The business of sports tech, in brief.
The Esports World Cup (EWC) mega-event is well underway in Paris, boasting an eye-watering $75 million prize pool, spread across 25 tournaments and 24 titles. As one of the most significant remaining events, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) runs from Aug. 12–23, with 32 of the best teams lighting up the…
FlyQuest jungler Johnson “Griffynn” Le moved to Korea at 16 years old to try and climb up the region’s brutal League of Legends player development system. It was uncomfortable, especially since – by his estimation – he probably could have been in the LCS by then. But the lure of playing in the…
The question of how much freedom versus top-down control game publishers should implement in their respective esports ecosystems is often raised in discussions of esports sustainability and profitability. However, as showcased by the recent disasterclass of a Grand Final during the VALORANT…
BLAST Premier returns to Portugal, but this time it’s breaking new ground. After three stops in Lisbon, BLAST Open Porto 2026 will take the world’s top Counter-Strike 2 teams to Porto for the first time – all fighting for a cut of a $1.1 million prize pool. Taking place right after the Esports…
“We are not taking an esports product and placing it in a casino lobby,” Market Suchar, the co-founder and managing director at Oddin.gg says. Suchar’s comments came as Oddin announced the launch of its new venture, Oddin Casino, which will see the esports specialist branching out into casino…
My X feed is basically everyone and their mom talking about how unplayable Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is after ongoing PC performance issues. And it sucks, because I was looking forward to this one. While it may just seem like the FGC complaining again, this is an ongoing issue with fighting…
The excitement never ends for the FGC at the Esports World Cup, with Tekken 8 currently in full swing. Even in just the first two group stages, the competition has already shown that it’s going to be fierce and that nobody is handing out free wins. With that said, wouldn’t it be fun to predict ……
Week three of the LEC Summer Split is upon us, and the humans-versus-robots scoreboard is starting to take shape. Look away now, clanker nay-sayers. After week one, it was Claude and Gemini cashing in while ChatGPT and our expert, Craig Robinson nursed their fictional losses. Week two saw one…
The Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 takes place over seven weeks and caters for individual production of 24 games from multiple publishers. It’s a mammoth undertaking, but in the sprawling
Q1 delivered a sharp rise in GGR and turnover for DATA.BET’s esports product, the company told iGB in an interview at iGB L!VE last month. It builds on the company’s momentum in the quick-growing vertical. “Esports is our heritgate,” head of sales Otto Bonning said. Esports might be a core…
It’s no secret that professional Dota 2 players have been breaking MMR records like twice a year. Most recently, we had PARIVISION’s wonderkid Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov breaking the 18,000 MMR milestone, becoming the first in the world to do so. However, nobody really celebrated this accomplishment……
In battle royale titles such as Call of Duty: Warzone, audio plays a critical role for players dropping into the action. With optimal audio settings, it’s possible to hear the footsteps of nearby opponents, resulting in greater awareness when planning the next move around the battlefield. Following…
The fighting game community has a gatekeeping problem. When Evo attempted to bring in a mainstream gaming audience by inviting streamers to have showmatches at the large fighting game event, the FGC reacted with rage. The FGC wants things to be authentic, genuine, and passionate. They only want…
I’ve been saying that 2XKO is a dead game for a while. I know we all love to say that in the esports industry, but it just felt like a matter of time. While my colleague has argued with me that Riot’s 2v2 fighter will always have a place in the FGC, I’ve always felt … Continued
Back in June, T1, the most decorated esports organization in League of Legends, revealed it had signed Nick “LS” De Cesare as its inaugural Riftbound signee. For those unaware, Riftbound is not an esport, but a TCG version of Riot Games’ League of Legends. It was a significant move, and perhaps one…
I never thought I’d say this, but the FGC complains too much. Yes, even for me. There are a ton of fighting game events coming up. The Esports World Cup (if you care) has Tekken 8, after Street Fighter 6 finished last weekend. Supernova is happening at the same time if you’re a Smash … Continued
Esports is going in the wrong direction, if you ask me. And nobody has asked me. But all this focus on bravado, mainstream appeal, and flashiness won’t spell long-term success. To make esports viable, we need community. Wouter Sleijffers was the CEO of Fnatic from 2015 to 2019. He was there for…
Last week, Riot Games announced the suspension of Polish League of Legends player Jakub “Syzyf” Ruta. Riot announced a 12-month ban for the player, who allegedly allowed family members to bet on his matches. The ban appears to be either too long or too short, depending on what bets the family…
Over the past decade, the Call of Duty esports scene has experienced a wealth of peaks and troughs as a result of format changes that have managed to gatekeep one of gaming’s most passionate communities. While the Call of Duty League (CDL) has slowly started showing signs of success, the return of…
Week two of the LEC Summer Split is here, and so is round two of —drum-roll, please—humans versus robots. Last week, I handed Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini the opening-weekend LEC fixtures, plus the handicap markets and Over/Unders, and asked each to build a $10 accumulator. Craig Robinson vowed to…
