Category: eSports

‘Counter-Strike’ pro Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev gets his own documentary

S1imple Formula chronicles the rise and career of arguably CS:GO’s biggest star.

Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev is one of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s most decorated players, and a new documentary just came out highlighting his career.

S1mple Formula, produced by Kostyliev’s team NAVI, is a documentary chronicling his path towards professional Counter-Strike and what sets him apart from other players. It includes interviews with former and current teammates, coaches, friends, commentators, analysts, and Kostyliev’s family. Clocking in at just shy of two hours, S1mple Formula is a staggeringly thorough look at one of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s biggest stars.

“I remember the time when we just signed a contract in 2016,” Yevhen Zolotarov, СЕО of NAVI, said via Dot Esports. “Honestly, now it’s hard to believe that it was already five years ago. For the esports industry, five years is quite a long period of time.”

Check out the teaser for S1imple Formula for yourself below.

The full documentary is on YouTube for those willing to learn all about the life and trials of this legendary player.

We don’t see profiles for esports stars all that often, so here’s to hoping this is just the first of many.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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Iceland’s Laugardalshöll Sport Center reportedly to host 2021 League of Legends Worlds

The tournament in esports will likely be heading back to Iceland.

The 2021 League of Legends World Championship Series might be heading to the Laugardalshöll Sports Center in Iceland, Dot Esports reported Monday. It’s also looking like the event will run from Oct. 6 through Nov. 6.

Rumors of the event taking place in Iceland have been circulating for a while now, which isn’t particularly surprising considering Riot Games put on several esports tournaments in the country recently. The Mid-Season Invitational for League of Legends and Valorant Champions Tour events took place at the venue back in May, so there’s precedent for it. 

According to the same report from Dot Esports, every stage of the event will take place exclusively in Iceland due to players from most regions being able to travel to the country. 

Apparently, from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9 will be the dates for the play-in stage, while the group stage is taking place from Oct. 11. through Oct. 18. Playoffs will begin on Oct. 22 and conclude on Oct. 31, with finals happening Nov. 6.

None of this is concrete until Riot Games confirms (or denies) the information, but it all seems likely.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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Clayton Raines will not commentate the 2021 League of Legends World Championships

The shoutcasting legend wants to focus on his health for now.

Clayton’ CaptainFlowers’ Raines is one of League of Legend’s most iconic commentators, but the 2021 World Championship Series will have to do without him. Though not for any other reason than Raines wants to make his mental and physical health a priority.

“I’ve been pretty open these past few years about how poorly I’ve been doing overall,” Raines said in a Twitlonger post. “My physical and mental health are both a long way from where I’d like them to be. I still never get enough sleep, and I haven’t been able to motivate myself back into the gym since everything first shut down last year. I lost all my momentum with my personal stream, and I love making content as a creative outlet.” 

Raines continued: “How does this relate to Worlds? Worlds is an all-encompassing event when you’re working it, and it lasts for over a month. It undoes all your routines, plans, and habits. The schedule usually flips everything upside down, and it’s hard to have much of a life outside of Worlds. These changes are harder for some people than others, and I’ve always been one of the people who don’t adapt well. Even before everything shut down in 2020, international events were largely remote for on-air talent, and it’s always been tough on me.”

Read the full statement from Raines for yourself below.

Raines then goes on to apologize for his decision, particularly the fans. Stressing again, this was his choice alone and had nothing to do with Riot Games or anyone else. Hopefully, Raines will feel comfortable returning by the time the next big League of Legends event happens.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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Early version of ‘Overwatch 2’ to be used in next Overwatch League season

Overwatch League VP Jon Spector confirms that the sequel will be in use during season 5.

When the next season of Overwatch League hits in April 2022, it will be using an early build of Overwatch 2,Kotaku reported Friday. Meaning pro players will get to test the competitive waters long before the game comes out for everyone else.

While additional information on season five of Overwatch League beyond its start date of April 2022 is noticeably light, Blizzard themselves quickly confirmed early reports that Overwatch 2 will be part of it. 

