
John has been writing these charts for just a few weeks and already he’s had to book a week off in order to recover. I am made of more sterling stuff, and while he’s gone it falls to me to share the details of which games sold the best last week on Steam.
It’s another busy weekend in the world of digital sports as tournaments continue to gear up for summer finals. There’s plenty of action from the League of Legends LCS to the CS:GO Clash for Cash. We even have the various events from this year’s DreamHack to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.
League of Legends: NA LCS
The NA LCS Summer season is well underway and Cloud9 bounced back from their poor first week to take down Phoenix1 in week two. Cloud9 dominated the early game and methodically fought their way to P1’s base taking the Nexus in just 29 minutes. However, Phoenix1 managed to secure an early gold lead in game two, but they never managed to convert this into objectives. Eventually, Cloud9 was able to pull off a few strong engages and P1’s lead quickly crumbled as C9 took their final win. Meanwhile, Team SoloMid managed to take down their previously undefeated rival Counter Logic Gaming, bringing TSM into fifth place, with CLG claiming top spot. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.
League of Legends: EU LCS
G2 continued their dominant run in week two when they faced the underdogs of the EU LCS. NiP showed glimpses of individual player skill and brilliance, but it wasn’t enough to stop the reigning champions. In the first game, NiP managed to secure a lead in kills and gold, but they couldn’t maintain this momentum and after 30 minutes G2 began tightening the noose. It was clear that G2’s experience and teamplay was on another level and NiP eventually crumbled. The second game was all about Zven who secured 14 out of 20 total kills with his dominant Twitch plays. Meanwhile, Misfits will be aiming to build upon their week two victories when they take on G2 in today’s matchup. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.
Dota 2: Summit 7
The Beyond the Summit house has opened its doors for the seventh edition of the Dota Summit and every team will aiming to get their hands on the $100,000 prize pool. Virtus Pro secured a direct invite position to defend their Summit 6 title, but they fell to LGD Gaming in the semifinals. This defeat comes after their disappointing sixth finish position at EPICENTER, but the competition is far from over for the remaining teams. LGD aims to continue their dominant run in today winner’s final, with the match kicking off at 16:00 PDT / 01:00 CEST. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to beyondthesummit.tv.
Dota 2: Galaxy Battles
NEOTV’s Dota Galaxy Battles tournament kicked off yesterday and this weekend teams will battle it out in a gruelling double elimination bracket. The first round of the lower brackets will be an unforgiving best-of-one elimination series which will end with two teams being sent home. Meanwhile, the remaining matches in the bracket will be a best-of-three series that will determine the placements of the grand finals showdown. With a $150,000 prize pool up for grabs and national pride on the line anything could happen. Make sure you head over to www.galaxybattles.cn to check out the updated schedule and stream.
CS:GO: Clash for Cash
CS:GO: Clash for Cash will be giving ELEAGUE Major finalist Virtus.pro the chance to get revenge after their runner up finish in January’s ELEAGUE Major Grand Final. The Grand Final saw Astralis outgun Virtus.pro with a late-game comeback that saw them take the title. However, Virtus.pro now has the perfect opportunity to beat their rivals and claim the $250,000 prize pool. If the grand final of the ELEAGUE Major was anything to go by, this rematch will likely be see some of the best CS:GO action to date. Matches will be broadcast at 19:00 PDT / 04:00 CEST on TBS, Twitch, YouTube and ELEAGUE Live Game Command.
CS:GO: DreamHack Summer 2017
DreamHack Summer begins this weekend and we will see eight teams battle it out in the group stage of the tournament. In Group A, SK Gaming will be looking to make amends for their disappointing finish at the Pro League finals, while Gambit will be hoping to continue their strong performance in group B. The teams will be fighting for their share of the $100,000 prize pool and the DreamHack title, so expect plenty of frenzied firefights. SK Gaming will face Team Singularity this Saturday at 04:00 PDT / 13:00 CEST, while mouz will clash with Immortals at 07:00 PDT / 16:00 CEST. The live stream can be found by heading over to Twitch.
StarCraft II: 2017 WCS Jönköping
StarCraft’s 2017 WCS group stages are continuing this weekend and only the best players will advance to the grand finals on Monday. The first group stage saw 64 players enter and now only 32 remain as they advance to the second group stage. Matches begin tomorrow at 10:15 PDT / 19:15 CEST and continue on Sunday at 03:15 PDT / 12:15 CEST. There’s certainly a lot on the line and anything could happen at this stage of the tournament. The matches can be watched over on Twitch.
