Great Odin’s beard, it’s only the weekly Steam charts! That is to say, the ten games which sold best on Steam last week.
This week: new entries, old favourites, and a very dirty house indeed. … [visit site to read more]
Valve have started cracking down more on sites using Team Fortress 2 [official site] items as chips in virtual gaming. Last year they focused on skin gambling with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive items, amidst scandals, more scandals, and lawsuits. Even the Washington State Gambling Commission got involved, ordering Valve to shut it all down. While Valve don’t run any of these gambling sites, see, the sites do rely on Steam. Now, Valve are shutting down accounts associated with TF2 sites. … [visit site to read more]
This weekend, all eyes will be on the CS:GO ELEAGUE Major as the world’s best teams battle it out in Atlanta for their chance to win $1,000,000. There’s plenty to watch, from top-tier Overwatch to the League of Legends EU and NA Spring split. We even have some top quality from the Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below. Have a great weekend!
CS:GO: ELEAGUE Major 2017
The CS:GO ELEAGUE quarterfinals begin today as Natus Vincere and Astralis take to the stage. We expect flamie will bring the firepower Navi needs to beat Astralis in the upcoming match, but we’ll have to see if his precise bursting and multi-kill capabilities are enough to stop their onslaught. The competition has already been extremely fierce as teams battle not only for progress, but survival. The schedule can be found here, while the event will be streamed live via the ELEAGUE channel on Twitch.
Overwatch: Winter Premiere
NGE's Winter Premiere tournament now has its top four teams, who will be advancing to the live LAN finals at PAX South: Immortals, Kungarna, compLexity and Luminosity Gaming. Many fans are excited to see how Kungarna handles themselves against some of the more established teams, as they are considered to be the underdog going into the semifinals. However, every team will be looking to snag their share of the $100,000 prize pool and claim this year’s title. Semifinals kick off today at 10:00 PST / 19:00 CET, while the finals start the following day. The event can be watched over on Twitch.
League of Legends: 2017 EU LCS Spring Split
Once again, H2k and G2 clearly showed their dominance and as they prove they have what it takes to battle it out at the grand finals. G2’s offseason training had greatly improved their performance on the Rift and this was shown when they defeated Fnatic and ROCCAT in week one. However, teams like Fnatic, UOL, Misfits and Giants have yet to improve and show their fans that they can challenge the top contenders. The full schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.
League of Legends: 2017 NA LCS Spring Split
Both Cloud9 and OG Cloud9 AKA FlyQuest are currently sitting at the top of the table after what seemed to be a repeat of last year’s events. Echo Fox struggled to close out games and Counter Logic Gaming nearly gave their fans multiple heart attacks. However, most eyes were focussed on the rookie NA junglers and Korean import top laners who made their debuts in this year’s LCS. We’re even starting to see just how OP Camille is. The full schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.
Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship
Week one was arguably Misfits most challenging week of their entire season. The team had spent a lengthy amount of time out of the public eye and no one knew how the team would perform, especially against Team Dignitas and Fnatic. However, Misfits managed to come out on top, proving to critics and fans alike that they’re still a top contender. Tempo Storm will face Team Freedom today at 14:00 PST / 23:00 CET. The full schedule and stream can be found here.
Heavens to Murgatroyd, it’s only the weekly Steam charts! That is to say, the ten games which sold best on Steam last week.
After a string of backwards-looking weeks, it’s beginning to look a lot like 2017 at last.
As James Busby noted in his best pro gaming weekend preview, the group stages for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's biggest pro tourney of the year so far—the ELEAGUE Major—kicked off yesterday. Top prize is $1,000,000 (over £803,000), which is probably why players are pulling out all the stops ahead of the competition's January 27 playoffs.
Players such as Team Liquid's Josh "jdm64" Marzano who, after losing team captain Spencer "Hiko" Martin, took on four of the opposing Team EnVyUs' players on his lonesome, and came out the other end unscathed in one spectacular round of top-class sniping and flash bang hurling.
I'm no competitive CS:GO expert myself, but it'd seem Team EnVyUs' decision to stagger their attacks made things easier for jdm64 here, however that's not to take away from his resolve and skill in this four versus one situation. The remainder of the match went into triple-overtime as a result of jdm64's class, however the rounds that followed saw Team EnvyUs retain the upper hand—eventually going on to win 25-21.
