The New Zealand Esports Federation are proud to announce New Zealand’s top TEKKEN 7 player Daniel “Wowzer” Cossington has been selected to represent the nation as an E Black on the world stage at the 11th IESF World Championships in Seoul, South Korea this December.

The IESF World Championship is hosted by the International Esports Federation (IESF). The IESF is the world’s peak body for esports with 56 National Federation members including New Zealand. They work to promote esport as a true sport and host the annual IESF World Championship and events focused on developing the esports ecosystem, including establishing standards and certifications for referees and players. Twenty of the IESF members national governments recognise esports as sport either directly or through their National Olympic Committees or National Sport Agencies.

2019’s event will be the first year Team New Zealand (E Blacks) will compete as a full member of the International Esports Federation after its historic unanimous vote in 2018.  NZESF President Ben Lenihan is excited for Team New Zealand to once again showcase their fighting game talent on the global stage.

“Seoul is the mecca of esports cities and home to some of the best players and teams in the world,” he says. “Being able to send a Kiwi competitor to participate in Korea, as a full member of the IESF, is an honour and privilege for the NZESF.”

Cossington will participate as an E Black playing TEKKEN 7, one of the most popular fighting game titles in the world. TEKKEN 7 is one of three official titles of the 11th IESF World Championship. Even though national pride is paramount, there is a prize pool to compete for. IESF’s 11th World Championship prize pool totals USD $25,000.00.

“I feel extremely honoured to be representing New Zealand as an E Black against the best in the world” the latest E Blacks member says. “I am super excited to show what Kiwi Tekken has to offer in Seoul next month.”

Cossington was chosen to represent the E Blacks by the NZESF’s selection committee. His 2019 performance in local and Australian tournaments established his credentials as an elite player to represent New Zealand at the World Championship.

The E Blacks are collaborating with the Sky Sport Breakers esports outfit Black Sheep NZ for the competition, who will provide support staff and structure whilst Wowzer competes. The NZESF are also partnering with local sportswear provider ONU Sportswear, who will be providing the full loadout of team kit for the travelling squad.

Other member companies supporting New Zealand’s run for gold include; LetsPlay.Live, Kanga Esports, McDonald McVeagh, Playtech and VADR.

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Lenovo, a leading PC and smart device manufacturer, has opened the qualifying round of its Legion of Champions Series IV (LoC IV).

In partnership with Intel, Lenovo’s flagship Asia Pacific esports competition, now in its fourth series, will see its biggest edition yet. Gamers from 12 markets in the region, for the first time including Australia and New Zealand, will battle it out at this year’s LoC. The competition will see the introduction of two new crowd favourite games: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). As with previous editions, finalist teams for LoC IV will face-off in an intense international Grand Finals showdown, which will be held at Pantip Mall in Bangkok, from 12 to 14 December 2019. Registration ends on 14 November, 2019.

In addition, this year’s LoC is also calling for the best female gamers in the region to compete in the Legion of Valkyries (LoV), LoC’s first ever all-female tournament, where female gamers will be battling it out in the gaming arena playing CS:GO. The LoV has been developed to create additional opportunities for female gaming enthusiasts, both experienced and amateur, to showcase their talent.

Both LoC and LoV qualifiers will take place on the Rise of Legion platform – Lenovo’s flagship online esports league – offering teams a chance to compete with other enthusiasts around the world between 15 – 17 November, 2019. Shortlisted teams will advance to the local group stages across all markets. The top four LoV finalists in the region will then join the LoC IV Grand Finals in Bangkok as a full-fledged female team.

“Lenovo’s LoC series represents our commitment to growing the gaming ecosystem in Asia Pacific and serves as a platform that provides an unmatched experience for gamers to represent their team and market on the global stage. Given the growing interest of female gamers in esports, we have introduced the Legion of Valkyries to nurture a diverse group of gamers,” said Ivan Cheung, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Lenovo Asia Pacific.

At LoC III, held earlier this year, more than 8,000 gamers participated in front of 16,000 on-site attendees. The events are designed to foster Asia’s growing gaming community, and to further strengthen relationships between like-minded gaming enthusiasts. The Legion gaming PC range by Lenovo has been developed through active collaboration with the gaming community itself, with its latest innovations offering purposeful design with modern avid gamers’ needs in mind– stylish and sophisticated on the outside, yet savage on the inside, delivering supreme performance for work and play.

