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General7 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

GosuGamers Weekly Business Review, 14/1 - 20/1

Today is a special one in the history of the United States, as they have either abandoned democracy or elected the man who will free them from the tyrannical reign of China, Islam or maybe just having to think before you speak, depending on your position. Articles about the effect Donald John Trump might have on the economy, immigration, law and order, women’s rights and many other topics have been thick on the ground since he won the election, and there have even been a few about his potential impact on eSports.

The first thing that probably needs to be said about Trump in this context is that he almost certainly wouldn’t be able to tell you what eSports are, or anything about the scene. As a septuagenarian, it would only make sense that he wouldn’t be that au fait with modern phenomena like eSports, or equality (sorry, couldn’t resist), so expecting him to have a strong, informed view is probably naïve.

Image credit: Gage Skidmore

The second thing to say is that Barack Obama hasn’t really been that great a President when it comes to our little corner of the virtual world. While the first black leader of the free world has been widely praised for the class, tact and distinction with which he has handled his time in charge, he has also overseen a period where many eSports pros have struggled to get VISAs to play in the states, albeit not due to any change Obama has made, but simply the intricacies of the American system.

So, if Trump completely ignores eSports we might see the continual slow progress of the last few years continues, but are there reasons to think the big cheese could obstruct professional gaming in one way or another? While he might never have discussed eSports specifically, there is a tweet from a few years ago that gives you pause for thought.

The tweet, made at the time of the Sandy Hook massacres, was far from the only thing linking violence in games and real world violence, and it’s important to make something clear here. Just like explicit music and violence in movies, there is no proven link between violence in gaming and the real-world equivalent, and until there is we must ignore attempts to shoehorn the subject in where possible.

Likewise the ‘proof’ that Trump has subsequently come around to believing these matters are more about mental health cited by a few articles, which is actually based on a single tweet by Keemstar, should probably be taken with a pinch of salt. We’d never call Keem’s veracity into doubt of course, but it’s better to wait for a source with evidence.

However, Trump now has the power to effect the world in a number of ways, and the most obvious extension of his thinking would be crackdowns on events that ‘glorify’ violence, which could include Counter-Strike and CoD tournaments among others. The same could potentially be applied to Mortal Kombat if you really want, but the likes of Melee, Dota and League are probably fantastical enough that even Donny won’t see them as promoting real world violence, except against anthropomorphised foxes.

Source: YouTube

However, there are also a number of other ways he could make life harder for American orgs, not least by imposing a huge tax on imports from China and making travelling into the country much harder for certain nationalities. The former has the potential to make the day to day operations much more challenging for North American orgs, ironically given Trump’s insistence on making America great again.

As for the latter, eSports athletes from nations like Pakistan, India, many sections of the middle east and anywhere else Trump deems a supporter of terrorism face the possibility of being banned from American soil altogether. This could harm tournament organisers in the states as well as teams based there, and that’s before you even consider how changes made to tax on money taken out of the nation will be made.

However, the real, hard line fact is that so far we don’t have much indication as to how the newly-inaugurated Don will treat eSports, if he ever really treats it in any way at all, and rumours of his killing the scene have been greatly exaggerated. Trump is first and foremost a businessman and may well decide that eSports is business worth cultivating, or perhaps the opposite. Time will tell, as is often the case, but reasons to be cheerful are hardly abounding, and it would come as a shock if that changed in 2017.

 

Big Ten partners with Riot for Spring 2017 event

Elsewhere, the super-rich world of American Collegiate eSports is definitely moving forward, with ESPN reporting a partnership between the Big Ten Network and League of Legends makers Riot Games that will see 12 of the 14 schools in the conference take part in a League of Legends tournament over the course of spring 2017. Starting on January 30th, the finals will take place on March 27th, and are due to be televised by the Big Ten Network.

We’ve already seen the potential of this market in eSports with Heroes of the Dorm, as well as some smaller tournaments, but this combination of Riot and giant institutions could change that for good. Speaking of change for good, there is also the incentive for players of $5k in scholarship money, to be spent on academic costs only, for each player involved, provided by Riot themselves and distributed by Scholarship America.

 

Audi sponsors Astralis

Sponsorship in eSports has long been a necessity for an industry that doesn’t always make a profit, and European organisation Astralis had a big one to announce this week with car makers Audi apparently coming on board to the tune of $750k. The company are already involved in sports in a bit way, not just motor racing but also as a primary sponsor of Bayern Munich and a partner of a number of top clubs, including both Real Madrid and Barcelona, and represent a new level of outside investment.

The move is particularly interesting with the confusion swirling around Astralis, media rights, their holding companies and Nikolaj Nyholm. If you want the full details on what makes this team/group worth watching, Richard Lewis is your man as ever, but in the short term it certainly seems like multinationals are not that fussed about the complexities of team ownership and were impressed by whatever pitch Astralis, RFRSH or some other party may have given.

 

ELeague Major weekend upon us

Finally, this weekend sees the first iteration of a new Counter-Strike major, run by ELeague and presented in part by the aforementioned Lewis. In a game where oversaturation is a real problem it will be fascinating to see how this event gets on, but by all accounts Turner and ELeague haven’t missed a beat yet, and the event looks as though it will be a hit barring acts of god.

 

Roundup

Team EnVyUs took the WESG CSGO title, along with the $800k prize for first place

Blizzard China to revert Hearthstone servers back four days after massive power failure

First EU Open Division Cup sees Team Zealot go flawless

TnC are crowned WESG Dota2 champions, taking home $800k

European Overwatch is in a slump, we look at why this may be

An old rivalry was reborn in StarCraft, to the delight of many veterans

 

Matches of the Weekend

Virtus.pro take on OpTic Gaming in the ELeague group stages

Digital Chaos take on Team Secret at Dota Pit 5

G2 vs Virtus.pro at Trinity Series sees the two best EU Hearthstone teams go head to head

Dignitas and Misfits open the action at HGC Europe, while Tempo Storm play Naventic in the first NA game

 

Events to catch

The much anticpated ELeague Major begins on the 22nd, running until the 29th

The ESL Trinity series offers $150k in prize money to top Hearthstone teams

The Hearthstone GosuCup also gets underway for both EU and the Americas

 

ESports Careers

Vainglory League are looking for a Graphic Designer

DreamHack need a Senior ESports Project Manager, based in Stockholm

Bath-based Ryze are looking for a Front End Developer to join their team

First Blood want to hire a Director of Marketing, preferably based in Boston or New York

 

Giggles

Not all Overwatch players appreciate a good turret...

 

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