Valve Adds New Stretch Goals to Bolster Dota 2’s $6M Prize Pool

Yesterday, The International 2014, Valve’s premiere and annually held Dota 2 tournament, broke a $6M prize pool milestone. Funding this respectable sum of money are fans. Valve offers fans the opportunity to purchase “The Compendium”, a digital booklet that enhances the viewing experience of The International, for $9.99, while allocating 25 percent of the proceeds to plump up the prize pot. Fans can level up their Compendium by “watching games, collecting player cards, making tournament predictions and more”, doing so well grant players in-game rewards. The more money funded, the more milestones are reached and each milestone grants purchasers of the compendium with some nifty, non-game breaking rewards. Today, Valve introduced nine new milestones, with the 22^nd/final milestone granting purchasers with a “Victory Prediction Taunt”, whatever that means, when the prize pool hits an audacious $10 million mark.

Now… crowdfunding is by no means a revolutionary concept, but Valve’s approach is an exemplary model and should be utilized by smaller, more nascent eSport studios to foster their respective scenes. Most eSport aspiring titles are free-to-play games and although microtransactions maintain the life force of an eSport studio, a robust competitive scene is necessary in maintaining players’ interest. And the only way to do that is to properly pay competitors.

With behemoths like Dota 2 and League of Legends, breaking into the eSports scene in a prominent way seems like an impossible task. Fans are resources, use them.

SOURCE: Valve

EA to Announce Six New Games at E3

Could the next Mass Effect be on its way? Electronic Arts will be revealing six new games during its E3 press conference this June. I’m hoping that one of these six will be a redemptive return to the Mass Effect world, hopefully this time around with some more truthful advertising.

On top of the six title reveals, the company will be expanding on previously announced titles. This may regard the next Mirror’s Edge game, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, and most certainly, Star Wars: Battlefront.

SOURCE: Polygon

YouTube to Acquire Twitch for $1 Billion

For those who questioned the legitimacy of eSports, Google’s venture to purchase video game-streaming company and promoter of eSport content, Twitch, will put any of their arguments to rest.

According to a report from Variety, YouTube is looking to acquire Twitch for more than $1 billion. The rumored deal is supposedly an all-cash offer and the announcement of the acquisition is to be announced “imminently”.

Since YouTube is the dominant force in the online-video market, the company is prepping to combat U.S. regulators that may deem the deal to broach monopolistic issues.

SOURCE: Variety