World’s First eSports Congress Convening on September 21 in Valencia

World’s First eSports Congress Convening on September 21 in Valencia

DreamHack and Twitch invite video game industry luminaries to discuss the future of eSports

Valencia, Spain – September 6, 2012 - Valencia eSports Congress is hosting a one day event with video game industry leaders to discuss eSports development, media opportunities, and the rise of live streaming. DreamHack is organizing this landmark event while Twitch is sponsoring it and overseeing the streaming.

“DreamHack has a track record of working with all types of professional gaming leagues including ESL, CPL and will continue to do so in the future,” said Robert Ohlén, CEO of DreamHack. “Valencia eSports Congress will be a great way to bring more awareness to eSports and meet each other in real life.”

To bring awareness to the burgeoning eSports industry, DreamHack is partnering with Twitch, the leader in live online video game broadcasting.

"eSports has arrived as a major force in the video game and entertainment industries," said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. "There is a need for the entire eSports ecosystem to get together to discuss a host of pressing issues on the business side of the equation including advertising, infrastructure, competitive standards, video content and delivery and more. We're proud to be a part of it."

All panels will be moderated by industry veteran and renowned host and caster personality Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner. Some of the industry representatives include:

• Alex Garfield - Team EG
• Alex Lim - IeSF
• Alexander Kokhanovskyy - Na’Vi
• David Ting - IPL
• Göran Hellgren - Telia Sonera
• Ilja Rotelli - Blizzard
• Kevin Lin - Twitch
• Matthieu Dallon - ESWC
• Michael O’Dell - Team Dignitas
• Ralf Reichert - ESL
• Robert Ohlén – DreamHack
• Russell Pfister - NASL
• Sam Matthews - Fnatic
• Simon Whitcombe - CBS Interactive
• Sundance DiGiovanni - Major League Gaming
• Tomas Hermansson – DreamHack
• Zvetan Dragulev - Own3d.TV

Team managers, event organizers and journalists are encouraged to apply to participate in the event. Interested parties should send an abbreviated resume and an explanation of why they should be part of the Congress using the contact form provided on our web site. We also have 250 seats in the Auditorium where you can attend to see the panel’s live. Tickets are currently available while supply lasts.

For more information about tickets and partnerships, visit: www.valenciaesportscongress.com.

About Twitch

Twitch (formerly TwitchTV) is the world’s leading video game broadcasting network where more than 20 million gamers gather every month to watch and interact around the games they love. Twitch’s proprietary video delivery platform and infrastructure form the backbone of a distribution network for leading video game broadcasters including pro players, tournaments, leagues, developers and gaming media organizations. Twitch is leading a revolution in gaming culture, turning gameplay into an immersive entertainment media experience. Learn more at http://twitch.tv.

About DreamHack

DreamHack is the World's Largest Computer Festival. DreamHack's roots and core is the LAN party, with the major events DreamHack Summer and Winter, where participants bring their own computers and connect to the Internet in a large local area network which basically BECOMES the Internet by sheer scale. DreamHack is also Sweden's first consumer-oriented trade show / event / festival for computer games, game consoles and computers. The events are a platform for tournaments in eSports, knowledge and creative competitions, concerts by famous music artists, lectures by game developers and much more. Learn more at http://www.dreamhack.se

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Contact: Chase Access Communications for Twitch 415-810-0995 chase@accesspr.com

Source : ign[dot]com

IPTL Amateur -- Will Scarlett help push Acer over the top?

Acer as a company has been around in eSports for many years long before their decision to create and manage a team. They have been supporting and donating money to wide range of tournaments in all kinds of games, whether it was League of Legends or Starcraft 2. However, it was their decision to create their own team that brought them huge attention from all kinds of eSports-related websites and communities.

Still, Starcraft 2 was not their game of choice; they first acquired FIFA back in February 2011 when they’ve launched Team Acer’s website. Yet, their current super-star players are all in the Starcraft 2 roster.

At the very beginning of Acer’s existence in the world of Zerg, Terran, and Protoss they brought in four players to the team, including the most famous German SC:BW player – Mondragon, but as the time was passing by none of them excluding Nerchio, who we are going to talk about in a minute, have not shown any promising results.

Currently, the once called “all-zerg” team has 5 active players in their line-up. Four zergs:  Bly, Nerchio, ParanOid, and Scarlett who joined Acer late June 2012, and one terran – DarkHydra. Single SCV user on the team is also the youngest – he was born in 1997. He participates in online cups on a regular basis, but has won only 1 so far back in 2011. Earlier this year Christian was invited as a stan-in for DeMulim to attend HomeStory Cup IV; he lost 0-3 in his group.

ParanOid aka GOsia used to be one of the top SC:BW players in Poland winning 2009 Polish WCG qualifiers. He played alongside Mondragon in clan called Templars of Twilight. Lately he qualified to IPL Season 5 through the European Satellite Qualifiers, but just like DarkHydra, he also has no huge victories in his Starcraft 2 portfolio.

