IEM: New York has been announced by ESL on their Twitter which is scheduled to be held from 6th October onwards. This tournament will be held online across three regions including North America, Europe and CIS due to the ongoing global pandemic (COVID-19).
12 teams from the North America and CIS regions have been invited to this tournament with 4 slots from each region will have to compete in a closed qualifier in order to qualify for the same. These 4 teams will be invited on their basis of their current standings at the Regional Major Ranking (RMR) points system. As of now ESL has yet to make an announcement regarding the Closed Qualifier.
This tournament is also adjudged as the “Final Frontier” for the teams from NA and CIS as they will enter in a bid to qualify for the ESL Rio major. This does mean they would have to gain an upper hand in securing the RMR points.
As of now, ESL is offering 5 slots and a lone chance for the North and South American regions respectively at the Major. The CIS region has also been issued 5 berths at the Major. Top 5 teams from these regions will qualify in the following manner:
Legends
Challengers
Contenders
As this will be a yet another Online tournament, the prize pool of $250,000 will be split up among the three regions, $140,000 for EU, $60,000 for NA, and $50,000 for the teams from CIS region.
The 12 teams invited from NA and CIS regions are:
North America
CIS
Evil Geniuses
Spirit
Cloud9
Natus Vincere
MIBR
Virtus.Pro
Triumph
Nemiga
100 Thieves
Hard Legion
Liquid
Winstrike
Gen.G
Gambit Youngsters
FURIA
Espada
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Qualifier
Teams from Europe are yet to be disclosed by ESL, but all teams across these 3 formats will engage in a double-elimination group.
Get ready for #IEM New York 2020; coming your way from October 6th! 🤩
🌍 32 teams from NA, CIS and EU 💰 $250,000 prize money 🏆 #ESLProTour points 😱 Last RMR chance for NA and CIS to qualify for the #ESLOne Rio 2020 Major
The Dota 2 Battle Pass offers a plethora of chat wheel sounds to Battle Pass owners who can use them in the middle of a game at will. These chat wheel lines primarily consist of comedic sound effects and memorable voice lines by Dota 2 casters. However, there are some voice lines that don’t make it to the Battle Pass, but are hidden inside the game. Some of these lines don’t even have the voice included in it, but can still be used in a game to make the lines visible to the other players in the server.
Here’s how you can use these deleted Battle Pass voice lines in your Dota 2 game to catch the enemy team (and your teammates) by surprise:
1) You need to have your console enabled in Dota 2. To do this, simply open your Steam library, right click on Dota 2, click on Properties, then under the general tab you can click on “Set Launch Options” and type in “-console”.
2) Run Dota 2, then join a game.
3) Press the hotkey you have assigned to opening the console (you can see it from the settings menu).
4) Type in the following console commands to say the mentioned lines.
Command: chatwheel_say 200 Line: [All] I’m not sure what the point of that was.
Command: chatwheel_say 202 Line: Commend this man, immediately.
Command: chatwheel_say 203 Line: [All] Oh My God! Never in all my years as a caster.
That’s it, now you can use these hidden chat wheel lines at will in any Dota 2 game. However the cooldown of one minute between three consecutive chat lines still apply to these, so you can’t spam it.
None of these three chat wheel lines have sounds included in them, since they weren’t meant to be released, but the entire server can still see these “sounds” being used by you, and will surely be surprised. You can also play around with the numbers to see if you can find more of these hidden commands yourself.
Only about a month later after Jason “jasonR” Ruchelski was signed as the first member and captain of Faze clan’s VALORANT roster, they have mutually decided to part ways, according to a report by ESPN’s Tyler Erzberger.
JasonR didn’t appear for Faze in the first VALORANT Ignition Series event for NA either. The clan’s roster consisted of Zachary ‘ZachaREEE’ Lombardo, Johnny ‘Marved’ Nguyen, Rory ‘dephh’ Jackson and Harrison ‘psalm’ Chang, and Corey who managed to land Faze a 4th place finish in the event.
