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Vertigo replaces Cache in the CS:GO Active Duty map pool

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Following the conclusion of the IEM Katowice Major, Valve has elected to temporarily remove Cache from ranked matchmaking.

This marks the first change of the year to the Active Duty lineup made by Valve.

Vertigo, the newly revamped bomb defusal map will be replacing Cache in the Active Duty map pool. This means that Vertigo will be played at the next CSGO major in August, the StarLadder Berlin. Other international events will also be playing with Vertigo in the game.

Over the past few updates in 2019, Valve has been making changes to Vertigo. However, Vertigo has never experienced any competitive play on it. Thus making meta and strats on the map unknown to us, leading to organizers choosing to implement the new update later on in the year.

Below are the most recent changes to Vertigo in today’s update.

  • Added new cover in bottom of mid, that doubles as a ramp towards “window” to B site
  • Pushed up CT spawns slightly
  • Prioritized spawn positions, CTs will be biased towards forward spawns, Ts biased towards rear spawns
  • Added corner railing to catwalk on B site
  • Blocked two-man boost on top of spools in CT spawn
  • Blocked angle over wall when going down stairs from B site towards T spawn
  • Tweaked T stairs up to bombsite B
  • Tweaked layout of T spawn slightly
  • Updated bombsite target models on sites
  • Elevator shaft injuries now count towards the injury statistic
  • Fixed various clipping issues

However, the Active Duty map pool now consists of Vertigo, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, and Train. Over and above these changes, the new update also brings about a new music kit in the famous song “EZ4ENCE” and a new sticker capsule called “Feral Predators.”

Gameplay

  • Grenades will no longer go through closed doors in certain rare circumstances.
  • Players can no longer pick up weapons through walls or without direct line-of-sight.

Misc.

  • Fixed certain textures sometimes not rendering when running with -d3d9ex launch option.
  • Fixed an issue causing certain areas to not render correctly when spectating a player with zoom-in activated.
  • Fixed items removed from user’s inventory sometimes showing up in loadout and buy menu incorrectly.
  • Fixed player disconnect messages to have neutral names when communication preference is set to sanitize player names.
  • Added “consecutive_round_losses” value for each team to Game State Integration output.

COBX announces Yes Bank as Title Sponsor for COBX Masters 2019

COBX has announced Yes Bank as their title sponsor for COBX Masters 2019 which takes place from April 5-7 at NESCO, Mumbai.

This announcement puts the tournament right up there with one of the biggest seen in India, with a prize pool of $200,000 for the CSGO and DOTA events. The financial details of the partnership have not been revealed.

In attendance are Major participants Grayhound Gaming as well as BOOT-d[S] who just recently qualified for IEM Sydney. Fans will also have a chance to witness the commentary of the popular duo of DDK and Bardolph who will also be present.

Tickets for the event are available on Insider. You can check them out here.

HellRaisers to trial Lowel as their new fifth

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HellRaisers will be trialing out Christian “loWel” Garcia Antoran, who currently plays for Movistar Riders, according to HLTV.

HLTV has information that Christian “loWel” Garcia has been practising with the team, who are looking to complete the team following the departure o Özgür “woxic” Eker to mousesports, and benching Bence “DeadFox” Böröcz.

Earlier, HellRaisers used Vega Squadron’s Igor “crush” Shevchenko for the European closed qualifier of DreamHack Masters Dallas, holding a 0.82 rating.

loWel has been with Movistar Riders since July 2018. He has attended just two international events with the squad, the most recent of which was the WESG Finals, where the Spaniards were eliminated after tying one Best of 2 series with fnatic and suffering defeat by the hands Windigo, who emerged triumphant in the grand-finals.

In this lineup, loWel gets back with former mousesports teammate Tomáš “oskar” Šťastný and ex-coach Sergey “lmbt” Bezhanov.

