Week 2 of PMPL South Asia is about to end and day 3 has concluded. Teams at the top of the leaderboard are giving their best to hold on to their positions and teams at the bottom are trying to make a comeback.
OVERALL STANDINGS
Orange Rock manages to win a chicken a dinner each day and, therefore, still stands at #1 with 402 points in 28 matches. GodLike is still trailing behind OR with 341 points in 27 matches. SynerGE is standing intact at #3 with 325 points in 31 matches.
MATCH-WISE RESULTS
Match 1 – Erangel – WWCD: Fnatic (6 kills)
Match 2 – Sanhok – WWCD: Orange Rock (7 kills)
Match 3 – Vikendi – WWCD: TSM Entity (16 kills)
Match 4 – Erangel – WWCD: Megastars (12 kills)
Match 5 – Sanhok – WWCD: Megastars (6 kills)
KILL LEADERS
Vexe, the frontline assaulter of Megastars, was seen on a rampage in the battlegrounds eliminating enemies left, right and centre and, hence, can be seen as the #1 kill leader yet with 52 kill points. He is followed by Mavi, IGL of OR, at #2 with 43 kill points. SGEseervi overcomes ZGOD to become the #3 kill leader with 41 kills.
Orange Rock played only two matches on day 3 and got chicken dinner in one. GodLike did not perform that well except in match 5. They finished at the second position in the match. Only one match is left for SynerGE to play in week 2 and this poses a big threat to it as teams like TSM Entity, Fnatic and TeamIND will be eyeing for that third spot to end the week as they have three or four matches left to play. Megastars is also trying to make a comeback with two chicken dinners they won on Saturday. The race for the top three is going to be nail-biting on day 4 of week 2 of PUBG mobile pro league South Asia.
With over 26.2 million unique players in April 2020 (30% surge) and the game peaking at 1.3 million concurrent players breaking Dota 2’s all-time high record, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a game that has lived for ages and seems to flourish further. A possible explanation behind the soaring numbers could be the COVID-19 pandemic and the succeeding lockdown but the developers deserve equal credits nevertheless.
Unlike a few games, CS:GO is highly open structured and community driven. The players can design maps, skins, music kits, etc. in the Community Workshop on Steam; if approved, the submissions are materialized in the game. The Counter-Strike franchise has a loyal and strong user base and that is the reason why even after nearly two decades, the fans have not ditched the game.
Amongst thousands of loyal users, one such lad has developed a distinctive yet blissful game mode where the users can play table tennis on a CS:GO server. The game mode, or rather the map, can be played in a 1vs1 or a 2vs2 scenario. “It’s really impressive how the CS community still comes up with new ideas,” commented a user on Reddit.
Here’s how to play table tennis in CS:GO with your friends online:
Open Steam. Go to the Community tab at the top and click on Workshop.
Subscribe to this map on the Workshop and wait for the Steam client to download it.
Run CS:GO, click on “Play CS:GO” at the top left.
In the drop down tab at the top, select Workshop Maps and then select the Table Tennis map.
Invite your friends and press on the GO tab at the bottom.
After the huge amount of hype surrounding the upcoming new agent in VALORANT, Riot has finally gone ahead and revealed an official trailer for the hero which is expected to hit VALORANT on its official release on June 2nd. Previously, Riot was seen teasing bits and pieces of the new agent through their blog and a tweet.
While no clear indication was made right then, today Riot has decided to make things more official, with the gameplay trailer for the new agent being officially released through another tweet.
The video attached with the tweet shows the new agent Reyna showcasing her skills in the game. Although nothing can be conclusively said about her ability effects, the Mexican agent seems to have an ability that allows her to heal herself while another ability seems to allow her to throw an orb into the air to provide her with a tactical advantage. The video also shows the agent being able to withdraw power from the enemies she kills, which is certainly unique.
What’s further interesting about her is her ultimate, which is called Empress, requires only six points to charge fully. However, no information is revealed about the ultimate effect as of yet.
The trailer also showcases the new map ‘Ascent’ which was announced by Riot to come out with the game’s release. Although, the details of the map from the video isn’t nearly sufficient for us to able to draw the structure of the map.
Besides the new agent and the new map, Riot had also promised the addition of new servers to VALORANT on release. Some more fixes like FPS drop issues, ping problems and performance issues in general are also set to be fixed by Riot in the upcoming launch
Long ago, on servers that are now closed, there lived the legacy of MR12 in competitive Counter-Strike. In fact, it was the OG format for the duelistsway back when. With the progression of economy changes, structural changes and changes to other phenomenon related to Counter-Strike, mostly in CSGO, MR15 became a much more suitable format and MR12 was sent to the pits of anonymity; or to an indefinite Gulag.
