand A very limited and numbered Helmet (6000 units), 1:1 Scale made in ABS.

Elden Ring Pre-Order Bonuses

  • Adventure Guide: Contains useful information for the player’s adventures in the Lands Between. 
  • Bonus Gesture* This is a gesture that can be used in-game. *The player can also obtain this later in the game.
  • Elden Ring is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One & Series S|X, and PC.

Recommended | Elden Ring has been delayed by a month

Astralis Sign k0nfig and blameF; dupreeh and Magisk to leave in January

Mohd Laraib
-
0
Astralis Sign k0nfig and blameF; dupreeh and Magisk to leave in January

Danish organisation and the most successful team in CS:GO, Astralis has signed Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke and Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer, effective immediately. The two who last played for Complexity were released in September and October respectively. K0nfig’s move was rumoured while blameF’s transfer came as a shock to everyone. Ex north coach and CS 1.6 veteran ‘ave’ will also join Astralis as coach.

To make way for the Danish duo, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen and Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif will be leaving Astralis. They have decided not to renew their contracts and will be moving on once their contracts expire in January. Coach ‘zonic’ will be leaving too once his contract expires, after 5 years with the Danish giants.


Astralis could not make it to the playoffs of the PGL Major, after winning the last 3 Majors consecutively, but it would be safe to assume that the move would happen either way as both the players and the coach were not keen on renewing their contracts, even though ‘gla1ve’ and ‘xyp9x’ had renewed theirs.

K0nfig has been out of action for almost 2 months, after his wrist injury and was released by COL in early october. blameF, after failing to make it to the Major was also released by the US organisation as they plan a rebuild with coldzera on a short term contract and peacemaker as coach.

After ‘dev1ce’ left in April and now with ‘dupreeh’, ‘Magisk’ and ‘zonic’ leaving too, it truly is the end of an era for Astralis. They have won 3 Majors back to back and 4 in total (except for Magisk who has 3)

Astralis will play at the Royal Arena for BLAST Fall Finals with the following 6 man roster:

Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander

Andreas ‘xyp9x’ Højsleth

Phillip ‘Lucky’ Ewald

Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke

Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer

Lukas ‘Bubzkji’ Andersen

NaVi’s ‘B1T’ Gets Autograph Rejected by Valve Because of Similarity to Bitcoin Logo

Mohd Laraib
-
0
NaVi’s ‘B1T’ Gets Autograph Rejected by Valve Because of Similarity to Bitcoin Logo

Player Autographs are one of the best things about CS:GO Major, as it allows players to immortalize their name in the game with the best of the best as they make it to a Major. Valve’s new ruling of only allowing signatures for the Top 8 teams’ players wasn’t well-received by anyone from the community or players or talent for that matter as no announcement had been made up until the Major was about to start and it wasn’t fair to the players debuting at the PGL Major.

But it makes no matter for Natus Vincere’s headshot king Valeriy ‘B1T’ Vakhovskiy. B1T is one of the handful of new players that will be getting their FIRST signatures in the game, alongside ‘YEKINDAR’ from VP, ‘VINI’ and ‘drop’ from FURIA, ‘misutaaa’ and ‘Kyojin’ from Vitality, ‘Plopski’, ‘hampus’ and ‘LNZ’ from NiP, all of Gambit except ‘Hobbit’ and all of Heroic except ‘cadiaN’.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for B1T as according to NaVi’s Vlog on their YouTube Channel, BIT’s original submission for an autograph was rejected by Valve. This was mainly due to its likeness to Cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Since the logo of Bitcoin was very similar to the B in B1T’s signature, Valve did not approve of it as it MAY cause problems for them in the future, or even right now.

This isn’t the first time this had to happen though, as players such as ‘DickStacy’ from Australia too had to change their original submissions.

The playoffs start today for the PGL Major at the Avicii Arena in Stockholm, with a crowd for the first time in 791 days i.e. more than 2 years. NaVi will play Team Vitality on Friday for a Semi Final spot.

Heroic take on VP and G2 face NiP for the first 2 Quarter Final Games.

NaVi’s Creative Director Alexey Kostylev talking about why the Signature was rejected.

