eSports and Gaming Update:  E3 Recap, Rise Wins in Anaheim, and Overwatch Stage 4 Results

In our June eSports and Gaming Update, we recap the recently completed E3 in Los Angeles, California. We also discuss Rise’s second straight victory in Anaheim and Overwatch Stage 4 Results.

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eSports and Gaming Update:  E3 Recap, Rise Wins in Anaheim, and Overwatch Stage 4 Results

Biggest news from the 2018 E3 Conference

All of the biggest game publishers, like they are every year, showed up to the 2018 E3 Conference. Let’s take a look at news about each game publisher.

Xbox

Xbox opened the second day of the E3 Conference. Xbox didn’t give a date on their next wave of games. They did announce Halo: Infinite. Xbox revealed that the Halo:  Infinite game would run on the new Slipspace Engine. Created by 343 Industries, the Slipspace Engine is supposed to take Halo to a new level. Check out a video on the Slipspace Engine and Halo Infinite here.

Xbox also released some information on their new game, Islands of Nyne. They showed Islands of Nyne during the ID@Xbox scissor-reel. Islands of Nyne looks to be a first person shooter game ala Call of Duty. Like Halo, it’s set in a sci-fi backdrop.

EA

As to be expected, EA kicked off the 4-day E3 Conference. EA has taken a lot of time to develop each one of their titles with their Frostbite Engine. In 2016, the company announced that they had gone all in with their Frostbite Engine.

EA showcased Battlefield V. This time, the franchise sends gamers to World War II. Multiplayer game modes include:  Grand Operations, Conquest, Breakthrough, Domination, Team Deathmatch and Frontlines. Each round is a day. The goal is to succeed each day. When you do, you put your opponents at a great disadvantage. EA also said that there is a Battle Royale mode for Battlefield V. The company stated they would discuss the Battle Royale mode at a later time.

EA showed a trailer for NBA Live 19. The biggest news about NBA Live is that the latest game returns The One career mode. EA is opening The One career mode worldwide so that teams can be created. FIFA 19 will have a Champions League. The Champions League will be an online tournament that allows players to create custom tournaments with any of the soccer teams in Europe.

Madden NFL 19 now has used real player motion technology to enhance player animations. The game also returns Custom Draft Classes. The biggest news about Madden NFL 19 might be that for the first time in 10 years, gamers can purchase it for their PCs.

Ubisoft

Ubisoft made some announcements about their eSports games:  Rainbow Six: Siege and For Honor. Although new to the space, both have continued building in popularity. In fact, Rainbow Six: Siege now has a player base of over 35 million. Ubisoft’s Community Developer Justin Kruger said the Siege Pro League Majors would take place in August.

Also, the eSports centered documentary, Another Mindset, would premiere during the tournament. The Siege Pro League Finals will be held in Brazil in November.

Ubisoft is attempting to build For Honor’s player base. They allowed PC users to download the game for free until June 18. The hope is that players will build the player base via their PCs. It could only be a matter of time before the game publisher announces For Honor major tournaments along with a championship tournament.

Nintendo

Nintendo doesn’t run eSport Tournaments the way that EA, and Ubisoft is trying to do. Nintendo did decide to run a Super Smash Bros. tournament at E3. They also ran a Splatoon 2 Tournament.

ZeRo of Chile won the Super Smash Bros. 2018 Invitational. ZeRo used Mario to beat MkLeo of Mexico. MkLeo had used Sonic. In the Splatoon 2 World Championships, Japan’s GG BoyZ beat Germany’s BlackSquids. The BlackSquids represented Europe in the tournament.

Rise Nation Repeats as CWL Anaheim Open Champs

One June 17, Rise Nation won the final Global Open Event of the Call of Duty League Season. It was Rise Nations second straight CWL Anaheim Open victory. Truth be told, Rise Nation’s win was sort of never in doubt.

The eSports and gaming team won the lion’s share of the $200,000 prize pool. It was Rise Nation’s third victory of the season. They’ll head to the 2018 CWL Championships, taking place this August from August 15 through August 19 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, as huge favorites.

Rise Nation beat Red Reserve for the win. Finishing out the Top 4 was Luminosity Gaming in third place and Unilad in 4th place. Faze Clan and Optic Gaming finished 5th/6th while Mindfreak and Tainted Minds finished 7th/8th.

The championship battle between Rise Nation and Red Serve was notable in that it produced the first draw in the 2018 CWL Season. The draw occurred as a game four Hardpoint on Adrennes Forest. Counting the draw, the CWL Anaheim Open Championship took a total of 6 games to complete. Pierce “Gunless” Hillman was named Astros MVP. It was the second time Gunless has won the MVP.

In addition to the actual tournament, the CWL Anaheim Open also ran a charity event, the Call of Duty Endowment CW All-Star Game. Division B, led by Gunless, won the event. Fans voted for both Division A and Division B players. The Division B winning side included:  James “Clayster” Eubanks from e-United, UNILAD’s Bradley “Wuskin” Marshall, OpTic Gaming’s Seth “Scump” Abner, and Gunless.

It’s also worth noting that both MLG.com/CallofDuty and Twitch.tv/Callof Duty broadcast the 2018 CWL Anaheim Open live. The broadcast went throughout the world. That shows exactly how popular eSports and Gaming has become.

Overwatch Stage 4 Ends with Upset

The inaugural season of the Overwatch League ended in a major upset in Stage 4 as Los Angeles Valiant took down mighty New York Excelsior. Loaded with talent at every role, New York Excelsior had dominated Stage 2 and Stage 3 to capture the overall number 1 seed for this July’s Overwatch League Playoffs.

How did Los Angeles Valiant pull off the upset? They had an excellent strategy. L.A. Valiant decided to build around defense. New York Excelsior had muscled their previous opponents. L.A. Valiant used Excelsior’s strategy against them. L.A. Valiant’s win was good enough for them to finish tied with Los Angeles Gladiators atop the Overwatch Stage 4 Standings. Both L.A. teams finished at 9 and 1 in Stage 4. New York Excelsior finished at 7 and 3 and in third place.

The Overwatch League Playoffs start on July 11. New York Excelsior will enter the playoffs as the number 1 overall seed. Their terrific 34 and 6 record is much better than any Overwatch League team. L.A. Valiant is in third place with a 27 and 13 record. Boston Uprising is at 26 and 14 while L.A. Gladiators is at 25 and 15.

Check out the rest of the teams that have winning records in the Overwatch League:

London Spitfire                       24-16

Philadelphia Fusion                24-16

Houston Outlaws                    22-18

Seoul Dynasty                        22-18

New York Excelsior deserve to be the overall favorite. If L.A. Valiant’s win over Overwatch proves anything, though, New York Excelsior isn’t unbeatable. That means the inaugural Overwatch League Season could produce a surprise winner.

 

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Written by D.S. Williamson