Previously, JasonR had informed fans on his Twitch stream that he was not practising with the rest of the Faze roster due to him having no say in who the clan was picking, hinting towards a possible departure from the team in the future.
“Marved just got announced on the FaZe Clan roster, but I’m not playing for FaZe. I’m not practicing with that roster,” JasonR said on his stream. “I had no say in who they were picking up at all. I had no choice in the roster, and I’m not going to be forced to play with anyone I don’t want to.”
The report states that JasonR will now be aiming to make his own VALORANT roster. However, this move leaves Faze in a tight spot where they are left with only 3 players and that too, with only 3 days remaining till the Faze clan VALORANT invitational.
Previously known as “Project A” by its parent company Riot, Valorant did shift the tides over its competitors upon its release. It’s been 2 months since Valorant transitioned itself into a worldwide release after having been deployed by Riot in a closed beta format on 7th April. At the moment, none of the player count statistics have been confirmed by Riot but this Tactical First-person shooter had scaled over 3 million players during its closed beta period itself making it the most played game among other FPS titles.
Recognized as a fusion of Valve’s CS:GO and Battle.net’s Overwatch, Valorant does come with some amazing FPS tactics which even does enable you to tweak your game-play with some MOBA elements as well.
Currently, Valorant does include a pool of 11 Agents with 5 of them available upfront once you fire the game for the first time. This does help the fact where every player from the team of 5 will get a chance to play with one among the available agents at the start.
These five unlocked agents include:
Phoenix
Brimstone
Sage
Jett
Sova
Unleashing the Introductory contract.
The rest six agents can be unlocked by playing matches and by gaining XP points in the due course. Valorant does provide you with it’s Introductory Contract which bears a total of 10 Tiers. This contract enables you to unlock any 2 agents out of the rest 6 according to your own choice. You will stand a chance to unlock each among the two agents at Tier 5 and Tier 10 respectively. Whereas upon progressing, the rest of tiers will help you achieve some display banners, In-game spray cosmetics and buddies as well. Buddies basically resemble the “Charms” if you come from Rainbow Six Siege and can be applied to your desired weapon. In my opinion, you won’t get baffled to grind in for these 2 agents.
What about the rest?
We are now left with the reminder of 4 agents and this might be an uphill task in doing the same. All you got to do is navigate yourself to the Collection tab and select “Agents” under it. Once you’re there, you will be able to browse through a plethora of Agents, consisting of the ones you’ve already unlocked via the introductory contract and those which are yet to be redeemed.
The locked ones can be freely checked out; you can survey on their In-game abilities and decide to start unlocking them in a manner where you can wager them while competing. For unlocking a specific agent, all you need to do is click on your desired agent and select “Activate”. Doing so would activate their contracts and again you would have to progress through 5 Tiers to unlock the same by gaining XP points by playing a couple of games. Activating a contract enables you to achieve total 10 tiers for that specific agent. As mentioned above, Tier 5 will unlock the chosen agent for you and the rest tiers would feature the In-game cosmetics.
If you want to skip the grind you might want to put in for unlocking these 4 locked agents, you can straightaway buy each Tier for 200 Valorant points costing you around 2 USD for the same.
As a part of the Ignition Act I, Valorant released a collective set of 11 agents. With the Former coming to an end, we now look towards Act II where the Developers are all set to introduce a new Agent named KILLJOY who would debut in the same.
Luminosity Gaming on its Twitter has announced about the addition of Ludwig “Anomaly” Lagersted to their Valorant club. The 25 year old Swedish Streamer is well known for his Content on Twitch and YouTube. Since the launch of Riot’s Valorant, Anomaly went on to be game’s most viewed streamer on Twitch by streaming the same right after it’s closed beta release.
Prior to its launch, Anomaly was famous in the community for opening cases in CS:GO, his sarcastic approaches towards the game and hysterical reactions as well. Until now, Anomaly hasn’t entered any of either’s competitive scenes though he has been instrumental in promoting the same to great heights.