VALORANT 3.09 patch nerfs classic, Fracture re-modeled

Bharat Kotwani
-
0
VALORANT 3.09 patch nerfs classic, Fracture re-modeled

Valorant Episode 3 Act 3 is here with a brand new battle pass including a plethora of weapon cosmetics, player cards, buddies, etc along with a new patch 3.09 which brings changes to the Classic pistol weapon and the map, Fracture.

Riot had earlier revealed Chamber, the forthcoming agent to have joined the ranks of Valorant, as a part of the Episode 3 Act 3 update but was later rescheduled to be made available two weeks ahead of the launch of the former. 

The 3.09 patch sees massive changes being shipped to the game, which indeed nerfs the Classic pistol weapon along with structural changes on Fracture. 

Valorant patch 3.09 notes

The entire list of changes featured in the 3.09 patch update can be found below.

WEAPON UPDATES

CLASSIC (RIGHT-CLICK)

The Classic has been over-performing in close to mid-range encounters when used while jumping or on the move. So we’ve reduced the weapon’s effective accuracy while jumping, running, and walking, with the intent of narrowing its ideal use case to only really close ranges.

  • Walking firing error changed .05 >>> .6 (total error is 2.5 when walking, up from 1.95)
  • Running firing error changed .2 >>> 1.3 (total error is 3.2 when running, up from 2.1)
  • Jumping firing error changed from 1.1 >>> 2.1 (total error is 4.0 when jumping, up from 3.0)

MAP UPDATES

FRACTURE

  • The B Arcade attacker barrier is shifted back towards Attacker Side Bridge, to allow defenders to more easily contest the area
  • Defender barrier at A Rope moved up to the top of ropes to make it easier for Sentinels to prepare.
  • A Hall orb shifted into more neutral space, making it less favorable for attackers
  • New piece of cover in Attacker spawn added to break the long sightline from Hall entrance to B Main, which should relieve some pressure from attackers when defenders fast flank

GAME SYSTEMS UPDATES

  • Smoother Ropes/Ziplines
    • Fixed jittery movement that could occur when stopping or changing directions on a zipline or rope. This was most noticeable when repeatedly moving a small amount and stopping.

ESPORTS FEATURES

  • Observers using gamepad controllers are no longer locked out of the X/Y axes when speeding up with the right bumper (R1).
    • Free Cam observers rejoice!
  • Observers now have the option to set handedness for teams
    • When this option is toggled, observers will see players that start the match on attacker as right-handed, and players that start the match on defender will be left-handed.

GENERAL

  • One path for all traffic into game servers
    • For those of you particular to a preferred server, you may notice a previously preferred location is no longer there. Don’t worry, we simply consolidated what was two paths into the game servers into one—we did not remove any servers.

BUGS

COMPETITIVE

  • Fixed a bug that was causing the default Act Rank badge to display on Unrated game loading screens

AGENTS

  • Cypher can no longer place Spycam on the Breeze door in order to destroy or see through the door when it’s lowered.
    • Similarly, fixed random spots where Cypher could not place Spycam in the same area.
  • Fixed bug that displayed Jett’s 1P Updraft visuals incorrectly

Recommended | Valorant Radiant Crisis Bundle

LPL vs LCK: Who looks set to perform best at Worlds from China and Korea?

Satendra Krishna
-
0
LPL vs LCK: Who looks set to perform best at Worlds from China and Korea?

LPL and LCK teams set themselves apart from the competition in the first round-robin of the World’s Main Event Groups. For the uninitiated, League of Legends Pro League (LPL) is the top-level professional esports league for League of Legends in China and the League of Legends Champions Korean (LCK) is their main Korean rival. These two giants of the esports industry are continually facing off as they tend to dominate championships and tournaments.

LPL and LCK: A rivalry

In fact, LPL and LCK are viewed by esports commentators and journalists as the two mega titans of the Eastern hemisphere, and the teams are constantly squaring up against one another and preparing for all-out warfare. There have been a number of instances in which upstart teams got in between the feud that is building between LPL and LCK, but for the most part, these two teams are in a league of their own when it comes to skills and ability.

The Worlds Championship has been hotly anticipated for months and the tension between these two impressive teams has really been building since early on in the season. This is currently the biggest ever Worlds Championship, and all teams are well aware that the pressure is on.