Overwatch: Apex Season 3
Overwatch Apex Season three continues to heat up as the qualified teams from each group continue to battle it out against one another. The finals are fast approaching and every team will be trying to claim the $177,055 prize pool. Today’s match will see X6-Gaming take on AF.Blue at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST in a match that will decide which team will take the lead in Group A. Meanwhile, the Group B match between LW Blue and KD Panthera starts at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.
Hearthstone: Global Games
The Hearthstone Global Games tournament enters week ten of play today and every team has been fighting hard to claim the top spot in the group stage. Group G’s round five match concluded yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:00 CEST. Ukraine are off to the best start in Group H with 14 total wins and only seven losses, however, it’s a long road ahead for the pros and every team will be fighting hard to secure the $300,000 prize pool. The full schedule and stream for week four can be found here.
Hearthstone: DreamHack Grand Prix
The Hearthstone Grand Prix takes place this weekend and will feature a major open Swiss tournament for everyone willing to compete. However, only the best 16 players will advance to the playoffs, where they will duke it out in the single-elimination bracket. With 200 competitors taking part, players will need to have their wits about them if they wish to take home the $25,000 prize pool. Meanwhile, special prizes and a $1,500 prize pool are at stake for players who don’t make it through the tense Swiss stages of the main tournament. The full weekend schedule and stream can be found here.
Heroes of the Storm: Mid-Season Brawl
Heroes of the Storm’s Mid-Season Brawl will see teams from around the world battle it out for the championship title and the $100,000 prize pool. Sweden will once again play host to the top 12 Heroes Global Championship teams, with a stage dedicated to the tournament. The Phoenix Bracket starts tomorrow and the team that advances to the Grand Finals from the upper bracket will be granted a one game advantage. EStar Gaming are currently the North American favourites after they took first place with only one two defeats. Meanwhile, MVP Black followed in similar footsteps after they dominated the European scene, securing nine wins and only one loss. Make sure you head over to heroesofthestorm.com to find the schedule and stream for all the matches being played this weekend.
Rocket League: DreamHack Championship
DreamHack will be hosting the Rocket League Championship tournament this weekend where players can take to the pitch and battle it out with the pros. Fans of Rocket League will get a chance to see who has what it takes to bring home the trophy and the $50,000 prize pool. All matches will be played in a standard 3v3 and players can expect to see notable appearances from Mockit eSports, Flipsid3 Tactics, Gale Force eSports and Rogue. The round one matches begin tomorrow at 09:15 PDT / 18:15 CEST and can be watched by heading over to Twitch.
Intel and ESL announced a "landmark deal" during Intel's presentation at E3 today that will see Intel become the Global Technical Partner of ESL, a move they said will "further advance the worldwide growth and development of esports." It also saw the reveal of a new, $1 million Intel Grand Slam prize, which will awarded to the first team that wins four qualifying CS:GO tournaments in a 12-month period.
"We have been one of the very first companies to believe in esports and have supported it for over 15 years. This year, we have decided to take our commitment to the next level," Intel CEO Steven Fund said in a statement. "We are excited to level-up our partnership with ESL, invest into the development of future esports stars, and create premier events like the Intel Grand Slam."
The Grand Slam is a $1 million prize awarded on top of the regular tournament prizes to the first team that can win four out of the last ten $200,000 CS:GO events held between Dreamhack and ESL. Qualifying events include the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One, ESL Pro League and DreamHack Masters series.
As an added bonus, any team that's able to keep a potential Grand Slam winner—that is, a team with three wins under its belt—from claiming the fourth and final victory will earn a bonus $100,000 for doing so. Once the prize has been awarded, everything will reset and the race to four will begin again. Qualifying events include the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One, ESL Pro League and DreamHack Masters series.
We'll see more from Intel during the PC Gaming Show. You can watch the show live on Twitch, and catch up on all the news from this year's show right here.
Update: The post originally indicated that G2 Esports had claimed the first Intel Grand Slam prize by winning the ESL Pro League Season Finals. Intel has since clarified that the VR Challenge League won't begin until ESL One Cologne in July.

Have you heard about Steam? It’s a sort of shop, but not a shop with a door and a roof and some shelves. It’s a “virtual shop”, a place where you can buy games that, incredibly, has no walls whatsoever! It’s entirely rendered digitally, using computers.
We’ve taken a look, and totted up the games people are buying the most often. … [visit site to read more]

Operation Hydra in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive [official site] has again rotated its special event mode, bringing in Weapons Expert. This mode, which is available free to all Counter-Strikers, lets players buy each weapon only once per match. It’s an interesting-sounding twist on modes like Gun Game, rewarding players for being skilled with all weapons rather than just a few favourites. … [visit site to read more]