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PewDiePie banned in China for comparing Chinese President to Winnie The Pooh

Raj 'Stan' Shah
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PewDiePie banned in China for comparing Chinese President to Winnie The Pooh

China bans the swedish youtuber ‘PewDiePie’ for comparing the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Winnie the pooh. PewDiePie was banned due to the rising controversy about the Chinese censorship within the sports , entertainment and gaming world.

According to ‘Felix Kejllberg’ a.k.a ‘PewDiePie’ the root cause of ban was a video from 16th October where he shared and made some comments on the meme featuring a popular figure.

“I mean, the resemblance is uncanny,” he said of the meme, which compared the Chinese President to winnie the pooh.

Winnie the pooh is also banned in china, people shared images of the beat to potray the president of the nation in negative light.

In that video, he also shed some light on the recent events where ‘Blizzard Entertainment’ where they suspended a professional Hearthstone player ‘Ng Wai “blitzchung” after the gamer expressed support for Hong Kong while on live stream.

PewDiePie talked about how corporations frequently bow to Chinese censorship restrictions in an effort to enter the Chinese market.

A few days after the controversy, on 19th Oct PewDiePie posted a video in which he claimed that he was banned in China. PewDiePie showed a screenshot for a chinese search engine where he searched ‘PewDiePie’ and no results were displayed.

The ban on PewDiePie extends from YouTube related searches to reddit related forums.

He goes on to say that he knew there was a probability of this happening, especially noting that German EDM DJ Zedd was banned for liking a South Park tweet.

That ban came after China banned the show ‘South Park’, which recently aired an episode critical of countries policies. The title of the episode being ‘Band in China’

PewDiePie also noted that the name “PewDiePie” was awarded to China under Chinese copyright law in 2017. The document showed that the name would be used to sell a variety of garments, including wedding dresses

PewDiePie has a history of making jokes and sharing content that many might consider inflammatory or lame. Some organisations,  including  ‘The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have classified certain actions as ‘hate speech’. The YouTuber recently rascinded a donation to ADL after his fans criticized  his contribution. Critics claim that the ADL in some cases, oversteps, a line between decrying hate speech and promoting outright censorship.

Google and FACEIT team up to tackle in-game toxicity

Varun Parashar
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Google and FACEIT team up to tackle in-game toxicity

Google, the world’s largest technology firm and FACEIT, a renowned independent platform for professional gaming competitions, have come together to develop an AI system which can identify and punish toxic players.

Toxicity in basic words means rude or abusive behavior exhibited by players in online multiplayer games and this is an issue which has plagued the gaming world for all eternity. Dota 2 and Counter Strike: Global offensive are the two major titles suffering with this problem and are often said to have the most toxic online communities compared with any other online game. FACEIT being one of the biggest platforms for competitive matchmaking for games like Dota 2, CS GO, League of Legends and many more, has partnered with Alphabet’s Jigsaw Labs to curb toxicity in online gaming through identifying toxic players in a server and penalizing them for bad behavior.

How will they do it?

Jigsaw Labs is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc (Google’s parent company) and it acts as a technology incubator by applying technological solutions to global challenges. FACEIT’s partnership with Google discloses the development of an Admin Artificial Intelligence system called as ‘Minerva’, the first of its kind to make its way to esports. This AI system makes use of machine learning to scan through thousands of chat messages and quickly identifies toxic texts. The AI then critically analyzes the breach and immediately notifies the abuser in a matter of seconds making him/her aware of their wrongdoings. Minerva can also effectively ban repeat offenders, the ones who continue to exhibit toxic behavior after being notified several times in a short span of time. The AI system does not need human moderation and can reportedly function on its own.

Does it work?

The testing phase commence in August on FACEIT’s servers and so far, Minerva has analyzed 200,000,000 chat texts and marked over 7,000,000 as toxic. The system issued over 90,000 warnings and 20,000 bans for verbal abuse and spam messaging. FACEIT as an additional measure, enforces phone number verification for accounts marked with toxic behavior, smurfing and spamming. Since the application of the system, FACEIT saw a 20% decline in toxic behaviour owing to the threat of instant punishment. Hence we can say that it definitely works.

