If you need another reminder of the massive growth of esports, head down to KeyArena in Seattle this week for The International. That’s where the most lucrative esports event of all time kicks off Monday, with the world’s top professional Dota 2 gamers duking it out in front of thousands of fans packed into a stadium more typically known for hosting traditional sporting events like basketball. But this is 2017, and professional video gaming has surged into relevance — both from a popularity and financial perspective. [Follow-up: Why people love esports: Scenes from Valve’s huge $24M Dota 2 tournament] The prize… Read More
The popularity of competitive gaming — also known as eSports — continues to rise, and some predict that it may surpass traditional sports within the next few years. Global brand agency Momentum today released a new research study that asked gamers about their media consumption habits and thoughts on the future of gaming. Momentum, which utilized Twitch’s Research Power Group to poll more than 2,600 gamers across the U.S., U.K., and Japan, found that 53 percent of respondents think people will spend more time watching and playing games than watching and playing traditional sports within the next five years. Momentum CEO Chris… Read More
Virtual football collided with real football at a first-of-its-kind event on Thursday evening in Seattle. The Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) transformed into a video game party of sorts as the Seattle Seahawks hosted their inaugural Madden 17 Championship Tournament, where eight of the nation’s top Madden gamers duked it out on the giant Sky Church screen for a chance to win part of a $15,000 prize pool and a spot in the Madden 17 Club Series Championship this April. Madden, the popular football video game made by Electronic Arts, partnered with the NFL this year and for the first time enabled eight… Read More
After stints with Electronic Arts, Microsoft and SEGA, Peter Moore has landed his “dream” job — but not at a company you might expect. Moore, who spent nearly a decade at EA leading its sports unit and most recently its competitive gaming division, will become CEO of Liverpool Football Club this June. The 61-year-old is well known in the gaming industry, having helped lead Microsoft’s Xbox team during the Xbox 360 launch and famously inking Xbox-related tattoos on himself. He left the Redmond tech giant in 2007 for EA Sports and held positions as chief operating officer and chief competition officer. But now he’s headed… Read More
Joe Montana is getting back into video games. The Hall of Fame quarterback who won four Super Bowl rings is behind a new studio called Superstar Games that will soon launch Montana 17, the first virtual reality football game that will launch on Google Daydream and Samsung Gear. Montana 17 gives users an immersive on-the-field experience from the quarterback’s perspective. The game is passing-only and featured seven-on-seven gameplay with four quick quarters. For Daydream, you control the QB with an external controller; on the Gear, you use the pad on the headset itself. Montana 17 is also the first VR game to be licensed by the NFL… Read More
