Counter-Strike 2 is now available on Steam for free after surprise launch
After a tease earlier this year, Counter-Strike 2 just got a surprise launch on Steam.
CS:GO performance guide: best settings, fps boost, and more
Improving CS:GO performance can help you win more games by improving your response time. Here are the best settings to change to maximize your performance.
Counter-Strike 2 will drop as a free CS:GO update this summer
Counter-Strike 2 launches this summer with dynamic smoke grenades and a better tick rate.
Steam breaks concurrent player record as gamers stay indoors
The new mark is 20,313,476 gamers playing simultaneously
‘CS:GO’ goes free-to-play and players are not happy about it
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), has gone free-to-play this week in a controversial move. Players are angry that the problem of cheating will get much worse now that anyone can make a disposable account to play.
The post ‘CS:GO’ goes free-to-play and players are not happy about it appeared first on Digital Trends.
Watch Counter-Strike in AR With gameviewAR
Grab Games have revealed gameviewAR, a new augmented reality (AR) spectator application built on Google’s ARCore to let viewers get closer to Counter-Strike then ever before.
Built using Unreal Engine 4 and Google’s ARCore, gameviewAR opens up a wide range of opportunities for viewers to enjoy their favourite content in a whole new way. Thanks ARCore, more devices and users then ever are now ready to make use of the technology and enjoy AR content right in the palm of their hand. With a focus on eSports, users will for the first time be able to direct the viewpoint themselves as they walk around the play area, watching the action unfold right in front of them.
Currently a preview of gameviewAR is available to download on the Google Play Store right now and comes loaded with a select number of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) ESL matches. Viewers will be able to watch this in AR and have full control over what they want to focus on with complete freedom to zoom, rotate, lea in or even walk around the play field. Complete with video playback controls users will be able to scrub through replays at the tap of the screen letting them watch highlights over and over again. If that does not already sound like enough then why not also record clips directly from gameviewAR and share them out with your friends all without having to leave the action.
With more videogames planned to be supported in the future, including tournament coverage and more, users who want to experience the heated moments of an eSports match in AR will be able to thanks to gameviewAR.
Elsewhere the developers of gameviewAR, Grab Games, also worked on Knockout League where players entered a boxing ring with an Octopus and the John Wick Chronicles. Both of these VR virtual reality (VR) titles offered different experiences to the players but were generally well put together. Now, with the company wokring on gameviewAR they can take the knowledge learned from their past titles and applied it to what is already shaping up to be an interesting way to enjoy eSports content. You can see a video of gameviewAR below.
VRFocus will be sure to cover all the latest on gameviewAR in the future so be sure to stay tuned for more.
Steam saw more than 7,500 titles added to its library throughout 2017
Steam Spy reports that more than 7,500 games published to Steam during 2017, up from 4,207 games added during the previous year. On average, 20 new games appeared on Steam each day in 2017. Nope, the PC isn't going anywhere.
The post Steam saw more than 7,500 titles added to its library throughout 2017 appeared first on Digital Trends.
SLIVER.tv Live Streaming 14 Esports Tournaments from ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters and DreamHack in VR During 2017
In 2016 SLIVER.tv raised $6.2 million USD to promote eSports in virtual reality (VR), going on to partner with ESL to cover Counter-strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and League of Legends (LoL). Today the VR specialist has announced a broad-reaching 2017 partnership with ESL and DreamHack, which will see the company broadcast 14 tournaments this year.
ESL’s events like ESL One and the Intel Extreme Masters series, DreamHack’s DreamLeague, DreamHack ASTRO Open and DreamHack Masters bring together the best eSports teams and players in the world, for competitive games of CS:GO, LoL and Dota 2.
Over the past three months SLIVER.tv has been beta testing its VR Live Cast tournament platform in collaboration with ESL, at events such as ESL One New York and Intel Extreme Masters. Using the company’s patented Virtual Camera array technology, spectators can step into and experience top flight eSports games in fully immersive 360-degrees. Most recently, the IEM event in Oakland drew over 130,000 unique viewers across SLIVER.tv’s web 360, mobile and VR apps platform claims the company.
