Chinese government has reportedly initiated a crackdown on online gaming addiction among the youth and have asked game developers to impose age restrictions on their games.
According to a report by Gamesindustrybiz.com, Tencent is continuously working on how it can restrict younger players or teenagers from accessing some of its games in China and have come up with a digital lock system which will ban all the players under the age of 13 years.
This digital lock system will need the guardian of the youth to unlock the game for him or her.
Moreover, Tencent Games, in order to support the Chinese government, has also started using technologies such as facial recognition and player ID checks in order to identify the age of players for Honour of Kings and others games in China.
In the last couple of years, the gaming giant, which also developed PUBG Mobile, has introduced a number of restrictions for minors such as limiting access to its games for minors to just one hour per day in 2017.
Addiction is a tough way of life and such was the case of this PUBG gamer who hails from Madhya Pradesh in India.
The PUBG player is said to have drank Acid in hurry instead of water while his game was on. The young man was so busy in the game that he picked up a bottle of acid kept near by and drank it. Immediately after, he was rushed to a hospital where Dr. Manan Gogia performed operation on the intestines.
This is yet another day where a sad news because of PUBG has emerged. We urge the gamers to kindly differentiate well between entertainment and addiction.
Cloud9 look at SunNy to complete the void left by Zellsis who is reported to join Swole Patrol with Bradley “ANDROID” Fodor, Braxton “swag” Pierce and Sam “s0m” Oh, stated in a report from HLTV.org.
From PENTA, suNny joined mousesports in August 2017, replacing Christian “loWel” Garcia Antoran. He clinched the title of the 16th best player of the world in 2018 by HLTV after an impressive run last year in which the team was crowned champions at StarSeries Season 4, the V4 Future Sports Festival and ESL One New York.
suNny is one of the three players that mousesports are currently down to after the organisation benched Martin “STYKO” Styk and Chris “chrisJ” de Jong post elimination at the EU Minor.
According to HLTV.org, Cloud9 and mousesports have had conversations about SunNy’s transfer but an agreement for the 24-year-old Finn is yet to be decided.
Cloud9 will no longer use the services of Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro. The 21-year-old was on trial with the team as a replacement for Maikil “Golden” Selim, who was out since he got diagnosed with myocarditis.
With Zellsis on the team, Cloud9 made it to the 5th-6th position at iBUYPOWER Masters and second at the ELEAGUE CS:GO Invitational, also reaching the New Legends Stage of the IEM Katowice Major, failing to make it to the top 8, going out with a 2-3 record.
Zellsis, who sported a 0.87 rating while playing with Cloud9,is rumoured to be a part of the new Swole Patrol roster alongside Bradley “ANDROID” Fodor, Braxton “swag” Pierce and Sam “s0m” Oh, stated in a report from Rush B Media.
This change comes shortly after Golden came back into the mix, replacing Robin “flusha” Rönnquist, who will be taking an extended break from the competitive scene following the demise of his mother.
In his own statement, Zellsis says that “I still have a lot to learn as a player, but it was an honor to spend my first major with such an incredible group of players. Thank you to everyone at Cloud9 for giving me this opportunity and I plan on coming back bigger and better than ever”
Cloud9 currently have:
[flag=us]Timothy “autimatic” Ta
[flag=us]William “RUSH” Wierzba
[flag=fr]Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey
[flag=se]Maikil “Golden” Selim
Cloud9 will be back in action during BLAST Pro Series Miami, on April 12.
The last time NiP was in a Major playoff was three years ago at the MLG Columbus Major in 2016. After that event, it was all downhill for the legendary roster.
With no other option left, they began rebuilding their team from the core. That process has finally paid off. Three years later, NiP made it to the playoffs of a CS:GO Major.
Where it all began- the fading of the NiP touch
NiP is a legendary name. Their dominance dates from the beginning of CS:GO to 2013. They conquered the scene, became the world’s best, and set the record of the longest unbeaten run (the 87-0).