But, recently, CSGO experts have started to voice their opinion on a potential opportunity to bring back the MR12 concept at least for trial, if not permanently. HenryG was one of few who were vocal about the concept.
With the amount of gun rounds / partial buys we see now. I honestly think that MR12 would be more than sufficient over three maps. I started my CS career with MR12 and it was perfectly fine even with a very different economy system.
Alas! Gamers without Borders announced a 2 Million USD prizepool for their first tryst with CSGO after a successful adventure in Dota2 during this seemingly never-ending lockdown period. Apart from the magnanimous prizepool, the benefitting factor to society in general and the quality of teams on display, what stood out was the format – a Bo3 series throughout the tournament with MR12 adopted for maps, with a Bo5 for the Grand Finals.
This might answer how the MR12 will suit the current strata of CSGO and the players’ reaction to the format, which is perhaps, one of the greatest thorns when it comes to changes to competitive formats that could change the landscape of how some rounds are played out on the server. We try to see the nagging points around the MR12 concept and whether it can be a viable format.
The Pistol Round Dependency
Now, one of the major reasons behind the MR12 format being shelved was the importance of pistol rounds. Due to the economic structure in the past, a pistol round win would guarantee 3 rounds more times than not. This, combined with a win on the first complete buy round for the losing side, would mean a 5-0 lead on either half, which would be an advantage that is hard to overturn, especially in the MR12 format.
To put it statistically, a team should win 6 rounds if they won both pistol rounds, which would make for nearly half of the rounds required to register a win on the map as per the MR12 format. MR15 allowed more room for comeback and a greater level of competition on the server.
However, after the recent changes to the economy, games have become stretched, with close scorelines par for the course rather than being an abnormality. Also, it has reduced the pistol dependency from 3 rounds to 2 rounds effectively.
almost every round is a gun round so they get played out till the wire a lot of the times too
The importance of pistol rounds has reduced so much in the current meta that it is now merely treated as a standalone round rather than one that requires additional attention. Bringing back the MR12 now would restore a fraction of the influence pistol rounds used to have on the ultimate result without it being as excessive as it was during the Grand Ol’ days of Counter Strike.
The Time Conundrum
MR15 is also starting to take a toll on players. Owing to the level of competition, Bo3s have become the go-to format and the stark rise in number of events participated causes burnout, which has already being voiced by the CSPPA and top players in CSGO.
Take for example, the Qualifiers. Teams have to sometimes play through 2-3 Qualifiers at one time and the length of each match takes a toll on players. Even casual players begin to notice a difference after an awfully extended exposure to the game. Imagine that combined with the pressure of performing as a professional athlete. Granted, they are professionals and need to adapt to this.
Although, it is easier said than done. Burnout is a real issue and has been highlighted by many pros during the lockdown period, with the likes of Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer, Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Hojsleth and Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander already announcing their respective temporary breaks owing to the same.
It is about time the players also get some respite, especially considering the changes to the economy has increased the length of each map, with a Bo3 now averaging a significantly greater time than before.
The Entertainment and Competition Value
You stretch any good thing to extensive lengths of time and it automatically becomes monotonous and boring for viewers. The entertainment value of anything is captured by how long the produced form of entertainment can hook a single viewer to the screen. The longer it goes on, the less interested the viewer is bound to be.
Lockdown might have given people ample time to view the great matches. But, often, it so happens that viewers are deterred by the long hours of the game, especially when other popular esports disciplines either have a shorter completion time or have made a conscious effort to make it so.
Take the examples of games to emerge in the Battle Royale genre. All of them have a shorter completion time (except maybe COD:WARZONE), provided you are competing till the end. Then, there’s Dota 2, which, although known for its never-ending games have constantly made meta changes to facilitate a quicker resolution. Even Valorant has the MR12 format and people have taken kindly to it.
MR12 ensures all that without compromising the quality of competition since – and I feel like a broken record at this point – it is now viable thanks to the current economy structure in CSGO.
The Conclusion
All in all, MR12 seems like one of the many steps needed to make CSGO more viable, given the entry of a rival in Valorant; even though it’s still early days. It will ensure a decrease in likeliness of players feeling burnout issues; perhaps not in the long duration but when playing more than one game in a day.
I'd actually like to see a TO try MR12 again. Not sure if fans would like that, but I think it could work.
The entertainment factor though, might be one that makes it worth considering, with new and casual viewers now having an alternative in Valorant. Gamers without Borders will serve as a welcome experiment for the viability of the MR12 format.
The reaction of pundits, players and viewers to the event, which has already started, will tell us whether MR12 in CSGO is able to come back victorious from the Gulag.
Riot Games’ foremost character-based first-person shooter Valorant released into the beta phase on April 07 earlier this year. Initially the game broke viewership records on Twitch. Valorant peaked at 1.72M concurrent viewers breaking Fortnite’s record 1.68M peak. The game received heavy engagement and applause from several enthusiasts.
