EA Sports has announced a new global eSports event for FIFA 18 culminating in the first-ever FIFA eWorld Cup next August. Qualifying begins November 3, with several rounds leading up to the main event.
From November 2017 through July 2018, the tournament will feature several qualifying rounds where you can compete for a spot in the playoffs. There will also be qualifying events for recognized pro players and current teams to gain an entry.
By next summer, the field will be winnowed down to 128 participants — half on Xbox One and half on PlayStation 4. Dubbed the “Champions Cup,” these players will face off against each other in live events until only eight remain. Then it’s on to the FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Final.
Todd Sitrin, SVP and GM of the Competitive Gaming Division at EA, said in a press release that the plan is to build on the rising popularity of eSports in the new worldwide tournament. “Last year was a pivotal achievement for competitive FIFA, engaging millions of competitors and spectators through world football,” he said. “In partnership with FIFA, we’re accelerating the growth of competitive gaming.”
The Madden Championship has been a huge success, and EA is hoping to replicate its popularity by partnering with FIFA. “Competitive FIFA is a global entertainment phenomenon that maximizes the combined power of world football and competitive gaming in unprecedented fashion,” Philippe Le Floc’h, Chief Commercial Officer at FIFA, said.
To participate, you need to first register for the tournament. You can qualify through FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) online competitions and at live qualifying events throughout the year. Get ready for the qualifying events with our FIFA 18 FUT strategy guide to build your team into a powerhouse. It’s available now, bu if you’re new to the FIFA series, you can also grab the free demo and try it out.
We found FIFA 18 to be a game you can play for months at a time, with stunning graphics and smooth, engaging competitions. The Ultimate Team mode adds “Squad Battles,” allowing you so score new cards and coins by playing single-player matches and comparing your performance to others in online leaderboards.
EA is promising lots more information about the various tournaments soon, with official leagues representing real-life clubs, so start practicing now and get ready to face off against competitors from all over the globe.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.