If you commence a game on Split as defenders and your team is thrashing the enemies, don’t worry the tables can turn easily in the second half while playing attack, as the map poses to go in the favour of defenders, due to its narrow entry points into sites which enables them to choke the attackers easily.
In order to fix this, Valorant’s latest patch 2.01 brought in some considerable changes to Split. The changes were introduced to make site execution a tad bit easier for attackers. However, it looks like Riot may have worsened things as a number of players have come up with insane line-ups and tricks that make it almost impossible to execute any site on Split.
Players come with up with insane exploits on B site
B Site on Split that has received a complete makeover as a result of which executing the site should have been much easier than before. However, high ranked players have found some insane ways to hold angles by making Sage Walls and Cypher Cages by using the newly added objects on the 2 sites.
A player whose Reddit handle goes by the name of “MrPiezo” has come up with multiple One Way and Off Angle Sage Walls. A stack of two new boxes were added between B-main and B-heaven to avoid defenders from double peeking attackers while they try to execute the site. However, Sage can jump on the boxes from B-heaven and can create a long wall below her that covers the entire view of B main from B heaven entrance that is almost impossible to tackle.
A player whose Reddit handle goes by the name of Phamwow has come up with a one-way Cypher Cage that covers the entire entrance of B main. The update added a small box in the corner of B-site from where Cypher’s Cage can be bounced off and it will land on top of B main. When activated it creates a one-way smoke and defenders can shoot at attackers without being seen.
The recent patch made numerous adjustments made to Split’s A site too, however, by god’s grace no one has come up with any exploits for the A-site as of now. Riot is recieveing severe backlash from the community for worsening the already messed up Split meta and are demanding for a patch fix immediately. Riot’s intention with the recent Split changes was to make things more balanced. However, things went the other way round.
Tencent, China’s technology giant is eyeing a debt-financing from several firms, which sources say could amount to billions. The fund which Tencent is creating will be to take control of U.S. game development companies, and industry insiders suggest, it could well be a forced and hostile takeover.
Several sources including TMT Finance (via TweakTown) reveal that Tencent is gearing up to create a fund that will enable it to take control of U.S. gaming companies. The sources suggest that the company could be Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive. The other company in the news vulnerable to the hostile takeover is the sports game development company EA Sports.
The other aspect of this report focuses on a rather feasible scenario where several South Korean game development companies, where Tencent has significant holding, could be at the center of acquisition. The company in the crosshairs could well be Nexon, the developer of Dungeon Fighter. Another South Korean company in the docks is NetMarble, where Tencent already holds a roughly 17% stake.
Despite these still being rumors, the trajectory of Tencent in the past few years pushes the probability of the acquisitions towards being true. The company hasn’t yet responded to the reports though.
Electronic sports, also known as esports, is a version of sports competition that involves the use of video games. With the advancement in technology, you can now live stream a game or tournament and watch all the action unfold live before your eyes without having to be physically present at an event.
From first-person shooters to multiplayer online battle arenas, there are many different types of games that are played competitively in tournaments all around the world.
Top tournaments have even become so popular with fans that online betting operators have introduced esports betting to their catalog of sporting events to place a bet on. Adults can place bets on their favorite players or matches for games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2.
Mixing entertainment with leisure
ESL & Universal Music entered into a joint venture, reported on November 5th, 2018. Story by MusicWeek, reported via Medium user Cheriehu42.
Imagine live streaming an esports tournament from the comfort of your chair at home where you don’t have to leave your own home. Live streaming esports is a great alternative to attending sports events where you might struggle to get good seats, deal with a crowd of wild fans, and keep straining and stretching your neck as you struggle to get the right angle to view the game. With esports, you get to enjoy the entire game without any distractions or interruptions.
Your home also provides leisure and freedom that an arena does not. What if you forgot to bring some food to the game? You would have to struggle to squeeze yourself through the multitude of people just to get some popcorn, then going through the same tedious process to get back to your seat. Live esports allows you to quickly grab some food from your fridge and kitchen and continue enjoying the game.
