COMPETITION AND GAMING NEWS

T1 and Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok are one series away from making more League of Legends history at the League of Legends World Championship in South Korea. Faker, recognized as the greatest League player of all time, led his T1 squad to a stunning 3-1 win over tournament favorite JD Gaming and will now face Chinese squad Weibo Gaming in the final at Gocheok Sky Dome on Sunday. Faker and T1 will go for an unprecedented fourth Worlds title with a hometown crowd behind them, while Weibo Gaming will attempt to complete a miracle run that began with multiple upsets in their regional league just to make this year’s main event.

Developer Rockstar Games is finally releasing the next edition of the Grand Theft Auto series, with a trailer for the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 releasing in early December. Rockstar president Sam Houser confirmed the news on X (formerly known as Twitter) last week, though the studio hasn’t outwardly committed to that title yet. Grand Theft Auto V came out more than a decade ago and is still going strong thanks to online play; the game has sold 190 million units, according to a November 2023 version of publisher Take-Two Interactive’s investor deck.

A Counter-Strike 2 Major tournament is coming to Shanghai thanks to organizer Perfect World, the esports event operator announced. The event will be the second Counter-Strike competition hosted in China, with venues and dates for the 2024 event yet to be announced. It will also be the first Major, or Valve-backed international competition, to take place in Asia.

Scholastic esports tournament organizer PlayVS has made its events fee-free for North American competitors, CEO Jon Chapman told The Esports Advocate. The move runs counter to the troubled past PlayVS is known for; the organization previously had a reputation for scooping up game licenses for scholastic competition, then charging schools at all levels to participate. PlayVS will instead shift to relying on partnerships and sponsorships to fund its operations.

SPONSORSHIP & ACTIVATION

Twitch streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys is launching a snack food line, the popular content creator announced. Pokimane, alongside former Kellogg executive Darcey Macken, revealed Myna Snacks on Monday, a healthy snacking option inspired by Pokimane’s dissatisfaction with the types of quick-and-easy food available to her during the gaming and content sessions that are the hallmark of her brand. Myna’s first product, known as Midnight Mini Cookies, are available online at four packages for $28.

Gaming lifestyle festival DreamHack is giving back to host city Atlanta later this year through a partnership with Toys for Tots during DreamHack Atlanta from Dec. 15-17 at the Georgia World Congress Center. The initiative brings back DreamHack’s Dream BIG charity program, which was introduced at DreamHack San Diego earlier this year. Along with a Toys for Tots drive, the festival is donating $530,000 worth of tickets to students at Title 1 schools in Atlanta.

Rainbow Six Siege publisher Ubisoft is partnering with stream analytics firm Esports Charts to help the developer build additional insight into its esports audience. The move will equip Ubisoft with the full suite of Esports Charts data, including demographics of its audience, their viewership habits, comparisons to competitors and potential next steps for enhancing the Rainbow Six production experience and overall audience size.

XSET has partnered with RoboSquad Revolution to bring in-game items featuring the gaming lifestyle organization into the video game platform. RoboSquad Revolution, an arena-based shooter and free-to-play game available in Early Access on Steam, will work XSET gear into the title, with influencer partnerships, sponsored tournaments and more planned following RoboSquad Revolution’s official launch.

TEAMS

A Turkish VALORANT pro who died in earthquakes in the country earlier this year has been memorialized in-game by developer Riot Games. Gizem “Luie” Harmankaya, a VALORANT Game Changers player died in February 2023 amid the disaster that affected parts of Turkey and Syria. Riot produced an in-game player card to honor the player, according to information from a data miner who discovered assets that will soon be available in-game.

The Houston Outlaws, a former Overwatch League team, are facing fan backlash following the organization’s decision to scrap its Overwatch program entirely and turn the Outlaws into a content creation-focused organization. The Outlaws, who cut the Houston moniker alongside the decision, signed three streamers, none of whom regularly stream Overwatch. The organization has since made multiple statements on social media acknowledging fans’ concerns but has yet to sign any Overwatch creators to its relatively unknown cohort of streamers.

Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona is expected to enter VALORANT esports as part of its new Barca Games program, according to multiple VALORANT insiders. FC Barcelona would have to enter the ecosystem via the Spanish VALORANT Challengers circuit, but from there could qualify to the Tier 1 VALORANT Champions Tour via the regional Ascension tournament.

JD Gaming coach Yoon “Homme” Sung-young has resigned and will take a temporary break from coaching following the team’s 3-1 loss to T1 in the League of Legends World Championship. The decision was another stunner at the end of JDG’s attempt to be the first team to complete The Golden Road: an accolade that includes winning both domestic splits, the international Mid-Season Invitational tournament and Worlds in the same year. “I should have done better today,” Homme said on social media platform Weibo following the loss. “I did poorly, so we lost the series.”

INDUSTRY

Enthusiast Gaming reported a net loss of $43.1 million in Q3 2023, with a cash balance of just above $2 million remaining for the Canadian gaming and esports entertainment company. Enthusiast, which operates esports organization Luminosity Gaming, noted its continued success as the No. 1 gaming brand in terms of unique traffic according to Comscore. However, the views and programmatic revenue that come from them aren’t making magic happen on the balance sheets, with expenses rising year-over-year for the company alongside a 10% revenue dip compared to Q3 2022. Previously, Enthusiast had announced a voluntary delisting from the Nasdaq public stock exchange, though it is still traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Amazon has cut around 180 employees from its Amazon Games division, according to Aftermath. The layoffs affected Amazon’s Twitch channel, known as the Crown Channel, and the company’s Game Growth team. “We’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there,” Christoph Hartmann, the VP of Amazon Games, said in an internal email obtained by Aftermath. “With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing.”

Developer crunch is rearing its head again following a report from Bloomberg detailing issues during the development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. The title, which was initially planned as an expansion of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, turned into another mainline title instead on an extremely truncated timeline, according to Bloomberg, though representatives from publisher Activision and developer Sledgehammer Games have denied that claim. Modern Warfare III has been near-universally criticized post-launch, particularly for its campaign mode, which takes only three to four hours to complete.

Gaming publication Uppercut is scaling back its operations due to underfunding and understaffing, editor-in-chief Ty Galiz-Rowe announced. Uppercut, one of the premier publications focused on indie titles and cultural issues in gaming, will not be accepting pitches moving forward. “Thank you to everyone who supported me/us over the years. It has meant a ton to us and helped us to make at least a small impact during our time in operation,” Galiz-Rowe said on X. “Please support the small sites that are still around, like Into the Spine, Start Menu, DEEPHELL, no escape, and try to find others like them.”