The current HellRaisers roster is:

  • [flag=ua] Kirill “ANGE1” Karasiow
  • [flag=kz] Abay “Hobbit” Khasenov
  • [flag=jo] Issa “ISSAA” Murad
  • [flag=cz] Tomáš “oskar” Šťastný
  • [flag=es] Christian “loWel” Garcia Antoran (trial)
  • [flag=hu] Bence “DeadFox” Böröcz (backup)
  • [flag=ua] Sergey “lmbt” Bezhanov (coach)

Photo: HLTV

cajunb no longer part of OpTic Gaming

OpTic have revealed that they will no longer be using the services of René “cajunb” Borg from now on. Today we wish @CajunBCS well as he makes his departure from our CSGO roster. We look forward to seeing his continued success in Counter-Strike. pic.twitter.com/jZKgFpf42X— OpTic Gaming™ (@OpTicGaming) March 28, 2019.

Cajunb was a part of the OpTic project back in 2018 February when a revamped team was announced with the likes of Nicklas “gade” Gade, Kristian, “k0nfig” Wienecke, and North American duo of Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz and Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan.

Due to certain issues, the team went back to the roots, the team went back to an All-Danish Roster by signing Jakob “JUGi” Hansen and Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer to replace the two americans, Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz and Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan.

The team never settled down and made another bout of roster changes, replacing gade with Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen and in turn replacing him with Ismail “refrezh” Ali at the end of last year.

With cajunb on the team, the team came second at DreamHack Summer 2018, the FACEIT Major‘s Europe Minor, and cs_summit 3, but failed to convert them to gold.

With cajunb no longer a part of the roster moving on, OpTic now stand as

  • [flag=dk] Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
  • [flag=dk] Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer
  • [flag=dk] Jakob “JUGi” Hansen
  • [flag=dk] Ismail “refrezh” Ali
  • [flag=dk] Casper “ruggah” Due (coach)

Photo: HLTV

BENQ launches G-SR-SE Red Esports Mousepads in India to enhance your gaming experience

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BenQ ZOWIE announced today the launch of ZOWIE G-SR-SE Red Special Edition mousepad, which is G-SR-SE Red. G-SR-SE Red mousepad is an update to the previously launched G-SR-SE Blue mouse pad, providing gamers with a new colour option, and refreshed design to choose from, depending on their preferences.

ALSO READ: ZOWIE G-SR-SE Mouse Pad (RED) for e-Sports: Review

Mousepads are essential for gameplay. It provides smooth mouse movement, better tractionto your mouse sensor, and a soft surface for your hands and wrist. ZOWIE G-SR is designed for gamers that enjoy the comfort of a rubber base in a cloth mousepad.The rubber base in ZOWIE Mousepadsis 100% flat, which ensures the same performance across the mousepad and on any kind of surface.The Special Edition provides a slightly different glide feeling from the standard black G-SR mousepad.

Key features:

  • The Smooth and even texture offers a consistent glide throughout /
  • 100% flat rubber base offers increased stability on any surface.
  • Compatible with all types of mice.
  • Dimension: 470 x 390 mm ± 10 mm/ 18.5 x 15.3 inches ± 0.4 inche .

With the price of ₹2,800 ZOWIE G-SR-SE (Red) mousepad will be available at Amazon and select retailers.

Photo: GGesport

Vivo partners with Tencent to launch $2.5 Million PUBG Mobile Club Open

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Tencent has announced Mobile Giant Vivo as their title sponsor for the upcoming PUBG Mobile Club Open 2019.

The tournament, consisting of players from 10 different regions, will feature 2 phases, the spring and fall split with a prize pool that is the highest ever in the game’s small history.

Initially set at $2 million, the addition of Vivo has brought in another $500,000, with the Chinese company also providing phones to play during the tournament.

The Spring split Qualifiers are currently underway, which will go on till the end of the month. From there, regional finals will converge to the Global Finale in July.

Image credit: Vivo

ESL Pro League Season 9 Asia groups revealed

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The four teams advancing to ESL Pro League S9 Asia have been decided following the conclusion of the qualifiers for the tournament.