Bly, despite not being the most recognized player from his country, is one of the top players representing Ukraine on the international scene at the moment. Active participant in many online cups he proves every single time why people cannot underestimate him. He took first place during WCS Ukraine Nationals beating faer, White-Ra, Strelok, and White-Ra once again in the finals. He also qualified for the IPL Season 5 just like DarkHydra and Nerchio through the European Satellite Qualifiers.

Until recently Team Acer was known because of Nerchio who grew immensely as a player since he joined the team in July 2011, but now he’s not the only star  on the team. Scarlett has been performing good since she started playing in the official tournaments like IGN ProLeague Season 4 where she took out DeMusliM, Terius and DdoRo or IPL TAC 3, but the epiphany of her skill took place during WCS Canada qualifiers and WCS NA Championship where she destroyed the competition winning both events with less than 10 games lost in total.

She is more than ready to take part in a huge international events, and go against the best our scene has to offer, but IPTL Season 1 is also going to be a test of her true abilities. For the first time in her career, Scarlett will have to play against the best of what Europe and Korea has to offer; this is not a North American only tournament anymore. Is she going to step up? We might potentially find that out on the 13th of September when Team Acer face aTn.Type in their IPTL Season 1 opening match.

The last but definitely not least on the team is Artur “Nerchio” Bloch. This Polish zerg is not only perceived as a top player in his country, but as one of the best players outside Korea. What is more, in public’s opinion he is also the most skilled Zerg on the western scene, but he exchanges this title with Stephano constantly based on their results in the most recent events. Second place at IEM Cologone 2012, First place in HomeStory Cup V, First place in WCS Poland Nationals and many many more – this is a short list of his latest achievements, and he’s still coming for more.

Although, we what we are seeing now is Nerchio at his best, last year during European Battle.net Invitational he was still an inexperienced newcomer, constantly described as a maphacker and a stream cheater due to his amazing runs in online cups, and poor performance during offline tournaments. Back then people didn’t believe him, when he said that he gets stressed during big events like EBI 2011 for example, but now he got it all sorted out, and can perform at the highest competitive level in Starcraft.

In a team league like IPTL both Nerchio and Scarlett might be used for two things; opening a match to get an early advantage and closing a match to secure a victory. Scarlett has proven many times in the past that she has no problem with being under pressure, hence she might be used by her team mainly as a closer, whereas Nerchio can open a match or be used in the middle of it to secure a draw or catch-up with a score.

Nonetheless, Team Acer, being one of the best team in their group, have a huge chance of advancing into the Up and Down Matches. With two strong star players as a core of their success they might even advance to Premier Division next season.

Written by Albert Palka

Source : ign[dot]com

Black Ops 2 Will Make eSports Important to You

Treyarch wants more than to exist in the eSports arena -- it plans to dominate it, but not in the way you expect. Call of Duty is such a juggernaut that Black Ops II could probably brute force its way to the top with Activision marketing money and sheer numbers. With a few strokes of brilliance, though, Black Ops II involves its entire audience in the constant competitive spectacle.

You Are the Shoutcaster

If you find yourself better at observation than competition, the role of a shoutcaster -- or CODcaster, in the Black Ops vocabulary -- could be something that’s up your alley. Any player can switch to the shoutcaster “team” before a match starts, thus opening their adversarial player slot for another person, and broadcast their live commentary to anyone willing to listen. Shoutcasters function like a sports broadcaster, giving viewers a play-by-play account of the events on screen, as well as identifying players accomplishments and notable strategies. Users can also team up and co-broadcast any match, whether it’s live or recorded in your Black Ops II Theater.

There’s more to proper shoutcasting than just yelling into your mic, though. Using your controller or mouse and keyboard, shoutcasters can easily shift player perspectives to get a greater view of the most important action. Itemized counters indicate who’s scoring well, carrying the flag, or capturing a control point, so you’ll always know where to go to give your audience the best perspective. Other functionality includes a top-down view of the map with every player’s location, listening in on live team chat, and customizable menus to maximize your presentation. Players can also It’s a terrific system that’s easy and fun to use, and in the hands of a skilled shoutcaster, it’s entertaining as all get out to watch.

League of Legend

Treyarch kept off-handedly mentioning eSports when Black Ops II came up in conversation, but we didn’t really know what any of that meant. Call of Duty’s League system is emblematic of what the developer’s looking to achieve. Players divide into one of seven divisions based on their skill level – not their rank or Prestige. The Starcraft-style ladder system moves better players up into higher leagues and matched them against similarly skilled opponents. Those of us who are, uh, terrible, will find talentless hacks to team up with, and have fun in our own corner of the playground. How well you play and place in each match determine how quickly you move up or shift back down. It’s about consistency, which keeps players happy, which keeps them playing.

It’s Always On

At any given moment, you could be part of a Black Ops broadcast. Any user can live stream a custom match by simply turning it on in the options menu, and when Black Ops II releases on November 13, everyone will have access to streaming matches on all platforms. You can load up a live stream on your PC at work, or a mobile browser on the train, and watch a game happening right then and there. Treyarch isn’t talking yet about a potential iOS and Android app for streaming, or how Elite functions with eSports – but this is a strong start.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com