B/R Weekly Rushdown: 2017 League Worlds Date and Location, Evo 2017's 9th Game
It was another relatively quiet week in the world of esports. There was some Dota 2 action with the Asia Championships qualifiers and the standard roundup of League of Legends Championship Series action. There was some ELEAGUE Major fallout as several squads shuffled or disbanded after less-than-strong finishes. And, of course, teams battled it out in a variety of tournaments in Overwatch, Hearthstone and other titles.
However, the biggest news this week wasn't about what has happened, but what will happen. So what important announcements came this week? Read on to find out.
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2017 League of Legends World Championship Details Announced
Riot Games owner Tencent Holdings is bringing its billion-dollar baby home. Details on the 2017 League World Championship were announced on Tuesday, with the official "tl;dr" reading as follows:
- Worlds 2017 will be a 24 team-tournament in China with teams from all 13 LoL professional leagues participating across multiple stages.
- The Worlds 2017 tournament format has been expanded to include a Play-In Stage before the Group Stage.
- LMS will now be awarded a 3rd regional seed for Worlds 2017.
- Some regions will be able to earn a second seed for Worlds 2017 based on MSI 2017 results.
- The three Korean seeds will not participate in the Play-In Stage and will be auto-seeded into the Group Stage.
The changes to the format are interesting in many ways, but they're particularly intriguing from a business perspective.
The expanded lineup of teams (24 compared to 16 in previous years) and the increased stakes of the Mid-Season Invitational help to expand the LCS into markets that aren't historically deep. The fact that the Worlds will be in China is interesting in and of itself, as massive Chinese companies continue to orchestrate premiere esports events. The promotion of the "Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau" region to three-seed status is an interesting one.
The festivities start on September 23. Naturally, look forward to Bleacher Report's coverage as the date approaches.
Everybody Hates Echo Fox?
Echo Fox is one of the fastest-growing esports organizations in the world and was one of the first examples of traditional sports personalities getting involved in competitive gaming. However, the team's fast rise and rapid expansion have irked many of its rival organizations and players. That hasn't stopped the organization from being a force across numerous titles...until recently.
According to Echo Fox League of Legends player Henrik "Froggen" Hansen in an interview with Yahoo Esports, the squad has been unable to secure opponent for scrims.
"We don't really scrim LCS teams because they don't want to scrim us," he said (h/t Dot Esports' Callum Leslie for the transcription). "We can't really do too much about it, we just try to improve as much as we can...It's definitely holding us back. All I know is that they're just saying, 'No, we can't scrim you sorry, our owner said no.' So can't do much about that."
Rivalries and feuds between teams rarely play out in the public sphere, but this isn't unheard of. In 2014, a feud between Chinese Dota 2 teams spilled out onto social media, with members of Team DK lobbing insults and accusations of refusing to scrim at Zhang "xiao8" Ning. While most of the players would backtrack on their claims, it cemented refusing scrims en masse as one of the few methods for teams to police one another.
That kind of solidarity among its rivals could prove troublesome for Echo Fox, which also fields teams in Counter-Strike and Call of Duty, among other titles. The Rick Fox-led organization has riled up its constituents through controversial roster moves and, according to a report by ELEAGUE host Richard Lewis (warning, NSFW language), not taking part in the PEA's push against ESL.
Of course, while this may prove to be a speed bump for Echo Fox's players, it most likely will not keep them from competing at a high level. More importantly, it won't stop the organization from making free-agency power plays going forward.
Final Evo 2017 Game Decided
It wasn't all that surprising when it was announced that a charitable donation drive would determine one of the titles for Evo 2017. Heck, back in 2013 Super Smash Bros. Melee made its way into Evo for the first time through its community donating over $94,000 toward breast cancer research!
What was surprising was the fact that two of the games which seemed like shoo-ins for a spot on the main stage—Pokken Tournament and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3—were thrown into the pool. It was a difficult position for the communities surrounding both games and, unfortunately, only one would have time in the spotlight on the grandest stage in fighting games.
After two weeks of donations, that title will be UMVC3, which raised $71,690 to Pokken's $66,906, per Shoryuken.com's Zavian Sildra.
UMVC3 and Pokken were the first- and second-place titles for nearly the entire drive, with Pokken trailing by $2,000 to $3,000 for much of the two-week span. There were points when the difference narrowed to just a few hundred dollars, but each and every time Pokken got close to moving past its rival, UMVC3 would re-establish its lead.
It's a sad turn of events for the Pokemon-themed fighting game.
Pokken had a surprisingly strong start in terms of pro play, with strong sales leading to a sizable community. In recent months, however, its staying power has been called into question due to the Wii U's impending demise, the lack of discussion over a port to the Nintendo Switch and the fact that the Pokemon World Championships (which hosts tournaments for the Pokemon handheld titles and trading card game) has dropped Pokken from its 2017 season.
Granted, this isn't a death stroke for Pokken Tournament. Its community, after all, is large and vibrant enough that it nearly overthrew one of Evo's staple franchises.
Still, this is a hit for the game. Hopefully, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company will help to keep it going.
"Jock Tax" Coming to Esports?
The American government may not recognize esports as a contest on par with basketball or baseball, but that won't keep them from taxing it in the same way. According to Forbes.com's Michael E. Strauss and Jason Feingertz, the "jock tax" may soon be coming to the world of competitive gaming.
So what is the jock tax? Here's how Strauss and Feingertz describe it:
"States are not content to simply tax the income of their own residents. They also seek to tax income earned by nonresidents who work in the state...In states where professional athletes do not reside, they are increasingly finding themselves subject to aggressive enforcement of so-called "Jock Tax" statutes—laws designed specifically to tax the income of nonresident athletes and other performers earned outside their state of residence.
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For example, Dota 2's The International is held annually in Seattle, Washington. The jock tax would allow Washington state to shave off state income taxes from winnings at the event. The same goes for Georgia with ELEAGUE's events in Atlanta, California with BlizzCon and so on.
This won't necessarily change the business in any noticeable way, at least in the near future. If it comes out that certain states are more lenient with their enforcement of the jock tax in esports than avaricious states like California and New York, though, don't be surprised to see teams start popping elsewhere.
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