Since day one on his streams and vlogs as well, he has kept his identity hidden by wearing a balaclava. This news does contribute to the signing of up and rising streamers and Gaming personalities like Elliott “Muselk” Watkins who had been recently clinched by Luminosity gaming as a Content Creator for its Fortnite Division.
Now that the North American organization has brought in Anomaly on the frontline, it is still unclear about his role at the organization, whether he would be playing for the team at its official games or as a content creator.
Esports, otherwise known as electronic sports, are human to human competitive games that take place online usually through PCs and consoles. Players engage each other in an organised competition via video games either individually or as teams. Both professionals and amateurs participate in esports all over the world.
Over the years, esports has undergone significant growth world-wide due to the increased public interest in gaming. Year on year the growth of esports popularity has been seen in the significant rise of audience members. In 2017, the total audience was around 335 m, with a variety of casual viewers and esports enthusiasts. With the interest of these watchers continuing to grow, it’s expected that by 2021 there could be a total esports audience of around 557 million.
LEIPZIG, GERMANY – FEBRUARY 15: A participant stands with a mobile phone to play a video game at the 2019 DreamHack video gaming festival on February 15, 2019 in Leipzig, Germany. The three-day event brings together gaming enthusiasts, mainly from German-speaking countries, for events including eSports tournaments, cosplay contests and a LAN party with 1,500 participants. (Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)
High-profile global teams now have players who earn substantial sums every year for their salaries and from tournament prize money. Careers like this have opened up opportunities for people with the right skills to take on jobs in this growing industry and pursue a fulfilling career.
Because esports is an exciting, team-based and solo activity with links to digital and cyber skills, the industry is driven by a demographic largely made up of young people who are in the position to seize the opportunity and secure roles for themselves. Several roles are in demand for people with the right qualifications, but it is essential to acquire skill-focused qualifications in order to get a foot in the door.
The British Esports Association also has some great information for those who are looking to pursue a career in this field, as becoming a professional gamer is not the only job that is available in the industry.
Careers In The Esports Industry
Professional Gamer
Often referred to as pro gamers, esports professional gamers are athletes who are at the top in their field. They make playing video games an essential part of their daily routine and will have been playing long before they turned professional. They are usually signed-up to a particular team so that they can compete in various tournaments for prize money. Eventually, amateur level players who are focused and patient enough can expect to get into the professional league after a lot of dedication and hard work. The top professionals earn very high salaries in addition to sponsorship deals and prize winnings.
Coach
The role of the coach, like in the traditional team sports, is to train members of the team. The goal is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each member of the team and bring out the best in them. In addition, the coach must ensure that the team wins as many tournaments as possible. This entails analysis of the opponents and designing strategies to achieve victory for the team. Coaches are also required to work with the team manager in player recruitment.
To succeed, a coach must understand the rules and complexities of the game and should be able to play the game at a reasonable level. While no specific qualifications are set for this role, a prospective coach must have an in-depth knowledge of the game and the ability to impart this knowledge on players. Good communication skills are also essential. To get hired, prospective coaches must prove that they have the right skills and that their skills are better than those of competing candidates.
Agent
Some pro gamers engage with agents to negotiate their contracts and sponsorship deals. Essentially, agents represent players and ensure that the terms of any deal are in the best interest of their clients. They must therefore possess strong negotiation skills and be very good at networking. Many agents are self-employed, but esports agencies are also available where individuals can work as agents.
Journalist
Whether you are interested in writing about the latest Dota 2 news, esports tournaments, or industry updates, then esports journalism could be an ideal career path for you. The role of a journalist in any industry is to gather and analyse information in order to create engaging content for readers. To do so, journalists will cover events and publish the stories in a wide range of mediums.