The lineup that achieved this was: Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson, Richard “Xizt” Landstrom, Adam “friberg” Friberg, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, and Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg. They were the first to scale the heights of CS:GO competition and in this way set the standard for what it means to be the best in the world.
Post 2015, NiP were slowing down. They were still the juggernauts, but faced competition from new guns like Fnatic, LDLC/EnVyUs, Virtus.Pro and TSM/Astralis were in the race for the #1 spot
After IEM Oakland 2016, the team had dropped to the utter pits and there was no coming back for the legendary roster. The team began cutting players from their roster and added two new players called Fredrik “REZ” Sterner and William “draken” Sundin.
This did work well for the team but was no where close to their old level. The team finally understood what was on the cards; another roster change
The Rise
In early 2018, the team announced Faruk “pita” Pita as their new coach and the arrival of Dennis “dennis” Edman from Fnatic. Lastly, NiP traded draken for Jonas “lekr0” Olofsson to Fnatic and had rebuilt their roster with lekr0 being the IGL. The changes got NiP back to life, the lekr0 and pita partnership was successful. The team finally began seeing some light at the end of the tunnel
IEM Katowice 2019
The IEM Katowice 2019 Major is the first tournament in the 2019 circuit. For NiP, the run to the Major playoffs shows their efforts in coming back from scratch . In the Challengers stage, NiP came strong and qualified for the Legends Stage by going 3-2.
In the Legends stage, NiP made it to the top 8 but were knocked out in the semi-finals by Astralis thus putting an end to the fairy tail.
Apex Legends has hit yet another milestone, reaching 50 million players in just under a month, after an overwhelmingly great response to the free to play battle royale.
The game by Respawn entertainment has grown exponentially, with 2.5 million players playing within the first 24 hours, with the number growing to a massive 10 million in just 3 days. Within a week of its launch, it was also the most watched game on Twitch, with over 300k concurrent viewers at 1 point.
In comparison, Fortnite took a lot of months to hit the 50 million mark, while its 10 million players took the same time Apex Legends has to get 50.
These stats all but suggest that the Epic Games bet on Battle Royale is set to be dethroned as the biggest BR game after sitting very comfortably for over a year. However, it is not as easy as it seems on the surface. Fortnite by no means has lost viewers to Apex Legends and continues to beat its own records everyday.
In fact just last week it set a record for having 7.6 million concurrent players without any reason. The stats seem skewed as well; Fortnite was not launched as a Battle Royale Game for 2 months, with a Save the World Campaign not getting the same momentum the Battle Royale got.
While Apex Legends seems to be the game of the moment, we can only really compare it to Fortnite after a year of its launch when the initial hype around the game has died down.
Fortnite is still 200 million strong – and it will take some feat to beat that.
Earlier We had reported that Global Esports is allegedly looking forward to sign Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad. It is now a reality as the Indian organisation has acquired the service of ex-2EZ core and a couple of Polish players.
Rahul has been in 2EZ’s camp since a year and a half. Ever since his arrival, 20 year-old has added additional firepower into the lineup. Earlier on February 12, Tito and Antidote had officially announced their departure from 2EZ Gaming as the ESL India Premiership concluded a week prior. Both of them have been acquired by another Mumbai based organisation, Global Esports to seize their partially earned glory.
Tejas is reckoned for his raw firepower and excellent raw skills beside 1.14 rating. Although he did not officially announce his departure from 2EZ Gaming, 21 year-old has also been signed by Global Esports. Tejas boasts of excellent aim and firepower and alongside Rahul, Rexy has also been a part of 2EZ for a year and a half. Both of them have had commendable results as a duo under previous organisation.
Chinmay had been playing along with Rex and Tito since little more than a year but recently, Entity Gaming signed him after the ESL India Premiership Winter Finale. Within less than a month, 21 year-old is transferred to Global Esports where he is united alongside his former teammates.
