The B/R Weekly Rushdown: June 15, 2016
Overwatch, Electronic Arts, cutthroat hedge fund managers and Russian politics all in one article!
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first installment of the Bleacher Report Weekly Rushdown. Each week, Bleacher Report will round up the most interesting eSports stories of the week. Content can include anything that can impact the eSports world, from game announcements to tournament results, and from roster shake-ups to world news.
So what's on the menu this week? Read on and find out.
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EA Finally Committed to eSports?
Better late than never, right?
After years of stop-start efforts, gaming juggernaut Electronic Arts is finally ready to take the eSports plunge. At E3 2016, EA Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore announced that the company behind the Battlefield, FIFA and Madden series is finally going to embrace competitive gaming...but plans to put its own unique twist on it.
"EA is no stranger to the power of elite competition," said Moore (h/t DailyDot.com's Saira Mueller for the transcription). "But the spectacle of eSports barely scratches the surface of competition. It’s a select few that become pro gamers, that’s why EA is embracing a new approach to competitive gaming, we want to make stars of all of our players."
What does that mean, exactly? Well, that's not clear yet. Moore teased that EA's league would feature three tiers of tournaments (Challenger events, Premier events and EA Major events), and it's safe to assume they will do something similar to the Capcom Pro Tour, where players accrue points over the course of the year at various other tournaments in order to earn a spot in the company's own blockbuster event.
The first taste? The EA Play Major this weekend, which kicks off the build toward the $1 million Madden Championship Series.
Unfortunately, details remain murky. What games will be included? Will EA support past titles or focus on the most recent offerings? Will fans be able to watch these online, and if so, how? Alas, gamers will have to wait to find out.
Not Too Many New Titles Announced at E3
Unsurprisingly, a slew of new titles were announced at E3, but there weren't too many new additions to the eSports family. Outside the EA announcement, only two noteworthy titles got featured.
Foremost among them is EA's Battlefield 1, the next installment of the popular first-person shooter series, which brings the franchise back to World War I. Battlefield has been gaining traction in competitive circles, and given EA's increased focus on eSports, it could become a major title in short order.
In the world of fighting games, Injustice 2 was announced. A sequel to the popular DC Comics-based fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us, Injustice 2 will add in the ability to customize your favorite characters with cosmetic items and will introduce a number of new characters including Supergirl, Black Manta and Gorilla Grodd. Gods Among Us was a featured title at Evo 2013 and 2014, so it wouldn't be a stretch to expect Injustice 2 to improve on that.
Finally (though it wasn't actually announced at E3 proper), the newest installment of the BlazBlue series, Central Fiction, will hit Japanese PlayStations in October and will roll out in North America this winter. Of course, PlayStations aren't actually region locked these days, so people who can't wait will be able to import it.
Britain Leaving European Union Has Some eSports Implications
One of the biggest bits of international news is that England is considering leaving the European Union. That's a massive, complicated issue that is far beyond my scope of knowledge, but one thing that seems clear is that it will impact British eSports. Here's what Hearthstone broadcaster and Daily Dot writer Callum Leslie had to say on Twitter:
"Biggest EU issue with esports: freedom of movement. UK players never have issues going to EU events last minute, no visa required in the EU.
— Callum Leslie (@callumleslie92) June 10, 2016"
Interesting stuff.
Obviously, the fate of British eSports isn't all that high on the priority list when it comes to the UK-EU referendum. They have things like trade, immigration and economics to worry about! Here's hoping that, either way, it pans out for everybody across the pond, though.
Russia Recognizes Competitive Gaming as Sport
Staying in the realm of European news, according to GosuGamers.net, Russia now recognizes eSports as sport in its Register of Sports. While that's a bit of good news for eSports as a whole, it remains to be seen what sort of an impact that will have on anyone involved. Acknowledgement from the Register of Sports allows the Russian government to honor athletes for their achievements in recognized competitions.
Which games does that include? Which tournaments? Do they get the kind of benefits and awards that traditional athletes receive in Russia? Does this help Russian players more easily travel for international tournaments? Those questions remain unanswered at this point.
Overwatch Gets First Major Tournament
The competitive Overwatch scene is already hot and heavy, it seems. ESL announced Friday that it will host a tournament for the recently released team-based first-person shooter with a $100,000 prize pool. Open qualifiers will be begin later this month, with the main event starting on August 20.
The schedule is as follows (via ESL's release):
"The first of four open qualifiers for the tournament will begin on June 27, operated by ESL and hosted on ESL Play. These will be followed by regional qualifiers and a final online qualifier, all of which will be played out online and broadcast in conjunction with ESL’s numerous streaming partners—further details will be announced at a later date. Once the qualifiers kick off, there will be four days of online Overwatch competition per week throughout July.
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Overwatch has been dominating Twitch.TV's viewership outside of high-profile tournaments, and it will be fun to see how much traction the game can gain over the coming months. It has some stiff (and direct) competition in Counter Strike, but Blizzard has done a brilliant job of marketing the game to this point.
The Business End of eSports Is Getting Scary
"Undoubtedly, there is more strife and chaos. As the eSports pie grows, the level of conflict...will grow along with it."
ESports is growing at an amazing rate and make no mistake—hedge fund managers and venture capital firms have taken notice. Paresh Dave of the Los Angeles Times wrote a must-read piece about the always-shifting and sometimes-cutthroat business side of eSports from a number of different angles.
It's a long, sprawling piece that looks at everything from the tournament organizers to game publishers to team ownership groups. There are lots of takeaways, so make sure to read it over.
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