Still, top backs-to-the-wall work from Marzano.
Thanks, Kotaku Australia.
The World Electronic Sports Games wrapped up in China this week, with Team EnVyUs taking home the $800,000 prize by defeating Team Kinguin in the CS:GO final. We even got to see TNC Pro Team defeat Cloud9 in the Dota 2 finals. It’s certainly been a busy start to 2017 and we’re not slowing down yet. There’s plenty to watch, from top-tier League of Legends to the CS:GO: ELEAGUE Major. We even have some top quality action from Heroes of the Storm. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.
League of Legends: 2017 EU LCS Spring Split
League of Legends fans can tune into the European Spring Split today as the 10 teams from France, Spain, Germany and the UK, as well as Fnatic Academy, battle it out for their chance to represent Europe in the Mid-Season Invitational. We will find out if anyone has what it takes to challenge G2 for the crown. Misfits and GIANTS! Gaming kick things off today at 08:00 PST / 17:00 CET. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to LoL Esports.
League of Legends: 2017 NA LCS Spring Split
The NA LCS Spring Split also returns today and this season might be one of the most exciting to date. Top teams from the last split have all become a little bit weaker, especially TSM who lost their star player Doublelift and replaced him with Wildturtle. Cloud 9 have also acquired new coaching and player talent from South Korea and replaced Meteos with the talented player Contractz. Both these teams will be kicking things off today at 15:00 PST / 00:00 CET, while the full schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.
Dota 2: Pit League Season 5
Eight teams will compete for the season five title and with a minimum prize pool of $125 000 on the line, plus the portion spent on chests and in-game tickets, it is sure to be a fiercely contested event. The tournament is scheduled for this weekend and the top teams are set to clash right from the beginning. Quarterfinals begin today at 01:00 / 10:00 CET and resume tomorrow at the same time. The event can be streamed over on Twitch.
CS:GO: ELEAGUE Major 2017
Sixteen of the best CS:GO teams will battle it out at the FOX Theatre in Atlanta, USA. The group stage will take place from January 22nd to the 26th, while the playoffs begin on the 27th and end on the 29th. SK Gaming is set to be the favourites after they dominated last year’s headlines. However, the competition will be extremely fierce as everyone will want a piece of the $1,000,000 pie. The schedule can be found here, while the event will be streamed live via the ELEAGUE channel on Twitch.
Overwatch: OGN APEX Season 2
The star studded lineups have been battling since Tuesday in order to grab their share of the $180,000 prize pool. OGN APEX Season 2 has invited four Western teams to compete with the best Korea has to offer. So far the group B bracket has been the group that has received the most attention as it features Asia’s highest ranked team, Lunatic-Hai. However, Europe’s second highest ranked team, Misfits, will also be looking to reign supreme. It’s likely the winner of this group may go on to win the tournament. Group C will be starting their matches today at 02:00 PST / 11:00 CET, while Group D start at 03:30 PST / 12:30 CET. The event can be watched over on Twitch.
Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship stage
Heroes of the Storm’s HGC will see top teams battle for supremacy in regional professional leagues around the world. The best of the best will be tested in international clashes and a mid-season brawl as they fight their way to the finish at the HGC finals. The Heroes Global Champions will take home the crown and the winner's share of the cash prize. Europe’s first match between Team Dignitas and Misfits begins at 09:00 PST / 18:00 CET, while the North American match between Tempo Storm and Team Naventic starts at 14:00 PST / 11:00 CET. The full schedule and stream can be found here.
Cor blimey, it’s only the weekly Steam Charts! As always, these are based on the accumulated sales on Steam over the previous week, not what’s doing best for itself at this exact moment in time.
A nice number one this week, but a rather old-fashioned top ten otherwise – with one unexpected aberration.
