As the esports market continue to post high
numbers of growth in the last decade with no signs of slowing down, many big
corporate entities have shown interest in the market and want to get a piece of the gaming pie. As of
today, Esports alone pulls a majority of marketing deals of the brands
involved.
Earlier this week, the American-style pale lager company Anheuser-Busch is also known as Budweiser applied to trademark the phrase “the official beer of esports” in an effort to make it a leading proprietor of alcoholic beverages brand in the esports market.
Anheuser-Busch has filed a trademark application for "THE OFFICIAL BEER OF ESPORTS."
Budweiser also applied to trademark other similar phrases i.e. “the official beer of gaming,” and “the official beer of gamers”. The applications of these were spotted on the official United States Patent and Trademark Office website.
Budweiser isn’t the only beverage brand
invested into esports. MillerCoors have also invested in several organisations.
The MillerCoors also sponsors several streamers to advertise their products
(specially Miller Lite). Whereas, Budweiser is partnered with Overwatch league
and Monumental Sports and entertainment.
There are also several energy drinks brands
that are invested hugely into esports like RedBull, Sting, Gatorade etc. Since
the market is so competitive, this trademark move can also be viewed as a form
of advertisement to stand out in the crowd.
Although this might seem like an aggressive stance by Budweiser to trademark several phrases related to gaming which might be unfair to other brands. But the applications are still pending official approval and other brands can still contest the trademark application. Since the trademark phrases include “official” it might become troublesome for others in the market and also for Budweiser to get official approval.
Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu has decided to resign from the head coach position at Heroic. With this change, peacemaker will not be standing behind Heroic at ESL One Cologne 2019, the tournament which has 13 of the top 15 teams and is set to start tomorrow.
While coaching Heroic, peacemaker and the team were able to win two tournaments. Heroic have won TOYOTA Master CS:GO Bangkok 2018 and World Cyber Arena 2017 – Europe Main Stag by beating Tyloo and Gambit respectively.
Coach Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu decided to resign from the Head Coaching spot in Heroic. pic.twitter.com/1rEVL8GtVg
After retiring as a professional CS:GO, peacemaker has coached top teams such as Tempo Storm, Team Liquid, Misfits, TyLoo and Heroic since he retired in late 2015.
Peacemaker has been working on getting citizenship in Portugal and he currently lives in Denmark as he has received one-year permission to live in Denmark on the 11th of March 2018. He aims to continue to live and work permanently in Europe.
Heroic will be looking for a replacement for peacemaker so that they can have someone jumping into the server with them and find someone who can guide the team in their professional journey.
A minor in Thane, Mumbai stabbed his
19-year-old elder brother multiple times with a pair of scissors for scolding
him multiple times while playing PUBG Mobile. The 15-year-old stabbed his
brother Mohammad Shaikh to death after Mohammad tried to stop him from playing
PUBG Mobile said the police.
According to PTI reports, Senior police
inspector Mamata D’Souza said that the minor allegedly in fit of rage banged
Shaikh’s head against the wall and then repeatedly stabbed him with a pair
scissors after being scolded repeatedly for playing PUBG Mobile.
Mohammad Shaikh was rushed to nearest
government hospital after the incident was discovered. Shaikh was declared
brought dead due to excess loss of blood.
Police have registered a case against the
minor under section 302 (Punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
This isn’t first time when PUBG Mobile was
cause of violent outburst in teenagers
which resulted in death (suicides) or murder. Recently, WHO had also
called gaming addiction as a mental disorder. The game is very popular in
India and has been considered to have
caused many similar incidents in past. However, it is important to consider
that any other game can also have similar negative impact on kids.
Parents should consider keeping an eye on
their kids and should teach them to play in moderation. Parents should also
encourage kids to try other activities and develop some other habits which will
also keep them fit and healthy.
The Finals of the ESL India Premiership Summer Season LAN Finale took place between Team Entity and Signify. Signify, the team which disbanded their operations citing conflict of interest made their way to the finals after a quick 2-0 victory over Global Esports on Inferno and Train.