Photo: Riot Games
Throughout the beta phase, Valorant received frequent updates mending bugs, balancing agent abilities and map fixes. Developers fixed 1,256 bugs through 6 update patches and established 17 data centers across regions for lag-free and low latency experience. Riot Games also outlawed 7,786 cheaters through hardware bans and made sure that they never came back.
Perhaps, the beta phase ended on the night of May 28. And since then, the servers are down. “I can’t play anymore!” Not to worry, Riot Games announced that the game will be officially launched on June 02, 2020. It is only a matter of a few days until we get back to popping heads. The developers have a bunch of plans ahead of us.
Upon release, the servers will be live yet again. The game will also receive the fourth map, eleventh agent, Omen bug fix, FPS fix and hit registration fix. And not to forget, Twitch Rivals: Valorant Launch Showdown – an online tournament with $200,000 up for grabs per region. Also note that all player progressions from the closed beta such as agent contracts, skins, rank, etc. will reset prior to the official launch.
The much anticipated 2020 Battle Pass for Dota 2 was finally released on May 25th after a year long wait and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ever since its release, Dota 2 fans have kept going crazy about the plethora of exclusive rewards and amazing features included in the 2020 Battle Pass.
Apart from a bunch of new content like the Guilds and new game modes, this year’s Battle Pass boasts a total of three exclusive arcanas and two all-new hero personas designed to revamp the hero experience. The female anti-mage persona has gained a lot of traction in the community, and that too even before its release.
The amount of love Valve has put into the Battle Pass didn’t go unnoticed, the community has reciprocated the love by creating new milestones for Dota 2. The prize pool for The International 10 has already surpassed 8 digits and is standing over $10,000,000 in just two days, the fastest in Dota 2 history. For comparison, The International 2019 prize pool was standing at about $9,300,000 by the time this year’s numbers crossed $10 million, thus creating a gap of almost $700,000 in between.
While Valve should thank the renowned Saudi Arabian Prince for the huge spike in numbers, if the Dota 2 community can keep this pace up, TI10 is certain to break last year’s prize pool of a whopping $34 million dollars. Valve has also announced a giveaway of 10 Battle Pass levels for free to all the wielders of the pass if the prize pool edges past $40,000,000 which will further fuel the community to spend some extra bucks on it.
Even if the prize pool falls short of $40 million dollars, it would still be enough for Dota 2 to resume its reign at the #1 spot among all esports in terms of prize pool. No other esports tournament currently comes even remotely close to the prize pool The International 9 brags of, and with TI10 setting off to a wonderful start, the numbers are set to increase further.
Moroccan-Canadian Twitch streamer exclusive to the platform, Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys, is quite popular among her audience. With nearly 5 million followers on the streaming platform, she is regarded as the most popular female streamer on Twitch. She also has a little over 5 million followers on her YouTube channel.
Photo: Pokimane
Imane regularly streams Fortnite, League of Legends, Valorant, CS:GO, etcetera. She had received the Shorty Award for the Best Twitch Streamer of the year in 2017. Pokimane will also be making a cameo appearance in Ryan Reynolds upcoming movie Free Guy which will be releasing on the big screen on July 03, 2020.
She, indeed, is not a big fan of the Call of Duty franchise. This was her first time ever. And it did not go as planned. 24-year-old apparently exposed her email address as well as Activision ID on the livestream. No doubts, she might already have received loads of friend requests, emails and what not. Considering her following, she has quite the fan base.
While live streaming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, she went to refill her bottle of water and unknowingly exposed her email address and Activision ID on the account information page. “You know, I’m almost not mad because it is comical for me to go AFK at that exact moment. It is f***ing comical,” she chuckled.
Earlier on the stream, Pokimane revealed that she had not even watched Call of Duty, let alone played the game. She has been actively streaming on Twitch since 2013 and her first Call of Duty stream happens to take place in 2020 is a revelation in itself.
Who said gamers can’t date? Kippo has raised $2 million for a dating app with a goal of building relationships with like-minded people who enjoy video games.
Dating apps like Tinder and Bumble have been around for a while now, it’s time gamers get a chance at feeling loved and the dating app for gamers called Kippo is looking to level up the experience. The whole idea behind this app has gathered the startup app a whopping amount of $2 million in the venture. Some of the investment partners of Tinder have invested in this startup as well.
The in-app experience, a profile on the platform can have a set of players’ favourite titles showcased alongside other information of the user like Pokemon-like cards of their pets or so. The app has already debuted on iOS while the Android version is in the making.