“Oh yeah, also this,” Jon Spector, Overwatch League VP at Blizzard, said on Twitter while quoting mentions of an early build of Overwatch 2 being in use during the 2022 season. 

Check out that thread from Spector for yourself below. 

Given that Overwatch 2 is making sweeping changes to PvP, it makes sense that Blizzard would want to get it into the hands of pros before anyone else. PvP, for example, will opt for 5v5 rather than Overwatch’s 6v6. Teams will also only be allowed to use a single tank, which upset a lot of people.

Here’s to hoping that these changes, in the end, will make Overwatch League even more exciting than it was before. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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‘League of Legends’ ofrecerá un concierto interactivo de heavy metal

League of Legends está por armar un concierto virtual de heavy metal con Pentakill, una banda dentro de su universo. ¡Sí, leíste bien! Los fans hasta podrán influir en el espectáculo mientras sucede. ¿Cómo funcionará exactamente este encuentro? Los …

League of Legends está por armar un concierto virtual de heavy metal con Pentakill, una banda dentro de su universo. ¡Sí, leíste bien! Los fans hasta podrán influir en el espectáculo mientras sucede.

¿Cómo funcionará exactamente este encuentro? Los fans necesitarán ir a la Wave page del concierto el 8 de septiembre a la 1:00 pm PT / 4:00 PM ET para participar en el espectáculo. Los asistentes podrán tomar decisiones que impactarán lo que suceda en el escenario en tiempo real y podrán platicar con otros asistentes. Por otro lado, si lo que deseas es solo asistir como espectador y no participar, está la opción de verlo en YouTube y Twitch.

Traducción: El 9-8-21, #LostChapter cobrará vida en una experiencia interactiva con TheWaveXR. Únete a Pentakill y haz historia. Regístrate ahora: wave.watch/Pentakill

“Estamos emocionados de continuar llevando la música y las historias a otro nivel con Pentakill”, dijo Toa Dunn, director de Riot Games Music, en un comunicado. “Junto con nuestros socios en Wave, The Mill y We Are Royale estamos determinados a mostrar cómo se verá el futuro de las experiencias virtuales de entretenimiento”.

El evento es una especie de cuenta regresiva para el nuevo álbum de Pentakill Lost Chapter, que estará en todas las grandes plataformas de streaming cuando el concierto termine.

Artículo traducido por Gabriela Enríquez

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Valve commemorates late ‘DOTA 2’ commentator with moving in-game tribute

Aldrin Paulo “Dunoo” Pangan is now forever part of DOTA 2.

In the most recent update for DOTA 2, developer Valve Software added a tribute to the late Aldrin Paulo “Dunoo” Pangan. The legendary Filipino commentator that recently lost his life to COVID-19.

“We were saddened to hear recently of the passing of Aldrin Paulo ‘Dunoo’ Pangan, an icon of the Filipino casting community,” Valve said on the DOTA 2 blog. “As a tribute, for the next season, the selected chat wheels feature some of his most iconic lines.”

The platinum-tier chat wheel lines include:

  • “Easiest money of my life!”
  • “Lakad Matataaaag! Normalin Normalin.”
  • “The next level play!”

Even if you’re not familiar with DOTA 2, Pangan’s energy during matches was unparalleled. Check out a clip of him going wild for yourself below

DOTA 2’s community is still processing the grief that comes with Pangan’s passing as well.

Now, Pangan is part of the game that he loved so dearly.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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Controversial ‘tap-strafing’ move in ‘Apex Legends’ is getting removed, and pros aren’t happy

Respawn Entertainment announced that come patch 10.1, tap strafing will be no more.

Respawn Entertainment announced plans to remove “tap-strafing” from Apex Legends in an upcoming patch. The controversial movement technique is wildly popular as of late, and while it’s technically an exploit, many don’t see it as a problem considering it takes loads of skill to pull off. 

So what is tap-strafing, exactly? Basically, it’s a maneuver in Apex Legends that lets you change direction midair in a pinch without slowing down at all. Imagine zipping around corners as if momentum was never interrupted, and that’s tap-strafing. 

