What started as an outbreak in Wuhan and the delay of the LPL in China led to a plethora of canceled and reformatted events around the globe. The Coronavirus outbreak has affected many aspects of esports, here is the list so far:
Though the Overwatch League has had a rough year, having to cancel homestands and move online, their recent May Melee tournament was a "grand success." Read more about their viewership surge and future plans here:
"So, perhaps taking a break from massive BlizzCon isn't the worst thing to happen. In fact, one can argue that the massive amounts of hype and expectation BlizzCon created every year is the same thing that started Blizzard's fall from grace in the first place"
In former battle royale genre games, the main objective was to farm and survive. In Call of Duty: Warzone, there's a lot more to do than just that. You can collect money as you farm which you can spend
xBlyzes is the champion of Masters Tour Los Angeles and the first champion to win more than one Masters Tour! A powerhouse out of France, xBlyzes took home another championship trophy and $32,500, while securing a European spot in Grandmasters Season 2. Read more on his story here:
The Overwatch League announced they'd be playing the rest of their matches online, with a new schedule that both "eliminates the need for travel while maintaining a level playing field for the teams." Read more on the story here:
The new battle royale mode, Call of Duty: Warzone, has been widely popular since its launch. Warzone has been attracting more than 200K concurrent viewers on Twitch already. Ever since Modern Warfare
Gen.G and Seoul Dynasty recently announced a donation campaign on their Twitter, helping victims of the coronavirus. The org will be donating 100% of the proceeds from their Seoul Homestand in Week 5, as well as merch and skin sales. Read more here:
Blizzard Entertainment has moved the next Hearthstone Masters Tour from Indonesia to Los Angeles due to the Coronavirus. On Tuesday afternoon the Hearthstone Esports team shared a message with the community explaining the decision.
After cancelling the homestands set for Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou in late January, Blizzard has announced the games will now be played in Seoul, both in studio and as potential extra games for the Seoul Dynasty homestand in Week 5. read more here:
The Warcraft 3: Reforged release was about as rocky as it gets, and the devs responded to fan criticism in hopes of quelling the masses today. Fans still aren't satisfied though, calling out more unanswered questions and problems in the release. Read more on the situation here:
The remaster of Warcraft 3 was supposed to be a highlight for Activision Blizzard in 2020. After being one of the few highlights at the infamous "do you guys not have phones" BlizzCon of 2018, the hyp
Just hours before Call of Duty League's season opener on Friday afternoon, YouTube announced exclusive streaming rights for all Activision Blizzard esports, including OWL, CoD League, Hearthstone, and more. Read more on the deal here:
In a recent report by Dexerto's Richard Lewis, various talent from Overwatch League claimed they were expected to take pay cuts for the 2020 season. Read more about his report here:
This week, an Overwatch developer made a post about how the community - specifically high elo - doesn't fully understand power creep, but received harsh feedback on his breakdown. He later clarified the statement, elaborating on how players are correct in some ways but lack some crucial data. Read more on the story here:
The Overwatch League has seen a massive exodus of many personalities and pro players. Blizzard needs to slow down and right the ship.
'Tis the season in Hearthstone! On Tuesday afternoon, Blizzard Entertainment announced the return of their Winter Veil seasonal event for Hearthstone. Set to kick off on Wednesday, December 11 (the day after the upcoming expansion, Descent of Dragons goes live), players will be rewarded with a free Winter Veil Treat Card Back just for logging in during the three-week-long event (ends the 31st).
With a little more than two weeks until Hearthstone's final expansion of 2019 (Descent of Dragons) is released, Blizzard Entertainment has begun revealing some of the 135 cards that players will be able to play with on December 10. On Monday morning, the team released a video showcasing a few new cards with Senior Game Designer, Chadd Nervig, as an on-site reporter.
Shortly after the dust settled at the Anaheim Convention Center on November 3, 2018, where the annual BlizzCon event was held, it was time to look towards the future. Professional Heroes of the Storm players and fans had just witnessed Gen. G esports crush Team Dignitas to cement themselves as arguably the greatest team that has ever competed in the game's multi-year history and take home a sizeable $500,000 cash prize for their efforts.
Nick D'Orazio leads the conversation as Eric Gindele and Lara Lunardi share their experiences and opinions about BlizzCon and every title announced.