Measure against cheating, toxic behavior, smurfing, spamming, account boosting have become customary and they give us hope that someday we will be able to enjoy these multiplayer games in the true sense they are supposed to be enjoyed.

Stay tuned for more news and updates!

Complexity Gaming throws 4v1 and CSGO match against ATK

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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Complexity Gaming throws 4v1 and CSGO match against ATK

Complexityโ€™s pro CS:GO team commits an embarrassing mistake against ATK to throw away the entire game in an ECS Match, after an epic 1v4 fail.

The match between ATK and Complexity in the ECS semi-finals went all the way to the 30th round. Nuke being a CT sided map Complexity were at a backfoot before going into the final round where โ€˜dephhโ€™ managed to get two kills on the entry turning things in their favor, and rest of this teammates were quick on adding to their tally as they found two more leaving only Johnny โ€˜JTโ€™ Theodosiou to defend for ATK. Complexity seemed to have control of the A-site when Shazam and dephh with 16HP were rushing into the site through the door and on his way coming through the vents, Shazam having already gone through was scoping into A-Main from the door angle being completely exposed towards the vent while surprisingly dephh stormed in with a knife and tagged him down to near about half HP, possibly in the heat of the moment. JT chose the perfect moment to swing out of the vents and spray down two of the extremely low players bringing this down to a 2v1 in favor of Complexity. Seeing this change of luck JT, quickly shut the door. Seeing the little time RUSH swarmed in to grab a kill but he had to open the door in doing so giving JT the advantage who was holding the appropriate angle with a FAMAS and rightfully so he capitalized on him and dropped the bomb on the other side of the door. Blamef was the only player to remain but with the little time that remained, he barely went close to the door and JT by then had done the impossible task for ATK.

Complexityโ€™s mistake is not the worst on Nuke in recent memory. The G2 debacle in failing to defuse the bomb after ample time that remained having killed every single player on the Astralis side due to miscommunication.

ATK dominated the following game on Inferno to take the series 2-0 from the hands of Complexity and advance to the grand final of the Series 4 ECS stage, where they are set to face Team Liquid.

esports based comedy show to feature Big Bang Theory star

Varun Parashar
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esports based comedy show to feature Big Bang Theory star

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is the oldest major broadcast network in North America and it seems like they are working on a comedy TV show revolving around the growing esports scene called as ‘The Squad’

Johnny Galecki, who plays the character of ‘Leonard Hofstadter’ in 46 times nominated and 7 times Emmy award winning show, The Big Bang Theory will reportedly star in the upcoming show. The actor rose to fame with the massively successful TV sitcom and will be seen working again with The Big Bang Theory writer, Anthony Del Broccolo. The show is based on a group of friends who share mutual love for competitive gaming. No further details yet on when the show will release or which actors will star alongside Johnny Galecki.

It is now inarguable that esports has exploded to another level and it is on its way to mainstream television and will gain the attention of an even larger audience. With NBC stepping in, we can surely expect many more TV shows to come out in a few years which will run parallel to esports.

Stay tuned for more news and updates!

adidas launches Official Match Ball for the EA SPORTSโ„ข FIFA 20 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cupโ„ข

Arundhati Dutta
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adidas launches Official Match Ball for the EA SPORTSโ„ข FIFA 20 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cupโ„ข

adidas and Electronic Arts revealed the official match ball for the EA SPORTSโ„ข FIFA 20 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cupโ„ข, a first in eSports. The digital ball features a bold red and black cross design on a white base, as well as the FUT Champions shield.

The official match ball willย debut on pitchย during a competitive eventย at the FUT Champions Cup Stage I in November. adidas is the official partner for theย EA SPORTS FIFA 20ย Global Series, continuing its commitment to support all athletes, whatever their game, as the global competitors to becomeย EA SPORTS FIFA 20ย World Champion.

The EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series is a season-long competition taking place in the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Ultimate Team game mode. Players build a squad over the course of a season and qualify to compete in tournaments in order to earn EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series Ranking Points and advance to future live events. Top performers throughout the season can subsequently earn a spot in the pinnacle season-ending event, the FIFA eWorld Cupโ„ข. The Official Match Ball will be available to be unlocked in EA SPORTS FIFA 20 packs and by watching competitive EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series events.

For ultimate realism, enhanced ball physics, featured in EA SPORTS FIFA 20, will be on full display with the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 adidas match ball. Enhancing the physical and digital connection even further, the ball will react differently to individual pitch types and stadium locations, such as turf, pristinely kept grounds or ravaged rainy fields. For the first time, the ballโ€™s shadow will also appear on screen to show the spin. 

Speaking about the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series, Global VP of Global Brand Communications, Florian Alt said: โ€œAt adidas, we believe that sport has the power to change and transform lives โ€“ but this is no longer limited to what takes place on the field. With the growth of eSports, weโ€™re seeing a whole new category of athletes emerge, whose game requires a unique set of skills, training and mindset. We are just as committed to helping support their game, to be the best they can be, through innovative partnerships, specially designed products, as well as physical and mental training tools to help enhance their game. Weโ€™re excited to be at the forefront of this new category of sport.โ€

The adidas EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series ball is available now and can be unlocked via FIFA Ultimate Team packs, or by watching the first FUT Champions Cup on 8th November. The digital ball will not be available to buy in physical form.

For further information please follow @adidasfootball on Instagram or twitter to join the conversation.

EPICENTER Moscow CSGO tournament returns this December

Deepak Ojha
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EPICENTER Moscow CSGO tournament returns this December

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports tournament EPICENTER will be held in Moscow on December 17-22

The main Russian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports tournament will take place in Moscow once again with total prize fund of $500,000. Group stage is planned for December 17-19 with grand finals scheduled for December 21-22 in โ€œCrocus Expoโ€ event hall.

The tournament will include 8 teams competing against each other with 5 of them being invited directly into the group stage. The other 3 EPICENTER participants will be determined in regional qualifiers in Europe, China and the CIS.

The first invited team is Naโ€™Vi โ€” legendary club from the CIS that has claimed many trophies and has long been favorited by the esports fans. The second team receiving direct invitation is Evil Geniuses who recently signed NRG roster after successfully scoring the third place at the recent September Major and feeling confident throughout the season.

Open regional qualifiers will be held in Europe on October 28-29 and in the CIS on November 21-22. Closed qualifiers are scheduled in Europe on October 30-31 and in the CIS on November 23-24. Information regarding Chinese qualifiers will be posted later.

Tickets are already on sale on the official tournament website. There are three categories available with prices starting at 900 rubles: Global Elite, Global Nova, and Legendary Eagle.

Evil Geniuses lose their 3 month win streak to NIP

Sarjyo Mukherjee
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Evil Geniuses lose their 3 month win streak to NIP

NiP secure their place in the Group B upper bracket final ahead of Evil Geniuses following a 2-1 victory.

The semi-final kicked off on EGโ€™s map pick Dust2, where the North American side picked up the pistol on the T-side off the back of a triple kill from Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov. NiP came back in the following round securing a full eco victory to bring back the momentum in their favour and were quick on a 3-1 lead.

A mobile CT side gave the swedes and edge over Evil Geniuses clinical T side, with the NIP looking miles ahead of them and went on to extend their advantage to a commanding 11-4 score line before the switch, with Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg top fragging with 23 kills.EG had no way back into the game as the Swedes were quick to closed out the map to pick up a huge 16-4 victory.

Going into Nuke, Evil Geniuses looked sharper as they breezed to a 5-0 advantage on the defence, with Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte taking the lead after a poor first map. A quad kill from Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora got the Swedes on the board and a subsequent two rounds followed in their favour. NiP were hot on Evil Geniuses’ heels moving forward, but a CeRq 1v1 clutch enabled the North Americans to stay ahead by edge to head into the halfway mark with an 8-7 lead as momentum swayed both ways. The second half saw both sides pick up a three-round streak each the North Americans held their nerve to take the map 16-14 to force a third map.