Kippo is willing to turn the ”basement dweller” image of a gamer into a modernistic approach. David Park, CEO of Kippo explained to Venture Beat: ”Historically, there were so many stereotypes and stigmas about gamers. We know that that’s just not true anymore. And this is something that this community really needed,” and described gaming-focused public as a demographic that started off niche.
The developers of Kippo are not only making a dating app just for the same of making but they have the designed the app with destined to bring people of likewise-minded to get along so they can play online. Something like, LFG services that Destiny 2 or Leauge of Legends players are familiar with.
Kippo isn’t the only standalone app in the game space. Discord is another app which has become immensely popular within only three years, thanks to group chat friendly design of Slack while adding features such as modern voice and video calling. Not to forget, for plenty of gamers already, it’s a go-to app for communication with other gamers while playing their favourite games. It’s still questionable how Kippo racks up against the giant, but Kippo has some unique set of features that standout which might just help the app grow itself.
Sony is well known for its innovations in the gaming industry and the company’s revolutionary gaming console the PlayStation is the flag bearer of their success in the industry. The PlayStation is one of the most critically acclaimed gaming consoles of all time and has been a fan favourite ever since the launch of its first iteration, the PlayStation 1 in 1994. The current-gen PlayStation 4 has already sold over 100 million copies worldwide and remains the undisputed top-selling current-gen console on the market. After the critical success of PlayStation 4, Sony is all set to kick things up a notch and release the PlayStation 5.
As expected, the PlayStation 5 comes with a lot of industry-leading technology and new innovations. The gaming console boasts ray-tracing capabilities, high-speed SSD which is claimed to be much faster than we have ever seen before, photorealism and improved visuals in games and much more. Among the many new features, the one to stand out the most is the haptic feedback on the all new DualSense PS5 controllers. Sony claims that this groundbreaking feature adds to the immersion of the game and allows users to physically experience in-game events of rainfall, driving through muddy roads and so on.
Up until now, the industry standard for controller immersion based on audio responsive vibrations has been the rumble technology. Sony takes this a step further with the new haptic technology which potentially takes immersion to the next level. Each grip of the DualSense controller is fitted with a motor and large half-moon-shaped weight. These motors are capable of spinning at different speed levels over various time durations. The implementation of these motors and their proper utilization by game developers can lead to enhanced immersion for the users.
According to WIRE’s hands-on reveal of the PS5, the vibrations of the DualSense controller are delivered by highly programmable voice coil actuators. This is the same technology as seen in speakers and microphones where vibrations allow us to produce desired sound. WIRE writer, Peter Rubin in his hands-on experience of the PS5 said the following about the haptic technology of the DualSense controller, “the haptics can enable some astonishing effects.
First, It plays through a series of short demos, courtesy of the same Japan Studio team that designed PlayStation VR’s Astro Bot Rescue Mission. In the most impressive, I ran a character through a platform level featuring a number of different surfaces, all of which gave distinct—and surprisingly immersive—tactile experiences. Sand felt slow and sloggy; mud felt slow and soggy. On ice, a high-frequency response made the thumbsticks really feel like my character was gliding. Jumping into a pool, I got a sense of the resistance of the water; on a wooden bridge, a bouncy sensation.”
Sony has always been successful in delivering good quality controllers for the consumers and there is a great possibility that even this time around, the DualSense will live up to its name and the hype around haptic technology. In the “Play, Watch, Listen” podcast, one of the guests namely the game designer of Thomas Was Alone, Mike Bithell in on of his replies to composer Austin Wintory quoted, “all I’m saying Austin, is you’re gonna love what they’re doing with the controller on PS5 … the DualSense stuff. Haptic..those rain drop things, I had some demos that are really good.”
So many positive reviews and feedback from reviewers and game developers alike, the haptic technology of the DualSense PS5 controllers is all set to become the next big innovation for the gaming industry.
— PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) May 29, 2020
Finally, the guessing game is over for one of the most anticipated events from Sony for this year. The word is out now and Sony has officially announced a PS5 event which is all set for 4th of June, Thursday at 9 pm BST/1 pm PDT.
However, it doesn’t seem like it the console will be revealed at the event as the official blog post from Sony reads as ”a bit more than an hour” which will give you ”a first look at the games you’ll be playing after PlayStation 5 launches this holiday”.
Although they also stated that this is just a part of the series of PS5 updates to come, which might simply mean, they would be saving a full-fledged reveal of the next-gen console for a later date.
Thus far, we have learned about the DualSense controller of the PS5 and the spec sheet of the next-generation console is been revealed.
For those who don’t know what’s powering the upcoming console, Specifications are as follows:
CPU – 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency
I must say, slowly but surely Sony is taking its own sweet time to reveal details about their upcoming console while the rival Microsoft has already revealed Xbox Series X back in December itself and has showcased all the third-party games that will be offered on Xbox.