In the Chinese qualifier, MVP PK and 5POWER made their way to the main qualifier. In the SEA closed qualifier, BOOT-d[S], Alpha Red and Lucid Dream emerged victorious and made their way to the qualifier.

From India, Entity were victorious in the Indian Premiership and will be seen in action at the tournament.

The top two teams from each qualifier will make it to the playoffs. The number 1 team from Group A will play against the winner of Group B. The winner of the tournament will secure a berth for themselves at ESL Pro League Finals in Montpellier, France, from June 18-23.

The complete groups are:

Group A:

  • TYLOO
  • ViCi
  • MVP PK
  • 5POWER

Group B:

  • BOOT-d[S]
  • Entity
  • Lucid Dream
  • ALpha Red

Esports Popularity Around The Globe

Recent years have seen an explosion in the popularity of esports, fuelled by an insatiable appetite in Asia. It’s not just a case of playing your favorite games hoping to get a better score than your friends; players compete for mega bucks and have become rich and famous.

Massive Growth in Asia

There are billions of dollars to be made in the esports business. Forecasters believe that the global market will expand by 75% to $1.6bn by the end of 2021. The arrival of smartphones has made esports even easier to play.

A major area of growth is in the number of live tournaments. Mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter ONE Championship has already made a $50m investment and wants to hold esports events alongside MMA matches.

China listed esports as an official sport in 2003 and 13 years later, it was declared a national industry.  Another major boost came in 2018 when esports became a demonstration sport at the Asian Games. The next event takes place in 2022 and esports will be an official medal sport.

More partnerships are being forged as companies realize just how much money could be made in the future. The number of competitive players in China doubled last year leading to online companies such as Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings to set up venues in the country. Rural areas, as well as the major cities, are being targeted, and events take place on a weekly basis.

It’s big news for game developers as the tournaments create more awareness of their products. The hope is that games such as League of Legends and Dota 2 will see their already impressive sales boosted.

Academies are opening up in countries such as China, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. It’s becoming big business with students paying up to $975 for a month’s tuition, all dreaming of becoming professional players. Achieving that dream could see them earning up to $700,000 a year.

Japan has also seen incredible growth in the popularity of esports. That’s led to increased sales of high-performance gaming computers that eliminate the possibility of even the shortest lag. Be sure to check out our own reviews for the best gaming gear.

The Tokyo Game Show held in October 2018 saw plenty of talk about esports. The second-hand market for these computers also sees increased business. Others just go to many internet cafes and use their superior equipment.

Perhaps the best-known Asian market of all is South Korea, which is regarded as the country that started the esport revolution. Gamers like Faker, Bang and Wolf are more or less household names.

https://twitter.com/SKTelecomFaker/status/1090475166948360192

South Korea hosts probably the biggest live esports event in the world – the League of Legends World Championship.

The Middle East is catching up

Dubai is a place of extravagance, and the Middle Eastern kingdom has already made it known it would like to be a global gaming destination for esports. The United Arab Emirates is already constructing the region’s first dedicated esports venue, catering for players who can’t get enough of games like Counter-Strike. Pro teams play each other with over $54,000 won in prize money. Overwatch is also popular, and teams in the UAE include Risky Gaming, Inferno Game Zone and Dubai Mirage.

However, esports is still some way behind other social online entertainment there, such as online casinos. Despite land casinos and sports betting being prohibited, locals are able to find plenty of legal opportunities to play online.

Saudi Arabia is another part of the Middle East enjoying rising esports popularity; there’s even official government representation and support for competitive gaming.

The United States and esports

You can be sure that when a new trend starts, the USA won’t be far away from the action. The country has taken esports to its heart and produced big names, like the celebrity gamer Ninja, otherwise known as Tyler Blevins from Michigan.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuKHHJzgNOb

The best of the rest

With the popularity of esports spreading like wildfire, there are still some countries where it’s more popular than others, including:

  • Germany
  • Sweden
  • Russia
  • Brazil
  • Australia

Even if there are no huge live events to go and watch in your own home country (see the latest esport event schedule here), there’s always plenty of places streaming the action, including Twitch and Youtube.