It’s an alternative sports activity to bet on
As esports tournaments become more and more popular, with audience numbers rising each year, it’s easy to see the advantages that it has for online iGaming operators. Just like with the popularity of big sporting events like the Premier League and the NFL, big esports events can bring in both audience numbers and betting numbers.
If fans of football, rugby, and tennis, are also fans of video games, then there are plenty of tournaments available for them to watch. Hugely popular games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 are just some big games right now with plenty of matches that online operators have esports betting available for.
Watch some professionals play the games that you own
Another benefit of watching live stream esports tournaments is that video game enthusiasts can watch how the professionals do it. In this story from casino review site ThePOGG they describe some of the most successful game franchises that have most certainly been spurred on by the esports industry.
If there is a level or goal in the game that is just too difficult, audiences can get inspiration on how to solve it. If they own games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Rainbow Six, these are actually some of the top games that were played last year and which had some of the highest total esports winnings in 2020.
At the start of the year, The Esports Observer highlighted the top twenty esports games of 2020 by total winnings, with CS:GO, Dota 2, and League of Legends making the top three.
Although total price money was a lot lower than the previous year due to the ongoing pandemic, the numbers were still eye-watering. In 2020, the total prize pool for CS:GO was $14.75m, with the Dota 2 and LoL coming in at $8.87m and $8m. Fortnite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Rainbow 6, Overwatch, PUBG, Hearthstone, and Rocket League were the other games that made the top ten list, all making from $2.63m – $7.87m in total prize money in 2020.
Today Xbox gamers woke up with a bit of a surprise when Microsoft officially announced to increase the price of Xbox Live Gold Subscriptions by $1 for one month plan and $5 on the 3-month plan.
The pricing change meant that a full year of Xbox Live Gold will go for nearly $120, double the price of Sony’s PlayStation Plus Yearly Subscription or 100$ more than Nintendo’s Switch Online Yearly Membership.
The reason Microsft quoted originally was “periodical assessment of the value and pricing of our services to reflect changes in regional marketplaces and to continue to invest in the Xbox community.”
After the announcement went viral, many Xbox players and gamers were shocked by the sudden increase in price and were angry with the decision. Many players accused Microsft of being out of touch with the economic situation of customers during this tough pandemic time, as well as continuing to require them to pay for Xbox Live subscriptions to play free-to-play games like “Fortnite” and “Call Of Duty: Warzone.”
Soon after facing the heat of a backlash from the gaming community, Microsoft decided to rollback the changes made to the Xbox Live Gold pricing and said “We messed up today and you were right to let us know,” in the blog post on the Xbox website.
“Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we failed to meet the expectations of players who count on it every day. As a result, we have decided not to change Xbox Live Gold pricing.”
Besides rolling back the price hike, Microsoft also decided to let go of the need for an Xbox Live Gold account to play free-to-play games on the console.
“We’re turning this moment into an opportunity to bring Xbox Live more in line with how we see the player at the center of their experience, continued the post. This change will take effect in the coming months.”
With that out of the way, a new or existing subscriber to the Xbox Live Gold service can enjoy the service at old prices — one-month subscription at $9.99, three-month subscription at $24.99, six-month subscription at $39.99, and finally the 12-month retail-only subscription at $59.99.
If you’re familiar with the world of Minecraft speerunning, then chances are that you’re familiar with YouTuber ‘Dream’. The Minecraft content creator and speedrunner has been in some serious controversy recently after allegations of him cheating his speedruns surfaced against him in early December.
Through a Tweet on January 24th, the Minecraft star announced that he would be giving away a whopping $1,000 to his fans who wore his Minecraft skin in-game over the next ten days.
I'm going to be giving away $1,000 to 5 random subscribers that are wearing my Minecraft skin on a Minecraft server over the next 10 days.
You can go to this link https://t.co/zqQybLC1Y2 and click "Apply" to apply my skin 🙂 Let's see what we can do…
While it might be tough for players to figure out who the real Dream is now that everyone would be wearing his skin, looking at his in-game nickname – which is ‘Dream’ – should help players differentiate him from other fans.