“We are proud to see the Legion of Champions tournament going from strength to strength in the Asia Pacific region and are excited to continue our 4th year of partnership with Lenovo in supporting the vibrant esports community. At Intel, we’re committed to supporting gaming communities around the world and powering the best esports tournaments by delivering the ultimate gaming experience,” said George Chacko, Director of Global Accounts for Lenovo, Intel Asia Pacific and Japan

Local champions and grand finalists will be competing for a total combined prize pool of USD$89,100 (AUD $130,000) across two games – the largest of any LoC tournament yet. At the end of the competition, the winning team for PUBG will walk away with USD$4,000 and USD$10,000 worth of Legion devices, while the winners for CS:GO will walk away with USD$5,000 and USD$12,500 worth of Legion devices.

Spectators can expect to experience the grit and tenacity of the gamers as they band together to seize the championship title. Those who wish to participate and compete in this epic gaming tournament may also take part in the Rise of Legion walk-in tournaments, LAN party, and cosplay contests.

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After claiming runner-up finishes at the past three playoff events, the ORDER team was out to prove itself when it took on defending three-peat champions, the Sydney Drop Bears, at the Overwatch Contenders Australia Season 1 Final at IEM Sydney over the weekend.

ORDER beat third-seeded Blank Esports in its semi-final 3-0, before moving on to defeat the Sydney Drop Bears 4-1 in a thrilling grand final series.

The victory was an emotional one for ORDER, shaking the team’s LAN curse and wrestling the Overwatch Contenders Australia trophy away from the Sydney Drop Bears. In doing so, ORDER took home its share of the $100,000 USD prize pool, and secured the coveted invitation to progress and take on the best regional Contenders teams at the Overwatch Pacific Showdown, which will be held in Shanghai later this month.

Sunday’s final kicked off with the Sydney Drop Bears stumbling on Oasis under the weight of aggressive play from ORDER. With the wind suddenly at its back, ORDER’s Adam “Adam” Soong’s strong D.Va play led to a full hold on King’s Row and another point for the team. Horizon Lunar Colony saw the Sydney Drop Bears find its footing, but it came too late to claim the map. With the championship title on the line, the Sydney Drop Bears defended superbly on Watchpoint: Gibraltar, fending off an electrifying final push from ORDER, to take the series to 3-1.

Heading into the fifth map, Nepal, ORDER was ready to pounce. A massive Earthshatter/Self Destruct combo from Sam “Quatz” Dennis and “Adam” clinched a crucial first-round victory, and helped ORDER secure the final map to claim the Overwatch Contenders Australia Season 1 victory.

Congratulations to ORDER on a well-deserved win!

Catch the Pacific Showdown live on Twitch from 24th –26th of May, 2019. ORDER will face top teams from China, Korea, and the Pacific in an intense double-elimination bracket tournament

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The Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) has crowned its final champion. On Sunday, 28 April, Casper “Hunterace” Notto defeated Torben “Viper” Wahl, 3-2, in the Grand Finals of the 2019 HCT World Championship at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gym in Taipei, Taiwan, taking home $250,000 USD and joining the pantheon of HCT World Champions: Firebat (2014), Ostkaka (2015), Pavel (2016), and Tom60229 (2017).

After an intense year of Tour Stops, Playoff events, and Seasonal Championships that spanned the entire globe, 16 of the best players from around the world met in Taipei from 25-28 April to battle for their chance to claim the Hearthstone World Championship trophy, and the lion’s share of the $1,000,000 USD prize pool. An overview of the results is below – for more details  please visit the Hearthstone website.

• 1st Place – Casper “Hunterace” Notto (Europe) – $250,000 USD
• 2nd Place – Torben “Viper“ Wahl (Europe) – $150,000 USD
• 3rd/4th Place – Raphael “BunnyHoppor” Peltzer (Europe) – $100,000 USD
• 3rd/4th Place – Guan “Jing” Zhendong (China) – $100,000 USD

While the Hearthstone Championship Tour has come to an end, the new pinnacle of Hearthstone Esports, Hearthstone Grandmasters, debuts on 17th of May 2019!

As the top tier of the new competitive Hearthstone ecosystem, 48 of the world’s best Hearthstone players will be divided into three regions—16 each from the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific—and compete in two eight-week seasons. The top 8 players, comprised of the top competitors from each season, in each region (along with the best two from China’s Gold Series), will battle for a share of a $500,000 USD prize pool at the Hearthstone Global Finals at BlizzCon this November.

The final groups for Hearthstone Grandmasters were announced during the 2019 HCT World Championship. Please see below for the groups for each division. Among them are Dylan “FroStee” O’Mallon (Australia), and Pathra “Pathra” Cadness (New Zealand).

