Oversaturation in StarCraft II does exist.  Everyone’s favourite RTS game has a great ecosystem built around it, but it has a way to go until it’s perfect.  What are the current problems and what can we do about them? OVERSATURATION One week there’s Intel Extreme Masters, the week after there’s MLG, the week after there’s DreamHack and all the while GSL pumps out...

Riot Games receives a lot of hatred from many directions for the absurdly large amounts of money that they spend on esports.  So much so that people think that League of Legends wouldn’t have made it as an esports game without it.  Well that thought is a big load of crap. [I am not here to glorify Riot Games, merely correct a couple of useless misconceptions.  In fact, I disagree with a number of...

This is a guest blog by head of the NESL Trevor “Midway” Schmidt. Like everyone I was engrossed in the past week’s Riot Season 2 Championship.  By any measure it will blow away the past records for broadcasting numbers and have a massive impact on future eSports events in many ways.  I found myself contemplating something else while I watched, what does Riot’s event mean for the...

DotA 2 has a higher skill ceiling than League of Legends.  Although I am unable to make this judgment myself (I do have plans to play and enjoy DotA 2), I will assume that the opening sentence is completely true. And so comes the key question: so what if DotA 2 has a higher skill ceiling? “LoL is for casuals and DotA 2 has more skill depth, so it should be in every competition out...

Have you ever watched an esports broadcast where two commentators seem to have everything they need to be good, but for some reason they still don’t sound fantastic?  And you just can’t put your finger on why that is.  Maybe my finger will be of some help. There are several obvious traits and skills that make a good commentator.  Those would be: Great grasp of the language; Charisma...

In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve announced the new season of the Intel Extreme Masters. And with it, some significant changes to how our StarCraft II tournaments are going to run. For those of you unaware of the changes, here’s a quick rundown: IEM stops will have 24 players: 16 will qualify online and 8 will come from an open tournament on Day 1. We are very proud of the fact...

StarCraft II will die as a professional esport due to an in-built, genetic flaw.  Same as all esports before it.  League of Legends might be the first game not to. The game’s longevity lies in how well it manages to replace its leavers with fresh blood. I consider a game dead (or dying) when it ceases to deliver new champions and when more people leave the scene than enter it. One would...

I am swamped with work preparing the next Intel Extreme Masters season and several other projects, but I’ve decided to start a blog. I miss my soap box, I guess.  I was an esports journalist for over half a decade before I became a manager.  My fingertips itch and our little world is so interesting these days that it’s just too tough not to write something every now and then. ...