To the delight of Minecraft fans worldwide, the Minecraft community is dominating the Twitch leaderboards after the highly anticipated Dream SMP finale stream took place on the platform.
Dream SMP is a huge Minecraft Survival Multiplayer server featuring several popular streamers. For the unaware, Dream is one of the biggest Minecraft YouTubers in the world and a renowned speedrunner who has been a part of some controversies as of late.
While the server was originally created for the content creators to play and have fun in, it has escalated to having a lore and roleplay that fans of the game have taken an avid interest in.
The ‘finale’ stream of Dream SMP took place a few days ago, and it has managed to garner the attention of millions of Minecraft fans worldwide. Popular Minecraft content creators who streamed the finale like TommyInnit and Tubbo gained a huge amount of traction as a result of the stream as well, with the former’s viewer count peaking at around a whopping 650,000 viewers.
According to SullyGnome, the top 10 fastest growing streamers in the past seven days has been dominated by the Minecraft community, with TommyInnit at the top. Tommy is followed by other Minecraft streamers like awesamdude, Tubbo, RanbooLive, Quackity, Foolish Gamers, Sapnap, and Philza.
The number of Minecraft streamers are growing day by day. A lot of viewers love to watch Minecraft streams. The Minecraft superstar Dream recently faced backlash for blaming his fans over encouraging “CP” through artwork. After that, Dream is now giving away $5000 to his subscribers using his Minecraft skins.
Dream is basically giving away $1000 to 5 of his subscribers over the next 10 days. You just need to subscribe to his YouTube channel and wear his Minecraft skin while playing on a server.
I’m going to be giving away $1,000 to 5 random subscribers that are wearing my Minecraft skin on a Minecraft server over the next 10 days.
You can go to this link https://t.co/zqQybLC1Y2 and click “Apply” to apply my skin 🙂 Let’s see what we can do…
Brittany Johnson aka Lovely Peaches has been arrested following a series of disturbing photos and videos suggesting the abuse of a puppy.
Over the years, Peaches has often be slandered by the community for allegations of animal abuse but the heartless side of hers was showcased to the world after she adopted the puppy. On the surface of it, adopting a puppy would speak to the kind side of her, rather it merely served as a punching bag. Her content showed ample indication of the dog being tortured and tormented for Johnson’s satisfaction. Her cruelty goes as far as kicking the dog, spraying perfume in its eyes and her latest Instagram post shows her hanging the puppy on a coat hanger.
JUSTICE SERVED: Lovely Peaches arrested for animal cruelty, according to public records. She recently adopted a dog and posted many videos of herself torturing the dog. pic.twitter.com/ZOvQtAfKEa
This crazy side of her’s sparked an outrage in the community and social media users went as far as contacting PETA and every possible law enforcement agency concerned with animal welfare. Those complaints have yielded proper judgment as DeKalb County Police Department arrested her on Friday 22 January.
Before her arrest, she previously told her followers: “If this one dies too, I’ll eat it on live for you guys.”. As crazy as it sounds, this statement begs the question about Peaches’ mental health. From the statement, one may assume that the dog is under serious health complications that made her publish such a statement, but one concerned Twitter user who goes by the handle @kimmy_cole assured us that the dog is alive and safe upon contacting Dekalb County PD.
What Lovely Peaches has committed is unforgivable, no matter when the police decide to let her go, the community will never be able to accept her back. As tarnished as her reputation has become, it will be hard for her to retain her followers, as animal abuse is a crime and sits right with none. Look past her deeds, she must reconcile her ways while there is still a chance, and take this as a lesson rather than a punishment.
To build a new esports sensation, Riot Games had itself as an inspiration. Ten years after League of Legends’ release, the developer gifted the First-person shooter fans Valorant; a game that has all the right ingredients to upstage major esports titles.