Both the maps had a 16-7 scoreline. Entity paved their way to the finals by beating Wings in a thrilling series which required only two maps. Mirage, the first map of the game, was pushed to overtime and eventually saw Entity taking it with a scoreline of 19-17. Train, the second map, saw Entity dominating the underdogs and won with a 16-1 scoreline. Thus, advancing to the finals.
The finals of the event were played on Overpass, Inferno, and Dust after the following vetoes:
Signify removed Mirage
Entity removed Nuke
Signify picked Overpass
Entity picked Inferno
Signify removed Train
Entity removed Vertigo
Dust2 was left over
The finals saw Signify emerging victorious after the following scores:
Signify win Overpass with a 16-6 scoreline
Signify win Inferno with a 16-4 scoreline
The first map of the event was Overpass, picked by Signify. The map saw Signify completely dominating Entity. Signify kicked off the T-half in style and limited their opponents to only 2 rounds in the CT-side. The half ended with a 13-2 scoreline. Entity was hoping to pull the map back but nothing worked in their favor. They conceded the map with a 16-6 scoreline.
The next map, Inferno, saw Signify kicking it off on the T-side in style. They took up the pistol round in their favor of the back of a stellar 3k by DEATHMAKER. They then extended their lead to 3-0 before Entity was able to tie scores at 3-3 after a brilliant 1v3 clutch by SnrLx put the first round on board for Entity. However, Signify dominated the rest of the rounds and pulled out 11 rounds at the half, limiting Entity to 4 rounds.
In the second half, Signify came out will all guns blazing the second half and pulled out the pistol round in their favor. Rite2ace added to Entity’s woes after pulling out an ACE in the following anti-eco round. Signify extended their lead by picking up the first buy round and the round, pushing themselves to map and championship point. Entity was not able to break the hold their nerves in the post plant situation. The retake was successful and Signify were crowned as champions at ESL India Premiership Summer Season LAN Finale.
North American esports organization Team
Liquid has announced a strategic partnership with entertainment giant Marvel.
Teaming up with Marvel, Team Liquid will be releasing a series of Avengers
themed jerseys.
All players in Team Liquid will be donning
new Avengers themed jerseys at all events. This year long partnership will be
first for Marvel. As part of the deal Team Liquid will first launch Captain
America themed jersey, Iron Man themed jersey, an Avengers Endgame themed
jersey and a Team Liquid x Marvel logo tee. Later more themed merch and content
will be coming as the partnership develops.
This partnership was first revealed at the
Rift Rivals EU vs NA League of Legends competition 2019, currently taking place
in LA. Team Liquid wore the Captain America themed jerseys while representing
NA at the competition.
Liquid also released a full-length video showcasing their talent wearing these jerseys and winning moments of the organisation. In the video, CS:GO pro-Nicholas‘ nitr0’ Cannella showed off Captain America themed design, while Smash sensation Juan ‘Hungrybox’ Debiedma wore the Quantum Realm jersey, and Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng wore the Iron Man jersey.
Team Liquid also posed with Captain
America’s shield while wearing Captain America themed jerseys on stage before
their rivalry match with Fnatic. Although Fnatic was able to best Team Liquid
and gain the lead on day-1.
For sometime Disney has shown interest in
reaching to all forms of entertainments which also includes esports. Although
this is first time for Disney (or Marvel) partnering with any esports
organization, but it certainly won’t be last for them.
Team Liquid is already selling a bunch of
Marvel inspired design tees and jerseys on their website.
ESL One Cologne is set to be a spicy affair, featuring most of the top teams of the Counter-Strike ecosystem, as per the HLTV Rankings. ESL have now revealed the groups and Schedule for the event that is set to start from July 2, 2019.
🇩🇪 Based on the current ESL #CSGO World Ranking, the First Round match-ups for #ESLOne Cologne are now set! Who do you think will make it to the playoffs at the Lanxess Arena?
Interestingly, Liquid open up their campaign against MVP.PK in Group A but do have other heavyweights like Natus Vincere, Faze, NRG and mousesports along with Renegades and the best-placed Brazilian team right now, FURIA.