Coming down to Adrian and Kamil, both the Poles have played for Team Pride and the Pride Academy prior to joining Global Esports. This marks entry of another Indian majority squad alongside a couple of foreign talent after Signify and Entity. It will be interesting to analyse their role in the Indian or SEA Counter-Strike.
This partnership between Entity Gaming and Global eSports marks the first step in player transfers in the esports scene for India. We’re glad that organizations like Global Esports and Entity Gaming are establishing this benchmark for the esports environment in India. This will enable further development for player infrastructure and grow the scene while maintaining International standards
Global Esports is glad to bring the working principles from the International scene to India, last week we finalized the transfer of Global Esports PKR DPS player ‘Water’ to Los Angeles Gladiators. We’re looking forward to setting a benchmark to further the goals of players and establish norms for inter-organization co-operation in eSports
Dr. Rushindra Sinha, Global Esports CEO & Founder
If we look closely, Global Esports has signed a 6 man roster. On being questioned about the distinctive step, Global Esports responded:
We want to work on a rotating roster. It is standard practice for us, we do even with our overwatch and fortnite teams, it also eases off the stress on the rest of the players allowing more off time and at the same time ensure the team always has a full roster for all scrims or tournaments. We prefer a larger main roster instead of substitutes and stand-ins.
Earlier this month just after the ESL India Premiership Winter Finale concluded, Entity Gaming acquired the service of Chinmay ‘PokI’ Mehta. Before getting on-board the Entity roster, Chinmay has played for 2EZ Gaming for more than a year.
He went on to replace Bhavin ‘HellRangeR’ Kotwani but in less than a month, Mumbai based organisation has transferred the 21 year-old to Global Esports. Entity Gaming has also announced to release Bhavin effective immediately since his contract has ended and the organisation plans not to extend his contract either.
This comes in as a major shift for Chinmay. Chinmay moved from 2EZ Gaming to Entity right after the ESL India Premiership ended. Within a month, he is being transferred to Global Esports.
On the other hand, Delhi’s popular Simar ‘psy’ Sethi will be replacing him on the active lineup. Earlier this week, Simar played alongside the other four against Team nxl and Lucid Dreams in the Silver Slam tournament.
Simar needs no introduction. 20 year-old lad has got tremendous raw-skills and firepower. But unfortunately, he has been suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome lately.
It is although unclear whether the star AWPer has entirely recovered from the injury. Simar is expected to take the rifle since DJOXiC will be picking the big green gun.
The six-year-old Finnish organization had a rough sprint in its early days of foundation in 2013. Moreover, the tussle between the management and players forced the organization to retire pretty soon.
The European scene of CS:GO was scrambling with players when the then 22-year-old Aleksi ‘allu‘ Jalli made news with his AWPing. The Finn had first rendered its services to NiP. Following his departure, he moved to Liquid, ENCE, FaZe & Optic Gaming for the next three years.
The journey of ENCE at IEM Katowice began with stumping victory against Spirit & G2 Esports. Further, advancing to further stages amidst of multiple defeats against Renegades.
ENCE qualified for the playoffs by beating AVANGAR 2-0 convincingly. Therefore, facing Liquid, Natus Vincere in quarters and semis, beating them both in best of three’s.
The grand finals of IEM Katowice was more of a stampede for the beginners. The battles of the best where experiences win. Thus, leaving no margin for heroics for the underdogs. A team like Astralis who did beat mibr, Natus Vincere, FaZe & other mammoths of the game, mercilessly. ENCE’s defeat was no surprise, though, expectations had leveled higher for the Finns.
The journey is still pronounced remarkable & takes us back to the era, the rise of Luminosity.
Astralis have perhaps etched their name in the history of Counter-Strike Global Offensive with their third Major title as an organization – second in a row. The Danes beat ENCE in straight maps (Train 16-11, Inferno 16-4) to retain their crown.