Americas	Europe	Asia-Pacific
DIVISION A
Muzahidul “Muzzy” Islam	Torben “Viper” Wahl	Dylan “FroStee” O’Mallon
“Eddie” Lui	Chris “Fenomeno” Tsakopoulos	Yashima “Alutemu” Nozomi
Brian “bloodyface” Eason	George “BoarControl” Webb	Dasol “Ryvius” Sim
William “Amnesiac” Barton	Elias “Bozzzton” Sibelius	Kim “Surrender” Jung-soo
Francisco “PNC” Leimontas	Raphael “BunnyHoppor” Peltzer	Kim “che0nsu” Cheon Su
James “Firebat” Kostesich	Vladislav “SilverName” Sinotov	Chen “tom60229” Wei Lin
Cong “StrifeCro” Shu	Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh	Cho “Flurry” Hyun Soo
Frank “Fr0zen” Zhang	Thijs “Thijs” Molendijk	Euneil “Staz” Javiñas
DIVISION B
Lucas “Rase” Guerra	Jaromír “Jarla” Vyskočil	Jang “Dawn” Hyun Jae
Fei “ETC” Liang	Pavel “Pavel” Beltukov	Liu “Shaxy” Wei-Chieh
Ryan “Purple” Murphy-Root	Jon “Orange” Westberg	Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung
David “Dog” Caero	Joffrey “Swidz” Cunat	Tsao “SamuelTsao” Tsu Lin
Jerome “Monsanto” Faucher	Linh “Seiko” Nguyen	Wu “BloodTrail” Zong-Chang
Paul “Zalae” Nemeth	Kevin “Casie” Eberlein	Kenta “glory” Sato
Facundo “Nalguidan” Pruzzo	Dima “Rdu” Radu	Pathra “Pathra” Cadness
David “Justsaiyan” Shan	Casper “Hunterace” Notto	Tyler “Tyler” Hoang Nguyen

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The crowd roared and confetti cannons boomed on Sunday, 29th of July, as the Overwatch League, the world’s first global professional city-based esports league, completed its inaugural season with the Grand Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. In front of a sold-out live audience, the London Spitfire captured history—and the first Overwatch League championship—in a 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Fusion.

“I can’t put into words how proud I am of this team,” said London Spitfire owner and CEO Jack Etienne. “The players, the coaches, Robin Lee, Susie Kim—all of them have shown such resilience to bring us to this triumph. A lot of people wrote us off, but no one on this roster and staff stopped working on getting better and they’ve shown that with this phenomenal playoff run. Thank you to our fans that never gave up and supported us, sometimes watching in the middle of the night. The support we’ve had has been overwhelming and we’re thrilled to have rewarded that support. Thank you to Bobby Kotick, Nate Nanzer, Pete Vlastelica, Mike Morhaime, Jeff Kaplan, and everyone on the Overwatch League team for putting together such an incredible inaugural season. I know none of us will ever forget it. Aces High!”

The Overwatch League Grand Finals on 28th to 29th of July were streamed worldwide via the primary digital viewing experience on Twitch, as well as on MLG; in China on ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV; and broadcast to US audiences on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and Disney XD, along with a highlights show on Monday, 30th of July, on ABC. The ESPN broadcast was the first time live competitive gaming had aired on ESPN’s flagship network in primetime, while the ABC program was the first esports championship ever shown on that network.

Inclusive of these TV networks and streaming platforms, the estimated global average minute audience across both days of the Grand Finals was 861,205. The U.S. average minute audience was 289,175, with an estimated 45% of that total, or 129,792, falling into the 18–34 demographic. Worldwide, the 18–34 average minute audience was 605,013.

“Having cross-platform success, especially among the coveted 18–34 demographic, showcases the Overwatch League’s strong fanbase. Marketers seeking to capitalise on the growth of esports among the mainstream population should take note of the league’s multi-platform approach to broadening reach,” said Nicole Pike, managing director of Nielsen Esports.

“Overwatch League started as one of the most ambitious projects in esports history,” said Twitch cofounder Kevin Lin. “We worked together with Blizzard on many new innovative experiences, including a Cheering rewards program, the All-Access Pass, exclusive Twitch chat emotes, a feature-packed interactive Extensions overlay, and more. Seeing our efforts draw an impressive and passionate audience on Twitch for the Grand Finals reflects a promising future for the league.”