N.B. there is NO VENGABUS this week. Repeat NO VENGA BUS. It’ll return when it is most needed. … [visit site to read more]
You can still play the original Counter-Strike on Steam, of course, but perhaps you want to play it with the greater graphical fidelity and technological advances of the more up-to-date CS:GO? If the thought appeals, know that you'll soon be able to mash together both games, via the recently announced Classic Offensive mod for GO. On Steam Greenlight now, Classic Offensive (formerly known as CS: Classic Offensive, until Valve had a word) aims to replicate the experience of Counter-Strike version 1.6 in CS:GO, effectively uniting these disparate worlds in a way that should probably incite angels to sing overhead.
The creators don't want to be VAC Banned, so they say they're unable to replicate the more mechanical parts of 1.6 in GO—however, you'll still be able to play using the classic map layouts, using a "more simplistic" art style, and without the guns introduced in GO. (Less sweeping changes including scope and price tweaks will be present as well.)
It's a nostalgia mod rather than a slavish recreation of 1.6, and if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, best keep an eye on its Greenlight page for future developments. Or, if you want to play it now, you can grab the beta version of Classic Offensive here.
Ta, PCGamesN.
So often the bleeding edge of games tech, yet so often fundamentally the same underneath: there’s a reason we can’t get enough of pretend shooting pretend people in their pretend faces. It is a pure test of skill and reflex, a game about movement at least as much as it is about violence, and done right it is absolutely delightful>. And hey, sometimes you get a decent gimmick or story thrown into the mix.
These are our favourite 50 first-person shooters on PC, from 1993-2017. Your favourite is at number 51.
This weekend, all eyes will be on China as the World Electronic Sports Games opens its doors. There’s plenty to watch, from top-tier Dota 2 to the League of Legends EU Challenger Series. We even have some top quality action from one of Hearthstone’s highest ranked players. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.
Dota 2: World Electronic Sports Games
The World Electronic Sports Games event kicked off yesterday at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Center, China. The LAN finals event is the last part in the race for the whopping $1.5 million prize pool. A total of 24 teams have managed to secure their place in the final stage after nearly five months of gruelling regional qualifiers. However, it’s not all about the money as the tournament marks a historic moment in the Dota 2 competitive circuit. The WESG is currently the only event to offer over a million USD prize pool to teams formed exclusively from five players of the same nation. The full weekend schedule can be found here, while the event can watched over on Twitch.
StarCraft II: World Electronic Sports Games
StarCraft II also has a fairly hefty prize pool up for grabs in China this week. The WESG will be giving out $402,000 in StarCraft prizes, which is considerably less than some of the others games, but it’s still a substantial sum. The quarterfinals start today at 22:00 PST / 07:00 CET, while the semifinals begin tomorrow at 19:00 PST / 04:00 CET. You can watch all the action over on Twitch.
CS:GO: World Electronic Sports Games
CS:GO also kicked off its group stage last night and will resume today. The quarterfinals start tomorrow, while the semi-finals and the grand final will be taking place on the same day, January 15th. There has already be an unexpected surprise as the Swedish CS:GO team GODSENT will no longer be attending the WESG grand final. GODSENT were set to compete against teams such as Signature, Team Kinguin, Space Soldiers, Bravado Gaming, and FIVE eSports Club before they bowed out. The full weekend schedule can be found here, while the event can watched over on Twitch.
Hearthstone: World Electronic Sports Games
Counter Logic Gaming is set to be the favourite for this year’s title, as North American esports organisation welcomed Sebastian “Xixo” Bentert to their roster on Tuesday. His most difficult opponent will likely be fellow European player Liam “Lbdutchboy” Brouwer from the Netherlands. Xixo was the highest ranked Hearthstone player on the GosuGamers ladder last year, as he won the StarSeries Season 2 and defeated Jon “Orange” Westberg in the European WESG qualifiers. Make sure to check the WESG Facebook page to find the latest schedule times and streams.
League of Legends: EU Challenger Series qualifiers
League of Legends fans can tune into the European Challenger Series qualifiers today as the 12 teams from France, Spain, Germany and the UK as well as Fnatic Academy, will battle out for the final two spots in the EU Challenger Series 2017 Spring Split. The finals will be best-of-five series, with the winner of each advancing to the EU CS Spring Split. Games will be played on patch 6.24 and the tournament will be played under the old six-ban rules rather than the new 10-ban ones. Play kicks off today at 08:00 PST / 17:00 CET, while the playoffs start at the same time on Sunday. The event can be watched over on LoL Esports.