To become a journalist, in any field, you usually need to attend colleges and universities to take courses in journalism or video production and they need to acquire some experience before they can secure a full-time job in an established company or publication. While permanent contract employment provides the security of regular monthly income, those who prefer to have greater freedom may choose to work as freelance journalists. They can publish their content on their own websites, blogs or on a variety of platforms.
Public Relations
The esports industry requires PR executives to help them market their brand in order to grow their fan base. They also manage the flow of information to the general public so they can get positive media coverage. PR executives can work as an employee of the company or for an external agency. A good PR executive must have a well-rounded educational background.
The industry prefers to hire people who possess the right attitude to the job with good work ethic and not necessarily people with a traditional PR background. As there are thousands of esports enthusiasts online, it’s crucial in this role to know which type of content the audience wants to interact with. According to Gaming Club’s recent article on ‘Selfie Culture: Are We Too Addicted To Our Phones?’, there is data that shows what kind of content users consume online each month. As there is 91% who watch videos online and there is also 51% that watch vlogs, this could therefore be a great opportunity to reach out to the esports audience with these types of content.
Event Manager
Event managers are required to organize successful live esport events and tournaments. This means that the manager must see to it that an event generates certain viewer numbers. They will arrange for ticket sales and provide solutions to all kinds of challenges that may threaten a successful outcome. While no specific qualification is required to get into this role, good organisational skills and ability to multitask are required to secure a place. Event courses are available for people looking to get into event management and some work experience will also be helpful in securing a job.
Imane “Pokimane” Anys is one of the most iconic female streamers in Twitch. She is one of the most followed streamers in the world with a following of 5.3 million fans on Twitch and 5.5 million on YouTube. Her huge fan following is the result of her cheerful personality on stream and regular engagement with her audience.
On August 1st, the star streamer received quite a surprise when she took a look at the Fortnite skin which a viewer had created for her, and it turned out to exceed her expectations.
The feature that impressed Pokimane the most about the skin was its hair. “It’s so hard to render hair like mine,” Poki said while expressing how amazed she was with the hair. The joggers on the skin too, caught her eye. “The joggers are exactly how the Poki joggers are,” she stated.
Photo: D3NNI
Pokimane also showed a second skin which the fan had made for her. The second skin uses the same facial features and hair as the first one but is equipped with a different outfit which consists of a blue top and a black skirt. “It’s like my Youtooz but with a skirt instead of leggings,” Poki said. “This is insanely well made.”
Pokimane also explained her interests on being able to use these fan-made skins in the actual game, which you can’t currently do in Fortnite.
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is a renowned streamer and has been the face and icon of video game streaming for several years. He is currently the most followed personality on Twitch with a follower count of over 14 million people. The 29-year-old entered into a contract with Mixer in early 2020 when he stopped streaming on Twitch.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the superstar streamer has opened up about his future plans following the streaming platform Mixer’s sudden shutdown which left him without a streaming partnership after several years.
After conquering the world of streaming with massive numbers of followers, Ninja plans on entering Hollywood in near future. “Movies, voice acting, cartoons — I’m looking at everything,” Ninja said in his interview to THR. He has looked at “literally anything and everything Hollywood,” Ninja said.
Fans of Ninja are already looking forward to his appearance in Ryan Reynold’s Free Guy which is scheduled to come out in December, 2020. He was also supposed to make an appearance in the 2019 film Jumanji: The Next Level but couldn’t make it past the final cut.
While talking about the shooting for his cameo on Free Guy, Ninja said, “They were like, ‘You were amazing, you’re a natural’. I kept telling Jess, they’re just gassing me up, saying that so I don’t think I suck. But we’re being told that it’s not gas, so I hope it’s amazing.”
There’s no reason for the fans of Ninja’s streams and gaming vids to be worried, though. He has clarified that he’ll continue gaming regardless of what else he does. “I’ll be gaming my entire life,” Ninja said in the interview.
According to a report on Washington Post, Israel is developing real tanks which operate on Xbox controllers, and with mechanics similar to the ones that are seen in video games.