“Congratulations to the London Spitfire, who had an unforgettable season and championship run,” said Pete Vlastelica, president and CEO of Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues. “We had a number of ambitious goals for the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, and all of these came together during the Grand Finals at Barclays Center: we showcased the pinnacle of esports competition, we created value for our partners, and we reached millions of fans. I can’t think of a better position to be in as we look ahead to the 2019 season of the Overwatch League.”

The regular season may have ended, but the fun isn’t over yet: the Overwatch League returns to Blizzard Arena Los Angeles 26th to 27th of August 2018 for the action-packed All-Star Weekend. Sunday will feature a series of custom skill matches, while Monday will see the Atlantic and Pacific All-Stars go head-to-head in the official All-Star Game Powered by Intel. The 2019 Overwatch League schedule will be announced at a later date.

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The Overwatch League’s regular season concluded yesterday (US Time), with the Los Angeles Valiant (27-13) defeating the New York Excelsior (34-6) at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles. The Valiant won the best-of-five series 3-1 and earns a $100,000 USD bonus. New York will take home a $25,000 USD bonus as the runner-up.

Valiant’s roster includes two Australians – Support Player, Scott ‘Custa’ Kennedy and Assistant Coach, Jordan ‘Gunba’ Graham – both of whom have played an integral role in their team’s ascent up the ranks throughout Season 1 to now claim their first stage victory.

Matches commenced with Stage 4’s best teams squaring off in a bracket-style format, with the top-seeded Los Angeles Gladiators (25-15) having the opportunity to select their first round opponent. The Gladiators chose their crosstown rivals, but the Valiant escaped with a narrow 3-2 win. The other semifinals match featured New York against the resurgent Dallas Fuel, with the Excelsior winning a 3-2 thriller.

The top six teams advance to the playoffs. The New York Excelsior and Los Angeles Valiant – as winners of the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions, respectively – earn a first-round bye.

Quarterfinals games take place on the 12th, 14th and 15th July 2018 AEST / NZST. Third-seeded Boston Uprising (26-14) takes on the sixth-seeded Philadelphia Fusion (24-16), and the fourth-seeded Gladiators play the fifth-seeded London Spitfire (24-16) in best-of-three series.

Semifinals matchups are played the following week in the same format. The playoff schedule can be found HERE

The semifinals winners will advance to the league’s Grand Finals, which will be played on the 28th and 29th of July 2018 A at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

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Buoyed by a newly announced two-year deal with Twitch, the Overwatch League’s exclusive worldwide third-party digital broadcast partner, opening day drew an impressive average audience per minute of 408,000, and 280,000 for the week. More than 10 million viewers tuned in over the four-day period via Twitch, MLG, and Chinese streaming partners ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV—not to mention the countless additional viewers at watch parties worldwide. On Twitch and MLG alone, the peak concurrent online audience of 437,000 hit during the highly anticipated day-one matchup between Dallas Fuel and Seoul Dynasty. In addition, tickets to Blizzard Arena Los Angeles were sold out for the entirety of opening week.

“We’re thrilled by the overwhelming response to the Overwatch League’s opening week of play,” said Pete Vlastelica, president and CEO of Major League Gaming (MLG). “But this is only the beginning. With more than 35 million Overwatch players, the Overwatch League has the potential to become one of the most-watched leagues—of any kind—in the world.”

Since we announced Overwatch League at BlizzCon 2016, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the day when the global competitive Overwatch community could come together under one banner,” said Nate Nanzer, Overwatch League commissioner. “Opening week was that coming-out party—for the fans, both in-person at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles and tuned in by the millions all over the world, and for the players, whose love for the game came through crystal clear.”

“We had high expectations for the inaugural broadcast of the Overwatch League on Twitch, given our platform’s passionate fanbase for Overwatch,” said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. “They really put on an amazing show and fans showed up en masse to support and celebrate Overwatch. Based on the response from the community, Overwatch League is off to a great start and we look forward to watching how the season progresses. This league demonstrates the power and potential of esports, and we’re thrilled to continue expanding our partnership with Blizzard.”

Viewers can tune in to catch all the action on Twitch, MLG Website, the MLG app (on iOS and Android), Overwatch League Website, and the Overwatch League app, which launched last week for iOS and Android. Blizzard gamers also can get easy access to the Overwatch League via a new Overwatch League tab in the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app.

The first season of the Overwatch League runs until June, with playoffs and finals scheduled for July. For the inaugural season, all regular-season games will take place at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, a state-of-the-art live-event venue in Burbank, California, custom-renovated for Blizzard Entertainment esports events.

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