Category: E-Sport

Image Credit: Riot Games Pride Month is a month-long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, and many games find ways to take part. Riot is under fire once more after the Give Back V26 bundle in VALORANT leaked during Pride Month, pushing a straight couple rather than its queer agents at this questionable time. Esports titles are improving in LGBTQ+ representation, with many new characters identifying as queer, from gay to bi to non-binary. Overwatch and Apex Legends have a very impressive roster when it comes to representation, with Apex especially having great queer storylines and relationships. I mean, Bloodhound and…

Image credit: Colin Young-Wolff, Riot Games Co-streaming has become a huge part of the esports ecosystem, for better or worse. The industry has mixed feelings about co-streaming’s place in esports, so we figured we’d share our own opinions. Aaron Alford is a professional debater, and I’m just here to rant and rave about a topic. But we are both just having some fun looking at an interesting and complex topic in our industry. However, see if either of us convinced you of anything. Olivia’s Opening Argument: Co-Streaming Boosts Viewership, But It Doesn’t Reflect the Truth I was recently covering the…

Image Credit: Riot Games Despite a lack of VCT action, the VALORANT esports scene saw massive shake-ups and heated discussions last week. From Fnatic’s coaching changes to the most-anticipated teams at Masters London, here’s a rundown of everything you might have missed! Fnatic Signs Former Karmine Corp Coach Engh Fnatic, one of the historically most successful VALORANT organizations, made significant changes to its coaching staff last week. After the controversial kicking of former Head Coach Milan “Milan” de Meij two weeks ago, Fnatic announced Andrey “Engh” Sholokhov as Milan’s replacement.  Engh previously spent nearly three years at Karmine Corp before…

Image Credit: Call of Duty League From multi-million-dollar deals and record-high transfers for League superstars just six years ago, to minimum-wage contracts and players “buying” their own transfer fees out, the Call of Duty League’s economic landscape has crashed and burned. Call of Duty esports has always had a complicated relationship with Benjamin Franklin. The $100 bills flow like there’s no tomorrow when it comes to the annual releases, making the core game the fourth-highest-selling franchise of all time, but in an esports sense, it’s a different game. While many competitor titles are built with a competitive mindset, such as…

Esports used to have this kind of magical, exciting feeling I couldn’t quite place. It felt like we were part of this crazy new thing that was not quite sure what the hell it was. Stumbling, authentic, raw, confused. I’ve missed that feeling the past few years and couldn’t place my finger on why. What’s missing? Strangely enough, it may be the industry’s advancements that have caused it to lose what made it special. Keep Reading No money, no events: Melee needs the SSBMRank more than ever, but it’s slowly disappearing Are AAA companies to blame for esports’ continued demise?…

Image Credit: BLAST / Luc Bouchon There’s no simpler rivalry than a regional one, but after a decade of back-and-forth between North America and Europe – in particular, France – the RLCS Paris Major cemented that Rocket League came home. Born out of a tiny studio in the US that was workshopping some extra mini games to port into Gears of War, Rocket League was born and raised in Satellite Beach, Florida. The deep roots of the ‘Soccar’ game as we know it were all American, from the game’s DNA to the first-ever RLCS World Championships in Los Angeles and…

Image credit: Esports World Cup The Esports World Cup (EWC) is leaving Saudi Arabia for the first time, and it’s going to Paris. From July 6 to August 23rd, the top players across 24 game titles will gather together in the French capital, fighting not only for glory but also to win a share of the $75 million prize pool. Paris is no stranger to hosting major esports events. The city just came from hosting the RLCS Major last month and became the fighting ground for VALORANT teams during VCT Champions in 2025. It also saw a successful inaugural Evo event…

Image Credit: Esports World Cup On May 20th, the Esports World Cup (EWC) officially announced that it would move the $75m competition from its previous host, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Paris for its 2026 edition. As with any news surrounding the EWC, this announcement was met with divisive reactions from the esports community due to the event’s ties to the Saudi Arabian government. However, a concerning portion of stakeholders, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, have welcomed the change of location with excitement. This is a reminder that the EWC is nothing but a sportswashing campaign carefully employed by the Saudi…

Image Credit: ESL A few days ago, Norwegian esports organization HEROIC caused an uproar within the esports community with a divisive post on X (formerly Twitter). The post intends to trash-talk Saudi Arabian esports organization Team Falcons by putting its logo next to a photo of actress Sydney Sweeney under the caption “t*ts or a**.” However, as pointed out by several esports fans and professionals, the punchline of this “joke” is rooted in misogyny. It reduces the actress to a single body part and sexualizes her without her consent. Disappointingly, however, public reactions to the “meme” were mixed rather than…

The viewership numbers from the RLCS 2026 Paris Major were shockingly low. Like, really low. It’s easy to immediately assume that Rocket League is dying, the old esports mantra. But what’s actually going on? Well, it’s not dying. But the excuses people have for the reduced viewership actually do point to one thing: it’s not popular. And it’s not retaining interest. Keep Reading As the esports industry crumbles, the FGC has become a refreshingly real escape to what esports used to be RLCS Boston Major becomes the most-watched Rocket League event The RLCS 2026 Paris Major is still underway, with…