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South American Dota 2 just got dealt one of its worst blows in God knows how long. At the Dota 2 tournament at the Esports World Cup, one of the biggest tournaments of the year, PlayTime’s mid-laner Gonzalo “DarkMago” Herrera and coach Juan “Vintage” Angulo were provisionally suspended by ESIC over…
In recent times, the Fighting Game Community (FGC) has been too serious for its own good and has forgotten how to have fun while playing the games they love. I don’t blame the community, though. It’s easy to lose sight of fun if there’s a million dollars dangling in front of you to claim, as ……
Leading tournament organizer ESL has just updated its Counter-Strike 2 rulebook, adding a bunch of changes. However, one that stuck out was a new clause regarding internal team communications during a live match. The newly-added Clause 2.30 states that what you say to your own teammates during a…
Nostalgia within the gaming industry is a surefire way for developers and publishers to generate huge profits. In the majority of cases, the remaster or re-release of a popular title from years gone by generates huge interest among fans looking to take a trip down memory lane. The launch of an old…
If you tuned into the Esports World Cup expecting the usual high-octane crowd and absolute chaos you usually get during a Grand Final match, you might have noticed things felt a little quiet. Like, “empty customs lobby” quiet. According to the latest stats from Esports Charts, VALORANT took a…
EA Head of Esports, Monica Dinsmore, spoke with Esports Insider (ESI) at the Esports World Cup about how EA organizes its esports operations across titles, the growing overlap between esports and real-world sports, EA’s mobile push, and what could be next for the Esports World Cup. Over the first…
Another year, another missed Combo Contest. I have unfortunately decided to head to Monterey Car Week this summer, which means I won’t be able to attend the newly expanded Supernova (aka Smash Con) and watch my favorite tourney of all time: the Combo Contest. Supernova is the largest Smash event in…
For years, the script on the League of Legends esports international stage has been the same: China and Korea battle it out for the top spots, with one Western team barely keeping up. The Mid-Season Invitational 2026 completely threw that script away, partially rewriting the storylines for the…
One of the most devastating things to ever happen to the Super Smash Bros. community was the time Nintendo pulled Smash games from Evo. Evo used to be one of the largest showcases of Smash’s talented, gritty, and passionate esports scene. Pros crying on stage after they won, Smash players boo’ing…
Underdog stories aren’t built on random happenstance. Rather, they are fostered through the unseen moments that fly under the radar. League of Legends isn’t any different from any other form of competition. Teams are bracketed into their specific roles, similar to other sports. China’s LPL is…
Ahead of the ALGS 2026 Split 1 Playoffs at the Esports World Cup in Paris, we handed Bowen “Monsoon” Fuller the mic and let him interview his own teammate, Miguel “Blinkzr” Quiles, with Esports Insider (ESI) stepping in only occasionally. Rather than the usual pre-match press questions, we’ve got…
Last week, tournament organizer BLAST announced changes to its Dota 2 series, the BLAST Slam, revealing that they’re cutting the prize pool down from $1 million to $750,000. And to be completely honest, this wasn’t a shocker to me. The Dota scene gets a million-dollar tournament almost every single…
It is incredibly rough to see a legend like Goichi “GO1” Kishida have to pull out of a major tournament like the Esports World Cup due to health issues, especially when he was the main anchor keeping a lot of us glued to the screen. Fighting games thrive on storylines, and GO1’s run with Fatal ……
Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen was a diminutive silhouette as he sat at the end of the stage where he’d be illuminated at the end of the Esports World Cup’s Opening Ceremony’s opening gambit. Five minutes later, French superstar Aya Nakamura performed one song and left the stage. So too did…
The sign to T1 Base Camp is easy to spot. There’s enough red to make it stand out. The arrow pointing down the stairs to the PC Bang and store dedicated to T1 and its players in Seoul’s Hongdae neighborhood is accompanied by pictures of the team’s past success. At the bottom of the stairs, ……
Several factors are required to ensure the smooth operation of an esports tournament. Whether it’s preventing hardware crashes, providing adequate practice facilities, or making sure that the power doesn’t cut during a crucial moment, keeping things on track in front of a sold-out arena is no easy…
Ever since the conclusion of Masters London at the end of June, seemingly no topic has been more prominent in the VALORANT esports scene than the unexpected kicking of Head Coach Hector “FrosT” Rosario from Global Esports. What started as a leak on June 24th sparked a wave of rumors, speculation…
Sony is on a generational speed run of bad PR in recent days after announcing its intent to completely discontinue disc production for its consoles. However, I believe that the biggest issue they have right now involves Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls and its region lock in over 130 countries…
If you’re anything like me (chronically online, spend too much time scrolling TikTok), you’ve probably seen tons of videos over the past few weeks of World Cup fans from Europe, Japan, Korea, and Mexico flooding various cities in the United States to watch the matches. It’s one of those rare…
After a grueling series of qualifiers, we’ve finally locked in the 16 teams competing at The International 15, which is going to be Dota 2’s biggest tournament of the year. If you’re one of those seasonal viewers who only comes out of your cage for TI, here are some of the most important storylines…