In 2009, Riot Games plucked a leaf out of Valve’s book and created League of Legends, reminiscent of classic MOBA Dota. The game later proved that it wasn’t Dota’s copy by any stretch of the imagination as the game’s player count easily surpassed Dota. After garnering more than 115 million LoL players, Riot Games finally earned the “s” in its name by producing Valorant.
The developer’s debut in tactical FPS may be fruitful for business; however, it’s the monotonous esports ecosystem, deprived of a new shooter, that actually gains from it. Overlooked, neglected, and rusty FPS genre hasn’t seen a game as colorful, lively, and well-optimized as Valorant in a long time.
However, calling Valorant an “original” concept is a folly. A pinch from Overwatch, pinch from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and some inspiration from Fortnite complete’s Riot’s FPS. In simpler words, Riot Games filled Valorant’s vial with all the right additives to patch up the FPS experience.
Unlike other genres where one game could easily replace the older one, Riot’s shooter pick was a bold decision. The developer had stepped into an arena that Valve’s CSGO owned. Surprisingly, cornering the market of FPS was another cakewalk for Riot Games.
With every new patch, Valorant refutes those who called it a “FAD”, and every new milestone proves that Valorant developers are whip-smart and versed.
The developers are not resting
Riot Games’ decision to extend its game list was not only smart but much needed. When you have an employee count exceeding 3500, one blockbuster game may not be enough. And again, Riot Games’ is one the few gaming developers to have an extensive team, unlike Valve where 35 people worked on the developer’s “Labor of Love” in 2018.
There are about 35 people on CSGO these days. Roadmaps are hard at Valve, and talking about them publically is very hard.
We have an idea of where we are going, but something new could come up tomorrow that causes us to change our direction.
While two FPS games can surely co-exist, a constant comparison between CSGO and Valorant has been unavoidable. It seems that Riot’s focus on Valve’s neglected areas was its key to making Valorant so adored. One of the most overlooked areas is constant updates and new trends.
Since its release in April 2020, the game has gone through over 15 patches. Riot Games burnished it’s newborn with consistent updates that tackled minor bugs, issues, and other shortcomings. A bird’s eye view of the developer, derived the game to near-perfection during its embryonic phase. While CSGO fans’ constant pleads for 128 tick serves always fell on Valve’s deaf ears, Riot Games took notice and gave the players just that, attracting a herd of CSGO players.
“We decided on 128-tick servers early on in development. A significant amount of our players have client frame-rates above 128, and we want to provide our premiere experience to as many players as possible, “
The monotony that has killed many FPS games, never lurked around Riot’s shooter as developers ensured that regular patches added something new to the game. With every update, the developer would meddle with agent abilities, map changes, and sometimes even add a whole new character to the game.
Valorant agents
In dried up summer scenery, the addition of Icebox revived the shooter. In other patches, Riot added Reyna, Killjoy, Skye, and finally Yoru to keep the FPS players invested in Valorant. With developer’s promise of loading up the roster in intervals, it seems that Valorant will remain cut-throat, keeping dullness at bay.
They know the community
Riot’s secret to growing its game is simple: ask the players.
It’s a powerful feeling for the players to know that they’re being heard. Not only does it make the game entertaining, but it also benefits the developer. Valorant team members are often spotted on social media platforms, resolving minor issues, spelling out game mechanics, and dropping hints about future updates. It’s as if the developer is scouting for new suggestions to make good in FPS.
Whether it is players creating their own ideal agents, maps, reporting hackers; Riot Games’ members are there to pick up cues on how to improve the game experience. The cycle of response has, in turn, created a more wholesome community. For example, a refreshing change in the gaming ecosystem could be observed on Reddit, posts dubbed as “dev suck” are rare. Instead, players choose a different, more effective approach now that they know they’re being heard.
r/Valorant
From toxicity in chat, ranking system, to issues regarding smurfers and hackers, the developer was quick to observe and solve. A hotfix, is always a tweet or reddit post away. Unofficial responses aside, ask VALORANT series testify that the developer wants to know the target audience better.
