A few weeks back the Electronic Sports League announced that it would begin randomly drug testing players in order to cut back on substance abuse amongst eSports competitors. While these changes were announced, we did not yet know what would be banned or classed as an unfair. However, ESL has …
Read More »The International Dota 2 tournament kicks off today, $18m prize pool
The time has come, as Valve's annual Dota 2 championship tournament, ‘The International' is set to kick off at 6PM today here in the UK. There are 16 professional teams all geared up and ready to go for a chance to make it to the finals, which take place on …
Read More »ESL introduces drug tests for eSports players
The eSports scene has been in a bit of a stir over the last week or so, after a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player admitted that players are often using drugs like Adderall in an attempt to boost performance. Now, ESL, one of the largest tournament organizers in eSports has …
Read More »LoL pro team Gambit loses player with just two games to go
Although there is no guarantee that your team will win games, or even be competitive in the hotly contested League of Legends LCS season, one thing that is required to give you a fighting chance, is everyone needs to show up. Unfortunately for Gambit Gaming, it's just lost its AD …
Read More »ESL to change competitive rules following doping allegations
Last week a claim made by CS:GO pro player and Nihilum team member, Kory “Semphis” Friesen, that a large number of players on the professional scene take the prescription medication Adderall prior to competing, has made real waves in the game's Esports community. However its impact is going to be …
Read More »What happened to YouPorn’s eSports team?
Although Esports is a huge phenomenon in its own right, it really crossed into the mainstream in 2014, especially with the story that YouPorn, the streaming pornography site, had announced its intention to sponsor a DotA 2 team. It found one too, and rebranded them as Team YP, releasing merchandise …
Read More »League of Legends World Championships coming to Wembley Arena in London
We already know that eSports are becoming an increasingly big deal, even here in the UK, which is evidenced by the fact that the League of Legends World Championships Quarterfinals will take place at the Wembley Arena in London this year. Riot just made its announcement for the League of …
Read More »Is it time to start drug testing Esports players?
As long as there have been performance enhancing drugs, they have had some sort of presence in sports. As soon as big money shows up there's always going to be someone willing to get a competitive edge no matter what, which is why it's no surprise that doping as it's called, …
Read More »Dota 2 ‘The International’ tickets sold out in six minutes
Update: Tickets for this year's Dota 2 tournament, ‘The International', went on sale yesterday with the event set to kick off in August. However, unless you were quick, your chance to go may have already come and gone as the initial batch of tickets sold out in just six minutes. The …
Read More »Dota 2 ‘The International’ tickets go on sale today
One of, if not the biggest eSports event of the year, Dota 2’s ‘The International’ is swiftly approaching and tickets go on sale today. The annual, Valve-backed event is now running in to its 5th year and will kick off in a few months’ time. Last year’s tournament took place …
Read More »Youtube Live will target Esports and game streaming
Even though Youtube might still be the industry giant when it comes to online video, the fact that Google tried so hard to purchase Twitch last year shows us that when it comes to live-broadcasts, especially gaming, Youtube is not the number one destination. That's why Google is planning on …
Read More »GAME acquires Multiplay for £20 million
UK retailer GAME has made quite the comeback since its 2012 bankruptcy. Now the company is venturing in to new territory by acquiring Multiplay, who many of you will know as being behind the I-series Insomnia LAN events here in the UK. GAME is managing to nab Multiplay for £20 …
Read More »Some professional CS:GO players to face random home checks
Cheating in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional scene is a pretty big problem, which seems to have gotten worse over the last year or so. However, now pro players may have to undergo random inspections, during which admins will show up at player homes and inspect their computers or witness …
Read More »First UK eSports arena opens in London next month
eSports has become a big deal over in Asia and North America with thousands of people attending pro-gaming events throughout the year and now, the UK is joining the ranks with the first UK eSports arena opening up in London next month. In March, the Gfinity Arena will open up, …
Read More »Valve suspends 19 more CS:GO pro players for match fixing
Counter Strike: Global Offensive's competitive scene is becoming harder and harder to take seriously as now a further 19 more professional players have been suspended by Valve for match fixing and then placing bets on the outcome in order to profit. Three more teams, Epsilon eSports, WinnerR and ESC Gaming …
Read More »CS:GO professional players banned following match fixing scandal