The Israeli Carmel is like any other ordinary tank from the outside with usual features. The insides however, are a completely different story. The report states that the interior of the tank is filled with equipment which are usually “found in the bedroom of an average teenager.”
The insides of the Carmel consist of tablet-like devices which can be used to see the speed of the tank along with the updated map of the area. The devices can also be used to switch weapons in the tank.
The steering, shooting weapons and several other functions of the tank are done through a simple Xbox controller, which makes controlling the Carmel in the real world almost the same as controlling a tank in a video game. The driver can see the outsides through a panoramic screen fitted towards the front.
Now to sum up the things – a player sitting in his room playing video games while staring at his monitor and driving a virtual vehicle with a controller is exactly the same as a driver controlling the Carmel.
This is no coincidence either, this tank was specifically built for the Israeli Defense Force’s active-duty element, which typically consists of people from the age of 18-21, the report says. “Any teen or 20-something who enters the hatch of the Carmel will likely feel familiar with the environment, thanks to video games.”
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) engineers and managers reportedly developed the system while consulting with teenage gamers whose opinions were utilized to fine-tune it.
This is quite shocking however, the Carmel will not be used in a video game, it will be used in the real world instead. There is a massive difference in killing some video game NPCs and killing a real person. Making the controls of the tank similar to that of a video game can potentially exploit this difference as well as the mindsets of the young adults who will be driving the tank in the real world.
Although, it is undeniable that the system indeed makes the handling of the tank more convenient, especially for gamers who are in their late teens or the early twenties. But the question still stands to an extent – is it the right move to make the act of killing more convenient?
Maybe the time has the answer, but if this step is successful in the future, it might only be a matter of time before we see many more of these video game elements being incorporated into actual warfare for the sake of convenience.
Team Liquid on its Twitter has announced about the departure of their In-Game leader Nick “Nitr0” Cannella from the starting roster of Counter Strike : Global Offensive. With the departure of Nitr0, Team Liquid now doesn’t field any of its players from the inaugural roster formed back on 13th of January, 2013.
From prospect to champion. From underdog to leader.
So few can say they've achieved what you have, and no words will ever be enough to describe how proud we are of how far you've come. Thank you for five amazing years, Captain.https://t.co/thy6SznTbapic.twitter.com/3hP4bCKxJQ
This news has officially been confirmed by Team Liquid after it was earlier reported by Jarek “Dekay” Lewis from DBLTAP.com. Having been on the team since 2015, nitr0 has been with Team Liquid since they first formed 5 years back only to be the last person standing from the same. Since then after a plethora of roster changes, Nitr0 did enter in a bid to make Team Liquid a formidable force at Counter Strike Global Offensive in North America as he adapted various roles within the team which included Entry fragging, In-game leading and serving as a primary sniper as well. During his tenure with Team Liquid, he helped the team to overhaul various opponents like then Danish Giants Astralis, French side Vitality and many others to top HLTV’s Ranking chart in the first half of 2019.
Under Team Liquid, he helped his side to win the ESL Cologne 2019 where they overcame Team Vitality in a Best of 5 series under some rare fashionable circumstances. Nitr0 ended the tournament with an outshining rating of 1.16. Under nitr0’s royalty, Team Liquid secured the Intel Grand Slam Season 2 along with the mammoth jackpot of 100k USD as they went on to win IEM XIV followed by DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 and ESL Pro League S9 Finals before they were crowned champions at ESL Cologne 2019.
With nitr0’s departure from the starting roster, Michael “Grim” Wince, the 19yo prodigy will be starting for Team Liquid at DreamHack Open Summer 2020 North America as confirmed by the same in a comment which is scheduled to start from the next week.
With nitr0 stepping down, Team Liquid now fields this current roster:
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski
Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
Keith “NAF” Markovic
Jake “Stewie2K” Yip
Michael “Grim” Wince (For DreamHack Open Summer NA 2020)