How the other teams square up

So far, it is looking good for LPL, as they had a few very clean, strategically impressive games against both T1 and 100 Thieves. This was hardly surprising for commentators and fans who have been following the performances of all of the teams.

100 Thieves are the LCS Champions and they performed surprisingly well against DFM, but they were easily outperformed by both the LCK and the LPL teams. The LJL Champions performed strongly in the play-in, but their performance was quickly outclassed against the Chinese and Korean teams.

LPL has another team that is performing exceedingly well at Worlds right now in Group C. Royal Never Give Up burst onto the scene with a series of surprisingly aggressive strategies. Royal Never Give Up did not perform quite as well against PSG Talon, but the team managed to rally and recover when playing against the Hanwha Life Esports team.

Although it is nearly impossible to determine how the championship will go, it appears likely that LCK will continue to excel and eventually dominate the entire championship. However, at this stage, it is possible that LPL will rally and outperform its longtime rival.

The growth of esports

For many years, esports were laughed off as the embarrassing younger brother of the professional sports leagues. Gamers, video games and gaming culture as a whole were viewed for many years as the sole domain of unhealthy individuals who struggle with social anxiety. That perception has slowly been changing over the past few years as the video game industry has become increasingly accessible.

Significantly, the global health crisis which rocked national economies for the last year and a half also led more people than ever before to start spectating esports games and tournaments. More traditional, in-person sports games and championships all had to be put on ice during the health crisis, but esports continued as usual. Dedicated sports fans suddenly turned to esports for entertainment and, significantly, many of them are continuing to watch esports games even after public health restrictions have relaxed.

There are now more ways than ever before for esports fans to get involved in the action, support their favorite teams and engage with other fans. One of the most popular ways in which esports fans are engaging with the matches is by placing bets on sports betting platforms such as Fox Bet – one of the best options for sports betting in New Jersey. These platforms have quickly noticed the growth in popularity for esports spectating, and many of the top sports betting platforms are now offering a wide range of different betting options for esports matches and tournaments.

The future of esports

Although no one knows what the future holds, market analysts are predicting that the world of esports will only continue to grow in popularity for the foreseeable future. Increasing numbers of new fans are starting to watch the games and choose their favorite teams and players, and it looks like a sense of team identity and fandom is quickly developing.

It will be interesting to watch the growth of esports and track the development of fan followings around the world in the years to come. This is definitely an area to watch, as it is sure to grow in popularity.

Image credits: Forbes

Activision Blizzard stock takes a dive after Jen Oneal’s departure

Mohammed Sadiq
-
0
Activision Blizzard stock takes a dive after Jen Oneal’s departure

Activision Blizzard’s stocks went down by over 16% after Blizzard co-leader, Jen Oneal stepped down from her role three months after J.Allen Brack’s departure from the company, making Mike Ybarra the sole leader of the company.

“I want you to hear from me personally that I have made the decision to step away from co-leading Blizzard Entertainment and will transition to a new position before departing ABK at the end of the year. Effective immediately, Mike Ybarra will lead Blizzard.” Oneal said in a statement on Blizzard’s newsletter. “I am doing this not because I am without hope for Blizzard, quite the opposite–I’m inspired by the passion of everyone here, working towards meaningful, lasting change with their whole hearts. This energy has inspired me to step out and explore how I can do more to have games and diversity intersect, and hopefully make a broader industry impact that will benefit Blizzard (and other studios) as well. While I am not totally sure what form that will take, I am excited to embark on a new journey to find out.” 

During the investors’ meeting, the publisher also announced that Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV have been delayed, stating that “these decisions will push out the financial uplift that we had expected to see next year. But we are confident that this is the right course of action for our people, our players, and the long-term success of our franchises.” While there was no concrete release date in the first place, Overwatch 2 was expected to release sometime in 2022.

Despite the delay, the upcoming season of Overwatch League will still feature an early build of Overwatch 2 for its 5v5 competitive multiplayer mode. 

Recommended | Call of Duty Mobile Season 9 brings two new maps and a battle pass

1...1,4061,4071,408...2,209Page 1,407 of 2,209