In a controversial move, all StarLadder MRQ tournaments have been cancelled. 

MRQs – Major Regional Qualifiers – enable lower-ranked teams to qualify for Major tournaments, offering an opportunity to enhance their roster’s experience and support. 

Why were the StarLadder MRQ tournaments cancelled?

Counter-Strike has a packed competitive calendar, with tournaments run by several separate organisers and broadcast companies. As a result, some competitions overlap with one another. 

The Starladder MRQ dates were released on June 6th.

Continue reading StarLadder MRQ tournaments axed, Budapest Counter-Strike Major now invite-only

Tottenham Hotspur Captain, Korean football icon, and now a video game cosmetic.

The Son Heung-min Fortnite skin will be jumping out of the Battle Bus during Chapter 6 Season 3. 

Incentivising engagement through regional icons

As explained by the CEO of Epic Games Korea, Epic Games identified a need to better engage with Korean culture in Fortnite. 

“We started discussing the direction with the headquarters two years ago, and we thought that we should do a good job of incorporating Korean culture, such as K-pop, which people around the world are crazy about, into the game.”

Park Sung-chul, CEO of Epic Games Korea

Son Heung-min is the ideal celebrity to begin integrating more Korean influence into the Battle Royale game.

Continue reading Son Heung-min Fortnite skin announced in bid to boost Korean playerbase

League of Legends is infamously a challenging experience for new players to learn.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games are notoriously one of the most complex game genres.

It’s why Riot Games recently released the simple Brawl mode, to make the game more digestible.

And alongside that, a recently added feature could drastically improve LoL’s new player experience.

After the most recent update to the PBE where new LoL features are tested, Riot has added a very nice feature to the picks and bans phase.

Continue reading League of Legends feature could be gamechanger for new players

Tang ‘EmiliaQAQ’ Junjie, player for Lynn Vision, has revealed details of his emotional journey in professional Counter-Strike. 

The charismatic Chinese competitor has become a fan favourite at the BLAST Austin Major. Viewers have enjoyed his emphatic celebrations and humorous interviews. However, his journey in the competitive scene has not been smooth sailing. 

Lynn Vision and EmiliaQAQ take the Austin Major by storm

After qualifying for Stage One through the Chinese Regional Qualifier, Lynn Vision has fought a successful uphill battle to reach Stage Three of the competition. 

The underdog team even managed to snatch a win from extremely high-ranked competitors, Team Falcons, who would later suffer from early elimination.

Continue reading Lynn Vision Counter-Strike player EmiliaQAQ’s emotional pro journey: “Dad, it’s really been a long time”

Summer Game Fest revealed a host of new games for players to enjoy, which included Marvel Tōkon and Invincible VS, among many others.

Both are tag-based fighting games which feature a unique cast of playable characters from their universe in a highly stylised package.

These new games may cause concern for Riot Games, who has been developing their own fighting game 2XKO for many years.

What are Invincible VS, MARVEL Tōkon and 2XKO?

Continue reading Invincible VS and MARVEL Tōkon announced – is 2XKO in trouble?

Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont is confident about Los Ratones’ upcoming NLC grudge match with Nord Esports in the EMEA Masters.

It has been a difficult tournament so far for the reigning EMEA Masters and NLC champions.

A surprise 2-0 loss to Barça eSports put Los Ratones in an elimination match.

THE DRAW IS MADE.

Out of 32 teams, only 16 remain, and only one will claim glory!

Get ready, the EMEA Masters Spring Split playoffs start on WEDNESDAY!

Continue reading Caedrel confident Los Ratones will eliminate Nord from EMEA Masters

Esports analytics provider Esports Charts has extended its long-term partnership with Brazilian organisation FURIA through 2027.

Financial terms have not been revealed for the extension of the deal, which started back in 2021.

The expanded partnership now uniquely stretches Esports Charts’ coverage from esports into traditional sports.

Esports Charts will now cover FURIA’s participation in the Kings League football tournaments across multiple events, including the Kings World Cup and Kings League Brazil.

Continue reading Esports Charts and FURIA extend partnership and expand into Kings League football events

The penultimate patch before the Mid-Season Invitational and the launch of Jian ‘Uzi’ Zi-Hao’s Hall of Legends skin has arrived.

Skins are back on the release schedule, with a slew of balance changes added to the game.

Here are the key points you need to know before grinding ranked on Patch 25.12.

Hall of Legends – Uzi

Love it or hate it, the Hall of Legends event returns this patch and will kick off tomorrow at 8pm BST.

Continue reading League of Legends Patch 25.12 featuring Uzi Hall of Legends

Stage Two of the Austin Major saw two well-known Counter-Strike teams on the verge of elimination. While FaZe were able to knock out MIBR, Heroic were struck down by the underdog team Nemiga.

The Nemiga snowball – where momentum leveraged in their favour

Despite Heroic’s higher ranking and reputation, Nemiga were able to leverage momentum more frequently than their opponents. 

Although down 8-4 to Heroic after the first half, Nemiga were able to apply gradual pressure as the game progressed, accumulating in rounds 18 and 22 of the map. 

Beksultan ‘khaN⁠’ Ospan played a crucial role in both of these rounds.

Continue reading Nemiga Counter-Strike underdogs take down Heroic at Austin Major

Nintendo has announced that its brand new Switch 2 console has sold over 3.5 million units globally in just its first four days since its June 5th release.

Some had criticised the console for only having one major launch title in Mario Kart World.

Yet, the powerful console is flying off the shelves and is now Nintendo’s fastest-selling console ever.

Nintendo Switch 2 has sold over 3.5 million units worldwide in its first four days, becoming the fastest-selling Nintendo hardware ever globally.

Continue reading Switch 2 is Nintendo’s fastest-selling console ever with 3.5m sales in four days