Last week it was discovered that a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive match between teams iBUYPOWER and NetCodeGuides.net may have been fixed, netting several players thousands of dollars through ill placed bets. Valve has since confirmed that match fixing did take place and has banned a total of seven people from …
Read More »HTC begins sponsoring eSports teams
HTC is now getting involved with the eSports scene in an effort to update its brand image and be seen as something more than just a smartphone maker. The company now sponsors Cloud9, Team Liquid and Team SoloMid, three prominent professional teams. Team Liquid welcomed its new Taiwanese sponsor in …
Read More »Overclockers UK is reaching out to Twitch streamers
Overclockers UK is making a push to support professional gamers and more specifically, Twitch streamers this year, with a new sponsorship plan in place and a vision for the future. The OCUK team has kicked things off with a new PC build for Twitch streamer, Sacriel. The streamer's new build includes …
Read More »CS:GO eSports scene hit with new match fixing scandal
Towards the end of last year the Counter Strike: Global Offensive pro scene was hit with controversy following huge cheating allegations. Now things are riling up again after it was discovered that two teams fixed a match and then placed bets on the outcome in order to profit. The Counter-Strike …
Read More »YouPorn has found its eSports team
Earlier this year we learned that YouPorn was looking to sign itself an eSports team to compete at professional gaming events. Spain based team, Play2Win managed to bag itself the sponsorship and has since been re-named as Team YP, they will even be making their debut this weekend at a …
Read More »UK to get its first eSports arena next year
The UK is set to get its first eSports venue next year as Gfinity, a league organizer for multiplayer games such as Starcraft II and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, has announced that it will open up a permanent arena in London. The eSports venue will accommodate up to 500 spectators, although …
Read More »CS:GO pros banned after hacking scandal
With Dreamhack Winter 2014 coming up this weekend, tensions were already running high for professional Counter Strike: Global Offensive players, but now things have been cranked up to 11. Some of the world's top professionals at the game, have been caught using third party aimbots and other cheating tools, prompting …
Read More »Samsung White are the 2014 League of Legends champions
Once again a season of League of Legends has come to a close, with the culmination of the World Championships, this time in Seoul, South Korea. While many teams battled it out over the past few weeks, through quarter and semi-finals, ultimately there could be only one winner and it …
Read More »Sony is creating an eSports league on the PS4
Considering its big push for streaming content on the new-gen console, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Sony is launching its very own eSports platform on the PS4. However it's unlikely anyone would have predicted where the league would be born: in Spain. The news was outed …
Read More »Riot celebrates LoL World Championships with epic animation
Remember last year with the League of Legends World Championships, where developer Riot released an impressive animated short featuring some of the world's top players battling it out with the abilities of their chosen champions? Well the tradition is running strong this year, as Riot has once again animated its …
Read More »LoL Pros back in spotlight with Road to Worlds documentary
Professional gamers have gained a lot of attention in the past couple of years, as prize pools have exploded, competition has increased and the world at large has begun consuming their games with an ever increasing appetite, but we've also seen them at their more humble and heartfelt in documentaries …
Read More »Life after LoL: Riot to help older gamers transition
As much as many young people around the world would love to play games professionally, that is, get paid to play, it's a career with a half life shorter than almost any other. Even professional athletes in many real world sports can last into their early 30s, but for most …
Read More »AOC announces sponsorship of Na’Vi eSports team
AOC has just announced that it is teaming up with eSports team, Na'Vi. While Na'Vi didn't win The International tournament this year, it did rank seventh place, earning the team a $519,227 share of the $10 million prize fund. AOC's sponsorship will promote the overall global success of eSports. Since Na'Vi …
Read More »Catch up on The International 2014 with this fan-made movie
Valve's recent Free to Play documentary showed us the hype and tragedy in the build up and aftermath of the 2011 DotA 2 International tournament and it did so in a way that was very inclusive for people not familiar with the game, by mixing up CGI close ups, along with …
Read More »Youporn found a team to sponsor, it’s not yours
One of our most popular stories this year, involved Pornography streaming site owners, Youporn, announcing that it was looking to sponsor an esports team. Unfortunately for the many of you that got in touch, or professed your interest on our Facebook page, it looks like Youporn has found a team. …
Read More »