NEWSWORTHY
Twenty-five years after spurning NBA Jam, Michael Jordan invests in esports
A quarter century after being famously excluded from the cult favorite video game NBA Jam, Michael Jordan is investing in esports. Jordan on Thursday was announced as an investor with aXiomatic, a major esports ownership group whose properties include powerhouse franchise Team Liquid. The board at ...
Esports searches for foothold in Japan
During August and September, esports competitions took the stage in two very different and significant places. In August, esports had a presence at the Asian Games in Indonesia as a demonstration sport alongside swimming, track and field and other traditional athletics endeavors. Then in September, ...
Tokyo Game Show kicks off with stronger esports presence
The Tokyo Game Show kicked off Thursday with the usual assortment of bells and whistles, while Sony Corp., Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., Square Enix Holdings Co. and the other usual suspects all occupied large swaths of the convention halls at Makuhari Messe in Chiba ...
JFA to co-host inaugural esports tournament at 2019 National Sports Festival
The Japan Football Association has taken its biggest step yet in the country's burgeoning esports scene, joining the Japan Esports Union as co-host of the newly established esports competition in the cultural program at the 2019 National Sports Festival in Ibaraki Prefecture. The inaugural Inter ...
Amid official recognition of esports, Japanese firms rush to cash in on booming market at home
Konami Digital Entertainment Co. saw the Asian Games, the world's second-largest multisport tournament after the Olympics, as a prime opportunity to boost demand for its game "Pro Evolution Soccer," which was used in the Asiad's competitive video gaming tournament. In addition to firms in the ...
Shooting at Florida esports event raises questions over security
A shooting at a video game competition in Florida has left two people dead along with the suspect and prompted calls from gamers for more security at esports tournaments. The gunman opened fire Sunday at the online video game tournament as it was being live-streamed ...
Esports looking to secure Olympic future at Asian Games
Esports events will be contested at the Asian Games for the first time in Indonesia, with players and advocates hoping it will show skeptics that video gaming belongs in the big leagues. With the stakeholders hoping the demonstration event will help build the case for ...
Dragon Ball fighting game vaults Bandai Namco onto esports stage
Here comes a new challenger to the esports arena. Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. broke the all-time Twitch streaming record for the biggest fighting game tourney this year with "Dragon Ball FighterZ" (or DBFZ for short), trouncing long-standing favorites such as Capcom Co.'s "Street Fighter" or ...
Japan embraces esports after lagging global peers but seeks a star to put it on the map
Esports is quickly establishing itself as a way for video game lovers around the world to make a name for themselves — and a living — from their favorite pastime. Japan, despite being a major maker and player of video games, is belatedly jumping on ...
NPB getting on board with boom in esports
Nippon Professional Baseball is ready to take a swing at esports. This fall, the league will join forces with Konami to launch the Pawapuro Pro League, an esports league that will bring together pro baseball and pro gamers. Players in the league will compete using ...
Oasis hedge fund boss bets on Japan's professional gaming scene
Competitive gaming in Japan has found a champion: hedge fund boss Seth Fischer. The chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based Oasis Management Co., which owns more than $1 billion in Japanese securities, said esports is now among his top five investment themes for Japan. He ...
Esports finally arrives in Japan, home of game giants like Nintendo and Sony
A crowd cheers, banging on balloons in front of glitzy stages, each with a giant screen. The rising stars at the sprawling Makuhari Messe hall are the quietly seated men in hoodies and T-shirts, with names like Noppi and Refresh, jiggling on buttons and ...