Unless you’re a seasoned Apex Legends player, any footage of tap-strafing is hard to recognize, but the below video should give you some idea of how it works.

A significant point to consider here is that this technique was community-discovered, not intentionally implemented by developer Respawn Entertainment, and therefore an exploit. So come patch 10.1, tap-strafing is getting removed from Apex Legends.

“After much consideration and debate, we’ve decided to remove tap-strafing from Apex Legends,” said Respawn Entertainment in a statement on Twitter. “Our reasoning: It’s inaccessible, lacks readability/counterplay, and is exacerbated by movement abilities.”

The reaction from most Apex Legends pros is, well, not particularly kind — ranging from nasty comments hurled Respawn Entertainment to advocating that players should play something else in protest. The blowback is downright bananas. 

Some of the tweets below contain NSFW language, so read ahead at your discretion.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

Halo Championship Series announces partnered esports teams for ‘Halo Infinite’

Nine teams will be ready to compete when Halo Infinite comes out.

Halo Infinite has everyone from casual fans to massive content creators going wild over its esports potential, and several big teams just announced partnerships with the Halo Championship Series. 

343 Industries and Microsoft are already putting Halo Infinite’s competitive scene front and center by partnering with some big names from the esports world, well ahead of the game’s December launch date. Though the Halo Championship Series isn’t franchising like, say, Overwatch League does — the teams will just work with Microsoft and 343 Industries to help Halo Infinite grow as an esport. There will even be open events for anyone to compete.  

“These Teams are investing significant funding into the Halo ecosystem and we want to ensure that the Halo ecosystem can give back financially to them,” said Tashi, Halo Esports Lead at Microsoft, in a blog post on Halo Waypoint. “None of the investment funding is going to us, it’s all going to the community! Part of why these teams were selected was because they wanted to be a part of the Halo community for the long haul.”

The partnered teams include:

Check out the slick trailer announcing the partnerships for yourself below.

Safe to say with names like these, the Halo Championship Series isn’t playing around.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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Iceland rumored to host 2021 League of Legends World Championship Series

The Mid-Season Invitational was in Iceland, so why not Worlds?

Riot Games recently announced that the 2021 League of Legends World Championship Series would be moving from China to Europe, and it looks like Iceland might be hosting the event.

While Riot Games have yet to confirm if Iceland is where the tournament will play out, a Dot Esports report claims that will be the case. Given that several big League of Legends events have taken place in Iceland, including the Mid-Season Invitational back in May, it’s not hard to believe Riot Games would return for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship Series.

One thing’s for sure, though: shifting the event from one region to another is due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We figured 2020 would be the hardest Worlds we’ve ever produced,” said John Needham, Global Head of Esports at Riot Games, in a press release. “With vaccines being distributed worldwide this year, we anticipated a return to some sort of “normal” in 2021. Well, unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case. With the Delta variant, travel restrictions and COVID protocols have been even MORE complicated to navigate in 2021 than they were in 2020.”

You can watch Needham’s complete statement about moving the 2021 League of Legends World Championship Series from China to Europe below. 

Like everything else in the world these days, COVID-19 continues to make live esports events challenging. Hopefully, by the time the 2022 League of Legends World Championships happen in North America, there will be some semblance of normalcy.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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League of Legends World Championship Series returns to North America in 2022

The biggest esports event in the world is coming back to North America.

It turns out that the 2022 League of Legends World Championships will take place in North America. 

Chris Greely, LCS Commissioner at Riot Games, confirmed during an interview with content creator Travis Gafford that the wildly popular international tournament series would take place in several unannounced cities across the continent. Of course, this is all COVID-19 permitting, but all the same: it’s a huge deal! North America hasn’t hosted a League of Legends tournament of this scale since the 2016 World Championships in Los Angeles. 

Check out the clip from Gafford’s interview where Greely breaks the news for yourself below.

There’s been plenty of fan speculation that the 2022 League of Legends World Championships would happen in the region already, but now it’s a certainty. No news just yet as to the cities hosting the events, but at least League of Legends fans in North America won’t have to travel far to attend this time.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF. 

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