esports

Video

Why people love esports: Scenes from Valve’s huge $24M Dota 2 tournament

by Taylor Soper on August 7, 2017August 11, 2017 at 7:35 amComment

Why do people spend their hard-earned cash and travel from all around the world to Seattle, just to watch other people play video games? It’s been a question on my… Read More

What to know about The International, Valve’s massive $24M esports tournament in Seattle

by Taylor Soper on August 7, 2017August 9, 2017 at 8:45 amComment

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… Read More

Video

Investors pour more cash into startup that operates an ‘escrow system’ for eSports tournaments

by Taylor Soper on July 7, 2017July 7, 2017 at 8:01 amComment

The burgeoning eSports industry is spawning new startups like Matcherino that help support a growing ecosystem, and investors are taking notice. Seattle-based Matcherino raised another $1.5 million this week from… Read More

Future of commerce? Mark Cuban to join ‘initial coin offering’ for Unikrn eSports betting platform

by Taylor Soper on July 1, 2017July 1, 2017 at 11:24 amComment

Mark Cuban made headlines this week after the billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner said he was planning to participate in an “initial coin offering” put on by one of his portfolio companies,… Read More

Hey, parents: Don’t worry if your kids love competitive video games, says former NBA star

by John Cook on June 23, 2017June 23, 2017 at 9:05 amComment

Many parents have serious trepidation when it comes to video games, fearing that the content will lead to violent impulses, inactivity and anti-social behavior for their kids. Meanwhile, traditional sports like… Read More

Riot Games co-founder Brandon Beck and NBA champ Rick Fox hope more women join male-dominated world of eSports

by Kurt Schlosser on June 22, 2017June 22, 2017 at 11:51 pmComment

In a stadium built for a nearly 100-year-old sports league, Brandon Beck and Rick Fox talked about eSports and what the future of competition looks like as they kicked off the… Read More

Seattle entrepreneur Matt Hulett joins Pioneer Square Labs to pursue new ideas in eSports

by John Cook on May 13, 2017May 14, 2017 at 11:06 amComment

Pioneer Square Labs is adding some bench strength. The Seattle-based startup studio, which has already spun out companies such as AdLightning, LumaTax, Boundless and JetClosing, has tapped longtime Seattle entrepreneur… Read More

Competitive gaming will overtake mainstream sports ‘in a few years,’ says Momentum CEO

by Taylor Soper on April 12, 2017April 12, 2017 at 10:32 am 2 Comments

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… Read More

Photos: Seahawks host first-ever Madden 17 Championship Tournament in Seattle

by Taylor Soper on March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 at 1:53 pmComment

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… Read More

Twitter will livestream 1,500 hours of eSports programming through ESL and DreamHack partnership

by Taylor Soper on March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 at 4:10 pmComment

Twitter is teaming up with some of the world’s top eSports companies as it continues to ink more and more live-streaming deals. The company today announced a global partnership with three… Read More

NBA to create professional eSports league with NBA 2K, could be ‘huge money-maker’

by Taylor Soper on February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 at 10:16 pmComment

The NBA is going big with eSports. The league is creating the first-ever NBA eSports league in partnership with Take-Two, makers of the popular NBA 2K series. ESPN reported the news late Wednesday. Launching next year,… Read More

Video: Inside Turner’s eSports ELEAGUE studio as Season 2 playoffs kick off this week

by Taylor Soper on November 29, 2016November 29, 2016 at 10:42 am 2 Comments

Turner is betting big on eSports. That much was apparent on GeekWire’s recent trip to Atlanta, Ga., where we visited Turner Studios to learn more about how the broadcasting giant is… Read More

Amazon announces $100K eSports casual games tournament, expanding its presence in gaming

by Taylor Soper on November 21, 2016November 21, 2016 at 6:29 amComment

Amazon continues to invest in eSports, and the company’s latest initiative expands the experience to the types of casual games that many people play on their smartphones. The tech giant on… Read More

Geek of the Week: Super Evil Megacorp CEO Bo Daly is bringing eSports to touchscreens

by Todd Bishop on September 9, 2016September 16, 2016 at 1:20 amComment

Bo Daly was trained as an engineer, with early experience in databases and technology consulting, and an internship at Microsoft’s Redmond campus. But he always wanted to make games. As he puts it,… Read More

Video gamer wins college scholarship thanks to ‘League of Legends’ skills

by Monica Nickelsburg on July 27, 2016July 28, 2016 at 11:05 am1 Comment

Eddy Su is about to enter his freshman year at the University of Washington with $3,000 in his pocket — and he has a video game to thank for it. He… Read More

‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’ gamer accuses Valve of enabling illegal online gambling

by Todd Bishop on June 27, 2016June 27, 2016 at 11:34 amComment

A suit filed by a gamer from Connecticut alleges that Valve Corp. “has been complicit in creating, sustaining and facilitating” online gambling on “Counter Strike: Global Offensive” eSports competitions by allowing gamers to link their… Read More

Comcast joins eSports craze with new brand sponsorships for ESL and Evil Geniuses

by Taylor Soper on June 2, 2016June 2, 2016 at 8:26 amComment

Comcast is the latest corporation to get in on the eSports movement, today announcing brand partnerships with both the ESL and Evil Geniuses. ESL is the world’s largest eSports network,… Read More

Pac-12 will host eSports competitions with teams representing each university

by Taylor Soper on May 25, 2016May 25, 2016 at 8:18 amComment

The Pac-12 is getting in on the eSports craze. The conference on Tuesday announced that it will host and broadcast eSports competitions, with teams representing each of its universities. The… Read More

NFL, MLB and DOTA 2: ESPN is diving deeper into eSports

by Keezy Young on January 14, 2016January 14, 2016 at 2:55 pmComment

ESPN is getting serious about their eSports coverage, with a new eSports section of the ESPN website. The site has a dedicated news sections for League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Hearthstone,… Read More

Techstars grad Innervate raises $1.3M to help developers build relationships with gamers

by Taylor Soper on December 18, 2015December 18, 2015 at 9:07 amComment

Another Techstars Seattle grad is raising money. Innervate has reeled in a $1.3 million seed round from Trilogy Equity Partners, Founders Co-op, and angel investors like Rudy Gadre, T.A. McCann,… Read More

eSports engagement platform Matcherino raises $1.2M from Madrona and NFL lineman

by Taylor Soper on December 17, 2015December 18, 2015 at 8:58 am 3 Comments

eSports, though still in its infancy, already has a massive following. Now, a Seattle startup wants to get in on the craze with a new platform that lets fans crowdfund matches… Read More

Video game gambling startup Unikrn creates pro eSports team of all-female gamers

by Jacob Demmitt on November 19, 2015November 18, 2015 at 10:06 pmComment

Unikrn has been making a name for itself in the world of professional video games with a pioneering platform that lets people gamble on competitive matches. But now the startup is… Read More

Battlefy’s new Discovery service finds just the right eSports tournaments to join

by James Risley on November 5, 2015November 5, 2015 at 4:26 pmComment

The world of eSports is still growing, but the day is only so long. Taking the time to find the right eSports tournament to compete in eats into the time… Read More

Geek of the Week: eSports lawyer Bryce Blum is getting in on the ground floor of a booming industry

by Jacob Demmitt on September 29, 2015September 29, 2015 at 7:16 amComment

Bryce Blum recently left his comfortable job at a Seattle law firm to launch his own legal practice and a new startup — both focused on the exploding eSports industry.… Read More

Startup Spotlight: Matcherino lets eSports fans crowdfund matches between professionals

by Monica Nickelsburg on September 18, 2015July 4, 2017 at 4:46 pmComment

Over the past three years, video game streaming has exploded into a young but powerful industry. Tech giants competed over Twitch before Amazon swooped up the company for $970 million and… Read More

ESports wagering estimated to hit $23.5B by 2020, generating revenues of $1.81B worldwide

by Tricia Duryee on September 9, 2015September 9, 2015 at 10:23 amComment

Videogames have become a huge spectator sport, but it also has the potential to add up to a real business thanks to introduction of Las Vegas-style gambling. In a report released last month,… Read More

Ashton Kutcher invests in eSports betting pioneer Unikrn

by Tricia Duryee on September 1, 2015September 1, 2015 at 10:56 am1 Comment

Unikrn announced earlier this summer that it raised $7 million in venture capital from Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban. Now, another celebrity investor is joining the Seattle-based… Read More

Meet the U.S. team that just won $6.6M at Valve’s massive eSports tournament

by Taylor Soper on August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 at 3:07 pmComment

Welcome to 2015, where you can win millions of dollars in one week for being really, really good at video games. That’s what happened in Seattle this weekend for Evil Geniuses,… Read More

More than $18M in prize money on the line as Valve’s huge Dota 2 tournament kicks off in Seattle

by Taylor Soper on August 3, 2015August 3, 2015 at 10:48 amComment

If you need another reminder of eSports’ growing popularity, just check out the scene at Key Arena in Seattle this week. That’s where some of the world’s top gamers and… Read More

Drug tests coming to eSports after gamers use Adderall during competition

by Taylor Soper on July 24, 2015July 26, 2015 at 10:03 amComment

Performance-enhancing drugs have made their way to the eSports arena. Electronic Sports League, the professional eSports organization, will start testing gamers for drugs in the wake of players admitting that… Read More