On Sept. 8, esports organization XSET announced that it had promoted Steve Birkhold to the role of chief operating officer, but didn't mention the fact that he would be replacing co-founder Marco Mereu in the role—in fact the announcement didn’t mention the XSET co-founder at all, which was a little odd. shortly thereafter, Mereu announced on social media that he had left the company but still had a financial stake in the organization he helped found in 2020 alongside Greg Selkoe,...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made its opposition to Microsoft's proposed $69B USD buyout of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard official on Thursday, setting the stage for what might be a protracted legal battle between the Xbox and Windows owner and the U.S. regulatory body that oversees antitrust violations. The lawsuit opposing the acquisition was filed in federal court on Thursday, and in it the agency said that this transaction would harm consumers and stifle competition because Microsoft might potentially use...

Qualcomm Technologies announced Wednesday that Samsung Electronics has been named the official smartphone partner of the ESL FACEIT Group's mobile esports competition circuit, the Snapdragon Pro Series. Financial terms and length of the deal were not disclosed. Under the terms of this new partnership, competitors taking part in Snapdragon Pro Series at the “Mobile Challenge” and “Mobile Masters” levels will use Samsung Galaxy devices "powered by Snapdragon mobile platforms" for officially sanctioned competitions, beginning with the Snapdragon Pro Series Mobile Challenge Finals at DreamHack...

A day after announcing details on the 2023 High School Esports League Spring Major, news began to surface that a handful of Generation Esports employees had been laid off this week. While we have not been able to confirm just how many people were laid off at this time, we can report that employees affected include software engineer Brendan Caudill, who was with the company for more than a year;  Kevin Guier, a former Kansas City police officer who joined the company four months ago...

A new report from the New York Post citing sources familiar with the inner workings of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims that there may be some internal conflict when it comes to Microsoft's proposed $69B USD acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Describing it as a “rift” within the agency, the Post report claims that at least one Democrat on the four-member panel has taken a positive position towards the deal, according to a source close to the situation. This could...

Panda Global founder and long-time CEO Dr. Alan Bunney announced on social media that he is resigning from the esports organization, but promised to provide a statement with proof that fighting game community and Super Smash Bros. tournament organizer Smash Word Tour lied about the situation and that Beyond The Summit leadership "put the community in jeopardy." Bunney's resignation is the latest in a series of developments related to Smash World Tour canceling this month's 2022 major Super Smash Bros....

Quality assurance workers at Activision Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions in Albany, New York) voted 14-0 to approve becoming a unionized group (Game Workers Alliance Albany) within the company. Activision Blizzard had appealed the decision with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board in November, arguing that the vote should be studio-wide and not just include QA workers. The NLRB rejected that appeal. Four other votes were cast, but were challenged by management because they weren't submitted in time. Organizers claim...

An announcement from the Call of Duty League telling fans where they can watch the new season (which started on Dec. 2) reveals that Activision Blizzard did not renew its deal with YouTube to broadcast its various esports properties or find a new partner. The company's three year deal with YouTube recently expired, and an announcement telling fans they could watch CDL competitions on Twitch and its official website, indicates that it has moved on from YouTube.--that three year deal,...

Microsoft will fight the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in court if it attempts to block its proposed $69B USD acquisition of Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzard. This is according to a source "familiar with the situation" who spoke to Bloomberg on Friday and follows reporting earlier this week from Politico who claimed that the government agency was mulling over whether it would oppose the deal in U.S. courts. Microsoft is also allegedly in talks...

Organizers of the Smash World Tour announced this week that the upcoming Smash World Tour Championships and the 2023 Smash World Tour have been canceled because Nintendo has told the organization that it is not allowed to operate events related to its series of Super Smash Bros. games. "Without any warning, we received notice the night before Thanksgiving from Nintendo that we could no longer operate," an official statement on Medium reads. "This was especially shocking given our discourse with...