Last week we saw yet more exclusive broadcast rights signed by Facebook, Optic disqualified from a PUBG tournament for cheating, and more . Let's break 'em down!
H1Z1 in the duo queue with Facebook
Daybreak announced the Pro League is set to kick off on April 21, streamed live on ... Facebook. Participating teams include Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Solo Mid, Vitality, and Echofox. How much of a success the Facebook platform will be for attracting gamers who enjoy using services like Mixer and Twitch will be interesting to see on the first day. ESL found out the hard way by partnering up with Facebook for CS:GO and DOTA2 tournaments, taking down unofficial streams on Twitch. The response from the community was an unpleasant one.
Here's hoping Facebook sorts things out, but in the end events such as esport tournaments should really be hosted on dedicated platforms that have been tried and tested and have already built a gaming community. More details on the upcoming H1Z1 Pro League can be found on the official website.
Cheating in PUBG
Optic Gaming was disqualified during a round at the IEM PUBG tournament due to one of the team's players using an exploit that allowed him to briefly see through a wall. This was picked up on stream while casters were seeing his point of view, resulting in other professional players calling the use of the exploit out on social media. The player in question is Bahawaka, who managed to lose Optic Gaming all points earned in round eight.
Bahawaha cost Optic Gaming $12,000 by making the team fall from second to fifth position.
Optic Gaming deals a hammer blow to competitive Halo
In what's been a fairly big week for Optic Gaming hitting the headlines, the organization announced it was dropping its Halo team immediately ahead of what you'd expect to have been a strong run at this year's Halo World Championship.
The team was one of the strongest ever assembled in Halo esports. The Green Wall not only finished second in the recent event in Orlando but the foursome is the reigning world champions. Optic has a huge following as a brand and it's sure to be a big loss now for the Halo scene. Hopefully, the players will find another organization before the NA qualifiers since it'd be a crime to miss out on all that talent.
More: OpTic Gaming leaves the competitive Halo scene
Women in esports
Should you not be familiar with the name Soe Gschwind-Penski, she's a prominent Overwatch caster known by the community as 'Soembie'. As a female face at Overwatch tournaments, you'd think Gschwind-Penski would be hailed as a role model for other women who wish to get into esports and the gaming industry as a whole, but unfortunately, she came under attack by radicals for simply thanking men on Women's Day.
Ive gotten death threats and hundreds of hate messages the past 20 minutes because I thanked men for treating me as their equal, on a day which is all about womens struggle for equality. Hate, because I am grateful for the men in our lives who fight alongside us for our rights...
— Soe Gschwind-Penski (@Soembie) March 8, 2018
The issue at hand is how telling a woman that she's not being a woman correctly simply goes under the radar. This is the sort of thing I've spoken about before, which holds women back. It's how radical activists cannot fathom someone from the group they claim to represent thinks outside the box. Gschwind-Penski wasn't necessarily belittling her own sex, nor was she attempting to hijack the day for men. It was a mere celebration of both sexes.
Disagreeing with her is absolutely fine, but sending death threats is taking things too far and could potentially put other women off from aiming for a similar position if they share the same view. Not good.