Grand Final
Astralis won Train 16-11
Astralis won Inferno 16-4
The Grand Final started on ENCE’s pick Train, with Astralis on the CT side. The Danes though, found themselves on the back foot early on as early outer aggression from ENCE yielded them the pistol round.
Astralis did not go for the second round force and instead bought well into the third round, which worked in their favour. Before we knew it, Astralis were leading 3-2. But, the scores were level soon, with ENCE converting an inner take. The following round saw a similar attempt, albeit with the opposite outcome as Astralis successfully retook the inner bombsite.
Astralis rushed to a 7-3 lead on the back of some successful defences, forcing ENCE on a quasi. The Finnish rookies were unperturbed and responded with a brilliant Quasi buy round to lodge their fourth round on the T side. Astralis did not give their opponents any more leeway and ended the half 11-4, with Magisk recording a 3k in the final round of the half.
Dupreeh failed to convert a well-worked 1v3 that ended in a 1v1 to hand ENCE their second pistol round of the map. A 3k from xseven and a foiled inner split attempt from Astralis later, ENCE cut the deficit to just four rounds.
A 1v2 clutch from @Xyp9x secures us the first map in the #IEM Grand Finals 🔥
— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) March 3, 2019
Astralis chose to forcebuy and made it work to respond. The Danes then rushed to a 14-7 lead before a brilliant 1v2 retake from sergej brought one back for ENCE. A 2k at the inner bombsite from Allu helped ENCE add one more round.
Via: HLTV
ENCE added two more rounds before Astralis chose to up the ante with a quick take of the outer area. With the score at 15-11, Xyp9x was left with a 1v2 with just a cz in his hand, which meant only one thing – Astralis managed to claim ENCE’s map pick Train with the scoreline 16-11.
The second map started with a triple-man ENCE mid push on the CT side of Inferno. While ENCE got the first pick, dupreeh and device responded with a 3k and 2k respectively to earn their first pistol round of the series.
Dupreeh raked in some cash with the SMG with a 3k as ENCE went for the full-eco. Astralis rushed to a 4-0 lead soon after a couple of B hits and did not look like letting up anytime soon. Magisk’s 3k ensured the streak worsened for ENCE, who were yet to put up a round despite being on the CT side.
With the score at 6-0, Astralis seemed to be finally facing the short end of the stick with Dupreeh and Xyp9x left in a 2v4 situation, which the duo converted with some brilliant teamwork. Another 2v3 afterplant, this time on the A bombsite, saw ENCE falter once again in their quest to put up a round on the board.
A gla1ve double nade kill at B bombsite ensured another round and a 3k from Device in the subsequent round saw Astralis hit double figures without any response from ENCE.
The Fins finally responded with a B shutdown but were immediately reset by Astralis. With the score at 12-1, Device mopped up an ENCE eco mid push with a 4k. The Danes finished the half strong at 14-1, with just two round separating them from the defence of their major crown.
ENCE chose to rush mid and it yielded them the pistol round. Consecutive pistol rounds saw ENCE push the score to 14-4 before a B shutdown and a foiled Mid rush saw Astralis secure the map, series and the IEM Katowice 2019 title with a scoreline of 16-4 on Inferno.
Train was a matter of patience for Astralis. ENCE did try to shake the Danes up with some quirky rounds and CT aggression at the T connector. But, Astralis prevailed by catching ENCE off-guard with a couple of quick rounds at the end.
The Danes also lost a couple of clutch situations and would not be happy with the fact that they lost both pistols on Train, something that could have had a much bigger impact on another day.
Train already gave us a glimpse of just how dominant the scoreline could be if Astralis manage to get the pistol round and that is what happened on Inferno. Astralis won the first pistol and then just rolled over ENCE with momentum and some precise teamwork.
The utility efficiency from Astralis was a joy to behold on Inferno, a map that was not known for the HE meta a year ago.
ENCE’s run was no fluke. But, the fairytale had to end in order for the Astralis dynasty to be established, if not already.