Mitch Liu, founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv, said in a statement: “We are thrilled to be working closely with two of the largest esports tourney organizers in the world in 2017. Our vision is to forever transform the esports spectating experience by providing new perspectives and insights into live esports streams. In partnering with ESL and DreamHack across these 14 global events, we have the opportunity to showcase our 360 virtual reality, live replays and stats technology to millions of esports fans worldwide.”
“Our partnership with SLIVER.tv at ESL One New York and IEM Oakland last year exceeded our expectations, and our fans, teams and players were blown away by the first-ever live broadcast of CS:GO and League of Legends in VR,” said Stuart Ewen, Product Manager of ESL. “We are delighted to partner with SLIVER.tv this year across 7 events starting with Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, Poland where in 2016 we saw over 100,000 attendees and nearly two million peak concurrent online viewers. With the help of SLIVER.tv we hope 2017 will be even bigger and better.”
The full rundown of events and dates can be found below. To watch any of SLIVER.tv’s events, visit the company’s website or download the SLIVER.tv app for Android and iOS to view in 360 video or on Google Cardboard. For the best experience, download the app for Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
SLIVER.tv – DreamHack 2017 Events
DreamHack Masters Las Vegas – Feb 15-19
DreamHack Masters – Q3 Date and Location TBA
DreamHack ASTRO Open Austin – Apr 28-30
DreamHack ASTRO Open Atlanta – Jul 21-23
DreamHack ASTRO Open Montreal – Sep 8-10
DreamHack ASTRO Open Denver – Oct 20-22
DreamHack ASTRO Open Winter – Nov 30-Dec 2
DreamLeague Season Seven Playoffs – Dates and Location TBA
DreamLeague Season Eight Playoffs – Dates and Location TBA
SLIVER.tv – Intel Extreme Masters 2017 Events
Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, Poland – Feb 25-Mar 5
3 Addtl IEM Global events – Dates and Location TBA
SLIVER.tv – ESL One 2017 Events
ESL One Cologne – Jul 3-8
ESL One New York – Sep 1-15
ESL One Addtl event – Date and Location TBA
ESL and SLIVER.tv Broadcasting Intel eSports Event in VR
In September VRFocus reported on eSports company ESL partnering with 360-degree broadcaster SLIVER.tv to transmit the Counter-strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournament in virtual reality (VR). Today the companies have announced they’ll be combining efforts again, this time for the Intel Extreme Masters being held later this month.
SLIVER.tv will be live-streaming CS:GO and League of Legends (LoL) in VR, as well as integrating augmented live stats into the stream. By watching the tournaments in VR, spectators will get a enhanced viewing experience being able to get a birds eye view of the action, alongside first-person viewpoints. And with the new stats feature they’ll also be able to get real-time info on player KDS’s (kill-death-assists), event timeline with bomb plants, defuses, kills with various weapons and ‘key moment’ stats when players hit 2k, 3k and multi-kill streaks in a round.
Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv said in a statement: “We’re thrilled to work with ESL to showcase our VRLiveStats technology. Our vision is to transform the eSports spectator landscape forever, and incorporating augmented live stats into our VR 360 live-streams of CS:GO and LoL is a nig step towards this vision. Fans around the world can now access valuable game stats and information in real-time, all within a natural, immersive VR experience.”
While George Woo, eSports marketing manager at Intel commented: “Each season we push the boundaries of innovation by adding new elements to make IEM more exciting and immersive for fans. This year you can experience IEM for the first time in VR through SLIVER.tv. Powerful and thrilling VR experiences like SLIVER.tv demand a high performance PC – and that is where Intel excels with its latest Intel Core I7 Extreme Processor. With SLIVER.tv IEM is going to be even more exciting for gamers and create new VR fans.
The Intel Extreme Masters will take place from 19th – 20th November 2016. The tournament will be viewable through a variety of media on SLIVER’tv’s platform. On mobile devices download the company’s app for iOS or Android, to watch in 360-degrees without a headset or use Google Cardboard. For the best experience download the app on Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
For all the latest VR eSports news, keep reading VRFocus.
Valve denies responsibility for ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’ gambling
It's no secret that some Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players gamble with weapon skins online — but Valve has stated publicly that the Steam platform is not at fault for this activity.
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