Group B is stacked, albeit rather proportionally compared to Group A. Astralis will be keen to prove they still have the gumption of the best team in the world as they go up against BIG. The Group consists of teams like mibr, Vitality, ENCE, Heroic, NiP and fnatic.
While there are no easy fixtures at a premier event like ESL One Cologne, the statement is very true for Group B.
The tournament will also be the first event for the new-look mibr and Natus Vincere lineups, who have added Lucas1 and boombl4 to their respective rosters. ESL One Cologne will also be NRG’s debut under the leadership of stanislaw, who had joined earlier but could not participate in the ESL Pro League Season 9 Lan Finals due to the roster lock.
The opening fixtures are a best of one with every following fixture set to be a best of 3. The Group Stage will culminate into the playoffs with the Quarter-Final stage, which will be held at the Lanxess Arena.
One of India’s leading and prominent esports organisation, Signify, will be seizing all its operations effective 1st July 2019. Signify brand and their accompanying teams will be dissolved.
Horizon Sports India Pvt. Ltd., the original creators of brand Signify had a conflict of interest over the structure of ownership with other partner Cobx Gaming Pvt. Ltd. Due to the no immediate solution to the conflict Horizon Sports decided it was for best of both players and management to seize operations of Signify.
In the past 2 years, Signify, both DOTA-2 and CS:GO teams have time and again proven their skills and won various renowned titles in the e-sports circuit in India and represented the country in various prominent tournaments internationally. From having rosters belonging to different countries to forming an all Indian team to introducing a brand-new CS: GO, team, Signify has come a long way. Unfortunately, as all good things come to an end, their journey too has come to end.
Addressing this decision, Mr. Rajdip Gupta, Co-founder, Horizon Sports mentioned, “With the interest of avoiding conflicts arising from the ownership structure of Cobx Gaming Private Limited and Horizon Sports Private Limited, we have decided to dissolve the Signify. Two years ago, we formed the team with the intention to promote professional gaming and expanding professional teams in India. Today, the E-sports ecosystem in India has flourished tremendously and there are multiple professional teams set-up, hence, we believe this is the right time step out and avoid any sort of conflict with Cobx Gaming as we are actively involved in organizing tournaments. We would also like to thank our players for giving the team their all and wish them the best for what lies ahead. As an organization, we will be doing everything we can to help the players secure the next step in their career and find their ground. We are sure with their skills and experience they will achieve great success.”
Signify was founded in 2017, and since then Signify have proven their skills in both CS:GO and DOTA 2. Signify have won various renowned tournaments and have also represented India in various international tournaments. In these past 2 years, Signify had made major strides in Indian Esports. Unfortunately, every good thing comes to an end and similar Signify will be ending their short-lived 2-year journey on 1st July.
In the announcement Signify said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has shown immense support towards them since they began their journey. Without the support of the media and their patrons, without the people who showed up at every meet and greet, without those loud cheers every time they were up on stage or without those that stood by them through all their highs and lows none of this would have been possible. Getting to meet so many fans and working with such amazing talent has been a dream come true for the players here at Signify.”
Currently, ESL India Premiership 2019 Summer Lan Finale will be the last tournament for the players under the Signify banner. This will also be the last chance for fans to watch their favourite team playing live on stage.
Cloud9 are rumoured to be set for a roster change, with daps coming in to take over the role of the In-game Leader, with TenZera the other touted addition. The changes will add some much-needed structure to their lineup.
But, there still remains the question of what role cajunb will assume. Autimatic has proven to be a better option for the BIG Green Gun and the Dane, without the awp, does not add much value on the server.
Alternatively, to get Autimatic to perform at his optimum level, the Major winner should be allowed to focus primarily on assault. This, invariably, makes the addition of a primary AWPer a priority, with cajunb likely to make way.
We now look at some of the potential candidates.
Dream
Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham
Photo via: StarLadder
Skadaddy’s form was one of the major reasons of Cloud9’s unprecedented Boston Major triumph. The AWPer has announced his retirement but did come back for the organization once before. Who’s to say he won’t be open to doing it again, this time with a more stable roster and a genuine pathway towards what the future holds for the organization.
