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Rocket League Season 8 champions are NRG Esports. With fast cars and a little overtime, NRG secured victory. Read more below.

/ BIG 3

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1/NRG Esports takes home the trophy

As the year draws to a close, it is so very important to crown the champions so that with the new year, it can all begin again.

The Season 8 Championship concluded Sunday to see NRG Esports taking home the trophy. NRG Esports squeezed past last year’s champs to secure victory from a seven-game series.  

Game seven went into overtime and was extremely exciting! The way that the players move those cars and manipulate the field is something to behold. If you missed the action, check out the saved videos in the link above.

2/CoD: Mobile enters the esports scene

Okay, this one should not be a surprise. CoD: Mobile is entering into esports with a Creator Challenge. CoD has long been in the esports scene, but with their new mobile release, it is now possible for them to be in the arena in a whole new way.

Activision and Estar Studios are teaming up and are not wasting any time at all. Even though the announcement was just made, the drafts are happening this weekend. Next weekend will be the tournament itself.

Estar Studios has said they are excited, and who wouldn’t be, to work with such a great game and company. The studio also has promised that this will be a one-of-a-kind show, which is quite the promise to keep.

If you want to check out the action, you will be able to on Twitch and YouTube.

3/Destigmatizing video games

Riot Games is once again at the forefront of the news. They are currently doing all they can to help video games be realized as more than a waste of time, or the source of some evil. Of course, we here at SlashShout, and you, our readers, already know this. Riot Games, however, is not wanting to wait for the rest of the world to get the message.

This valiant group of gamers is developing an animated series called Arcane. They’re hoping for the series to assist in the destigmatizing of video games in our society. Most know that in “30 to 40 years” a lot more people will be gamers, but Marc Merrill wants to help people see that video games can be more of a meaningful pursuit.

The animated TV show will trace the life of Jinx and Vi Runeterra and will release in 2020. Riot Games knows that this will not be an easy task, but that will not deter them. 

/ THE BIZ

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/PUBG makes a billion and change

PUBG made its way into the gaming scene by being one of the first battle royale-style games to hit mobile. They captured gamers’ hearts and then it seems they captured their wallets.

The company behind PUBG has made a resounding $1.5 billion on the mobile version of the game, just this last year. China, the USA, and Japan took the top three spending spots.

Once China managed to get the game, they spent a combined total of well more than half a billion dollars. The rebranding of the game is being heralded as one of the reasons the game has done so well in China.

Tencent has done an incredible job of helping gamers on mobile reach such astounding new heights.

/Other Biz

/ TOURNEYS

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/Russian Dota 2 team quits tournament

IeSF World Championships are a big deal, but they just hit the news in a way that is quite shocking. The Russian team for Dota 2 decided it was time to leave the tournament. The tournament was supposed to be fun, but for the Russians, it seems to have been more of a chore.

There have been a number of complaints about the quality of the tech and the organization of the whole thing. Apparently, the venue was just as small as the tables for the equipment. 

This world tournament has been a shambles in the players’ eyes. It is saddening to see players walk away from an opportunity to show their stuff; but hopefully this is a lesson and other tournaments will learn from tit.

/Other Tournament News

/ A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

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/ GAME ON

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/League of Legends to slow down

League of Legends has been giving gamers a lot over the past few months and at quite the pace. It has been champion after champion lately, and that is not a bad thing. However, this pace has not let players really learn and experience each new champion. 

Riot Games recently announced that in 2020 they will slow down on the pace that they have been keeping. Mark “Scruffy” Yetter has said that it is all about quality and not about the deadlines. This is a fantastic shift in the mentality of the development team. We know gamers want what they want, but this has led to myriad games being less than stellar, so hopefully, this shift at Riot will be a positive shift in the industry and the community.

/Other Gaming News

/ THERE IS NO “I” IN TEAM

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/Blast Premier 2020 teams 

The Blast Premier is fast approaching and it’s about time that the full list of teams is revealed. The organizers of the event are super excited to begin letting fans of esports see what they have in store. They began by listing the teams for us, which include names like Astralis, FaZe, and Vitality. 

The CEO of Blast Pro Series, Robbie Douek, stated that they have been working hard to make this the most exciting event yet. Given how some of these teams have proved themselves in the past, it probably will be.

/Other Team News

/ HERE’S THE “I”

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/Even PewDiePie gets tired

Early next year, PewDiePie, will be taking a leave of absence from YouTube. He did not announce when that would be exactly, only that he has made up his mind. 

All of this is right on the heels of the backlash from YouTube’s Rewind. The policy had good intentions, but has not been received well due to poor implementation, at least in PewDiePie’s mind.

/Other Player News

  • It has been 5 years since he took MVP, but League of Legends player Mata is retiring.

/ META

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/Say goodbye to XP talents

Dota 2’s 7.23e update changes some of the fundamental aspects of the game. Experience talents are no more! For a while now, the meta has been to grind out the Outposts as much as possible. They were, after all, the best source of XP. Now though, for the third patch in a row, that has been nerfed. The latest patch also took away any talent directly linked to XP.

Along with the nerfs to the Outposts, a few heroes also have received some nerfs. Everything seems geared towards slowing some players down, which probably isn’t going to happen since players always find the next best thing.

/More Meta

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