Smaller prize pool, bigger impact
A bombshell release leading to a game that no one revisits has become a common thing. Fortnite, for example, broke all records upon its release. Not only was it the most streamed game, Epic Games’ battle royale pounced over major gaming titles, emerging as an esports giant. However, in 2021, a large chunk of Fortnite esports base has declined. Professionals like Williams “Zayt” Aubin are stepping down, streamers like Ninja have moved on from the game. A dwindling prize pool can easily be blamed.
Releasing a game and sugar coating it with money is expected to attract players. What about when a better game piques the interest of users? The player base declines.
“Riot’s measure of success isn’t the number of users. Even if there aren’t that many users, it’s enough for us if we can give the best experience to the core users that enjoy our game and be loved for it. I don’t think that Valorant will be as popular as LoL, but I hope many FPS gamers like it,”
Valorant executive producer Anna Donlon said.
Unlike other esports titles, Valorant’s popularity doesn’t rely on anything other than its dopamine-kicking, spark plug competitive quality. Created to draw “real gamers,” with heavy-duty PC’s, Riot introduced Valorant as an esports prodigy set to update the five versus five format. Smartly enough, the developer didn’t release the game on a bed of million-dollar prize pool. Instead, Valorant had realistic characters, tactical shooting, game balance, and competitive spirit as its bedrock.
Ten successful months after the release, the game continues to make and break records without a massive prize pool. However, much like League of Legends, it’s evident that Valorant’s prize pool is set to be massive in the future. The only difference is, it’d be reliable and long-lasting.
A diverse game for diverse people
Gaming is an industry that houses a mere 30 percent of women, who have less to no representation on esports platforms. It took years for female teams to emerge on top in CSGO esports, and even today they don’t compete alongside men in the same tournaments, for the same prize pool.
Conversely, women are entering Valorant in herds, and they’re vocal; literally and figuratively. Riot’s quick bans on sexist and toxic players allow women to use their microphones, communicate, and play like any other user. Unlike other FPS games where gender discrimination was met with the developer’s cold shoulder, Riot Games is scouting for sexist remarks. Again, the diverse team at Riot Games has women contributing to making the game great and safe for everyone.
u/aeneia on Reddit
Issues regarding sexism and discrimination have always been reprimanded. With a strict ban system, that actually works, Riot Games ensures that those who abandon Valorant may do it for any reason, but not toxicity.
Action-packed trailers with sharp looking protagonists have derived hundreds of games to their 15 minutes of fame. However, a few games have been able to grab the brass ring and hold on to it for years. The esports scene has been stagnated with similar titles, and Valorant enters at a crucial time. With its unique approach, Riot Games is not only patching up the FPS experience, but it promises gaming ecosystem another esports giant.
As earlier reported by TalkEsport and 1pv.fr, Russian side EXTREMUM have revamped their CS:GO division by signing the ex-100 Thieves team along with Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović and BnTeT from Gen.G. Kassad, the man behind the assembly of Cloud9’s Colossus left the team after just 3 months on account of a stylistic clash between him and ALEX, the IGL at former. Until 3rd October 2020 before this most speculated roster unveil, EXTREMUM fielded a CIS roster lead by Nikita “waterfaLLz” Matveyev.
The team features Aaron “AZR” Ward, Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas, and Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai, as well as Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad, who had a short run at APEKS before teaming up with his former teammates from 100 Thieves and Renegades. Justin “jks” Savage could’ve been the fifth member of this new Oceanic-Russian side if the former wouldn’t have signed up for Complexity. BnTeT too has been revealed as the final piece to this puzzle as their fifth member.
Ex-CR4ZY player Nestor “LETN1” Tanić will take up the team’s reigns as Manager and Analyst as well while Aaron “AZR” Ward has been re-installed as the Team’s In-game leader.
Ahead of their 2021 season, EXTREMUM have planned to visit and compete in North America at some specific Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events in a bid to retain their points earned earlier as 100 Thieves and try to qualify for the upcoming PGL major.