A player that knows the organization inside out and has achieved success while being associated with them, Skadoodle’s return will also prove to be a boost for the fans who have been put through a rough time by the varied iterations of Cloud9’s roster.
Cloud9 fans will always be tempted with the prospect of another‘I’m not crying, you are’ moment.
Cvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov
Photo via: StarLadder
While Skadoodle’s return would really be a dream, this is the ideal dream scenario for Cloud9. Bringing in a player that is on the up-and-up and has already worked under daps could be beneficial in adapting to the new IGL’s playing style.
Also, Cerq’s parting message to daps showed how much respect the Bulgarian has for his former IGL and would not hesitate in taking up the prospect of linking with him again if NRG fails to make their chances count at the Starladder Major.
Realistic
Kenneth “koosta” Suen (High Probability)
Photo via: DreamHack
Cloud9 could save a lot of potential cost with this move while also bringing in a player that was hyped a lot but just couldn’t live up to it. The North American has since learnt a lot and has gone through his paces after his failure at Liquid.
koosta has shown spades of brilliance under steel at Ghost and could be tempted to take up the opportunity of competing in all top-tier events once again. Now that daps has proven himself as a quality IGL, koosta could hope to continue learning the ropes of the game under the Canadian.
Matthew “Wardell” Yu (Medium Probability)
Another player mentored by steel, wardell will probably be a better choice for Cloud9. But, considering the fact that the youngster is still contracted to Ghost, the organization might be looking to build a new roster altogether around the eccentric AWPer.
Cloud9 will have to pay the buyout, even if wardell is interested in a move. This move is likely to materialize in the future if the koosta thing does not pan out as desired.
Wildcard
Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho
Photo via: WESG
Already a proven prospect over in North America during the glory days of Optic, Mixwell has been heading a local project back in Spain with Movistar Riders. The team had gathered good results. But, their roster was again picked apart as HellRaisers chose to buy out loWel.
With his partner-in-crime now gone, Mixwell could opt to venture out again, having not been a part of top-tiered events for a while now. The dream of a Spanish team might just have to wait if Mixwell is to realise his own true potential in his career.
Overall, we expect Cloud9 to add koosta to their squad, which would make the roster something like this.
NiP have confirmed the addition of Maikil “Golden” Selim to their roster following a loan deal with Cloud9.
As @PlopskiCSGO is unable to attend the upcoming Berlin Major with us due to Valve rules, Cloud9 has agreed to lend us @goldenmajk as a temporary stand-in to complete the line-up in Berlin.
After having replaced dennis in the active lineup, NiP have been a man short for the Major as Plopski would not be able to play with them due to Valve roster lock rules as Team Ancient made their way to the Europe Minor with Plopski playing for them. Hence, NiP has secured the services of Maikil “Golden” Selim since their latest addition. The 25-year-old is speculated to take over the reins of the team from Get_Right who has been the shot caller in recent times.
Rumours of Golden joining NiP surfaced online after the 25-year-old began following pita and Plopski on Twitter. Additionally, Johnathan, General Manager of Cloud 9 CSGO began following koosta and JamezIRL on Twitter. Thus, confirming that a roster change was on the cards.
A report from Jarek “DeKay” Lewis states that MiBR, famous Brazilian lineup, is in serious discussions with Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles to replace João “felps” Vasconcellos on the active lineup.
The roster change comes following a string of bad results for the Brazilian lineup after felps was reunited with his former teammates in January of 2019. Felps played with his current teammates back in 2017 where the roster had won 5 international events before he was replaced by Ricardo “boltz” Prass due to internal problems.
DeKay also mentions that LUCAS1 has practiced with the MiBR roster after both the teams’ ended their run at the Season 9 ESL Pro League Finals. LUCAS1 will be brought on board with a trial basis and will be signed on a permanent basis with the team if the trial period is successful.
However, if LUCAS1 signs with MiBR he will be separated from his twin brother, Henrique “HEN1” Teles, with whom he has been competing since they both decided to take the professional path in CSGO.
MiBR’s next offline event will be ESL One: Cologne starting from the 2nd of July. The Brazilian lineup can make roster changes for StarLadder Berlin Major before the 25th of June.