$50 Million Esports Arena Is Arriving At Philadelphia

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Gamers in Philadelphia can soon look forward to enjoying the first purpose-built esports stadium in the whole of the USA. The $50 million project is being organised by Comcast Spectator who are a sports and entertainment company who own the Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey team and also run the Philadelphia Fusion Overwatch esports team.

From summer 2019, there will be extensive work in constructing the 47-acre stadium in South Philadelphia. This will create a purpose-built 3,500 seat arena that will host some of the biggest esports tournaments in the world. The main focus of the entertainment at the new esports arena will be the exploits of the Philadelphia Fusion esports team, but it’s also hoped that the stadium will also be a hotspot for competitive gaming on the East coast too.

Comcast Spectator have already unveiled plenty of exciting new projects in the area that include a 10-storey office tower, as well as the Xfinity Live entertainment and dining hub. It’s all part of the company’s plan to make the city of Philadelphia an important part of the rapidly growing competitive gaming scene. It has been estimated that over 400,000 people in the city’s television market play Overwatch, and it’s hoped that the new esports stadium could help to cater to the demand.

Philadelphia Fusion have already cemented their reputation as one of the world’s top Overwatch teams. With well over 100,000 Twitter followers and star players like Gael Gouzerch helping to raise the profile of the esport, it seems as though the planning of the new stadium couldn’t be better timed.

Whilst the home of Overwatch has traditionally been in Los Angeles over on the West coast, by creating a dedicated gaming hub on the East coast, Comcast Spectator will be hoping to boost the overall entertainment infrastructure of Philadelphia.

As well as the expected 120 gaming events per year at the new stadium, people in Philadelphia can also look forward to a range of other events from pop concerts to dance music extravaganzas. In order to boost funds for this $50 million project, Comcast Spectator have stated that they will be hoping to sell naming rights for the esports arena.

So what will the new esports stadium look like? The arena will be built by the Populous architecture firm who found success in designing the Yankees stadium, as well as the main arena for the London Olympics in 2012. In addition to this, Populous have also gained experience in gaming event building through their development of an esports arena in Arlington, Texas.

Above all, it’s hoped that the new stadium will optimise the viewer experience for action-packed esports like Overwatch. Whilst Philadelphia Fusion have historically been playing at the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, the new arena in their home city should hopefully give them all they need to become one of the best teams in the Overwatch League.

The article courtesy of generated feed through several feeds including Esports.Net.

Bondik replaces wayLander in Winstrike

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Winstrike have acquired former HellRaisers and Gambit player, Vladyslav “bondik” Nechyporchuk, the organisation has announced on their Twitter

Bondik will be replacing Jan “wayLander” Rahkonen,who has been removed from the active lineup, following a very short period of 5 months with the team.

bondik was a free agent after being released by Gambit earlier in the month coach Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy. In his 3 months with Gambit, bondik attended the SuperNova CS:GO Malta and the CIS Minor.

In a statement on the Winstrike website, bondik said,” “I am glad to be a part of Winstrike.I believe it has good players and, if we work hard, we will be able to go far. Now we are trying to get used to each other. Soon we will try to bring joy to our fans. Thanks for your support.”

During his short stint with Winstrike, wayLander averaged a 0.86 rating on LAN. He was essential in helping the team to qualify for IEM Katowice via the Minor Play-In. At the Major, Winstrike went out in the New Challengers Stage after losing to NRG, ENCE and Cloud9 with a 2-3 record.

Bondik will step onto the server with Winstrike on Tuesday, in the the opening round of the GG.BET Sydney Invitational.

The complete Winstrike roster is:

  • [flag=ru] Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov
  • [flag=ru] Georgi “WorldEdit” Yaskin
  • [flag=ru] David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan
  • [flag=ua] Vladyslav “bondik” Nechyporchuk
  • [flag=lt] Aurimas “Kvik” Kvakšys

Photo: HLTV