In the third map inferno, the Swedes failed the pistol but immediately answered with a force buy victory taking the economy on their side as they managed a 6-1 lead on the T side. Evil Geniuses managed to secure some round with forced weaponry, but NiP were in control all the way. Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson delivered by his high standards for the remaining of the half, with the Swedish side cruising to a 12-3 lead. A triple kill from Fredrik “REZ” Sterner in the second half pistol ended the story for EG as NiP looked closer to victory as they were quick to hit 14 rounds. Evil Geniuses managed one round from a 1v2 clutch by Tarik “tarik” Celik, but the score showed how far behind were the North Americas as NiP closed out the map dominantly 16-4, and the series 2-1.

Call of Duty: Mobile’s first official tournament is here

Varun Parashar
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Call of Duty: Mobile’s first official tournament is here

Call of Duty: Mobile has had an explosive record breaking launch and within a month of its release, the first official mobile tournament is here already. Garena will be hosting Call of Duty: Mobile Mission One and the tournament will be open only to players from Thailand.

Why Garena?

Call of Duty: Mobile has been developed by Tencent’s Timi studios with publishing partner Activision but the game was published by Garena in South east Asia. The two games although having different publisher names are exactly identical but players from South east Asia cant play the global version and vice-versa. Since both titles have differentiated and dedicated servers, the matchmaking for both the games is different as well. The global version, published by Activision, can be enjoyed by players in all other regions except China, Belgium and Vietnam.

Event Details

Now that it is clear why Garena’s name comes in, lets get to the event’s details. The tournament will feature a $6,000 (Approx.) prize pool and registrations have already begun and will be open till 29th October. Players will be competing in only five-versus-five Team Deathmatch mode where the first team to reach 100 kills wins. An online and offline round schedule will be announced on October 31st.

Garena Esports Studio in Thailand will host the top 8 teams from the online round where the real offline competition will commence. The winners of the series will walk away with $3,000 and the runners up will pocket $1,600. Garena is an experienced player as they have hosted numerous events for games like Free Fire and Arena of Valor hence it will be exciting to see how they take this esport ready game to new heights.

Stay tuned for more news and updates!

Netflix releases League of Legends documentary

Varun Parashar
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Netflix releases League of Legends documentary

Riot’s tenth anniversary brought a massive amount of news regarding the company’s future ventures and the developers also announced a League of Legends based documentary named as ‘League of Legend Origins’

The documentary takes us back in time to the era when stage mishaps and game design faults were common. The movie highlights the game’s rise from being a free to play demo to becoming a global cultural phenomena. The film is 77 minutes long and is directed by Leslie Iwerks, a renowned Academy Award nominated director. The film shows us how enormous the gaming industry has become now and how small it started off when no one imagined esports might also be a thing in the future.

Watch the Documentary’s trailer here:

Watch League of Legends Origins on Netflix.

Stay tuned for more exciting news and updates!

Call of Duty Mobile gets halloween update

Varun Parashar
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Call of Duty Mobile gets halloween update

The first official update for this chart busting game is out now as Halloween has arrived in Call of Duty: Mobile. This updates brings a revamped Halloween based theme to the game alongside items and events and a few freebies too.

Players will now get a new weapon as a free login reward as well as a free battle crate with an epic weapon XP card for use. The Standoff map for multiplayer mode has been refitted with a spooky look with jack-0-lanterns and pumpkins all around. The iconic main screen music has also been reproduced to blend with the theme and a new operator skill called as ‘Sparrow’ has also been added which can be claimed by completing achievement based challenges. The update downloads automatically upon starting the game and measures merely 83.14MBs but adds a new flair to the game for such a small storage size.

Score streaks are iconic as they are unique to this titlee and a new Molotov score streak has been added which engulfs all nearby players in a fury of flames. A limited time Hard-Point game mode will also be made available soon and will join the three existing featured modes: Standoff-Halloween, Sniper Only and Gun Game. Besides these, many balancing changes and game play improvements have been made and you can find the complete patch notes here.

Stay tuned for more exciting news and updates!

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