Japan has been a pillar of the broader videogames industry for decades. Companies like Sony and Nintendo have been pivotal parts of the growth of gaming since the early days. When it comes to esports, however, Japan has been more follower than innovator. Restrictive gambling and advertising laws prevented organizers and developers from supporting tournaments with large prize pools.

In the last year, however, some of those restrictions have been loosened, opening the door for companies to more actively grow Japan’s esports industry. The Esports Observer spoke to the CEO of one such company, PlayBrain’s Mike Sheetal, about one of Japan’s major esports growth opportunities: broadcast technology.

After months of waiting, Battlefield V‘s long-promised (but conspicuously absent) battle royale mode is nearly here. DICE and EA plan to make Firestorm available on March 25th to all players, and they’ve shed more light on what the mode will involve in a reveal trailer (below). The 64-player experience will take place on the largest Battlefield map to date, Halvoy, and will grant access to some rather unusual advantages if you complete objectives. Apparently, a farm tractor carrying artillery is one of your options. You can also expect helicopters, tanks and one-time perks like V-1 strikes.

As shown in a leaked clip, Firestorm still embodies most of the familiar traits of battle royale games. Once you’ve dropped into the map, you have to scrounge for gear (sorted by different quality levels) and fend off enemies as you’re pushed closer and closer together by the namesake Firestorm. You still have the chance of being revived like in most titles, although you’ll get a Battlefield-style sidearm to fend off people while you’re down.

One month ago during a fourth-quarter earnings call, Activision confirmed that a city-based franchising model would come to Call of Duty Esports next year. New information has now surfaced on just how much the franchise buy-in will cost organizations.

Sources told ESPN staff writer Jacob Wolf that Activision Blizzard has begun shopping next year’s Call of Duty franchise spots at $25 million per team. According to Wolf, this past week’s negotiations between Activision and prospective buyers are heating up. Wolf states that Activision “has asked potential buyers for a non-binding indication of interest within the next 14 days.”

The eSports world has been getting huge for a while now, so it is no wonder that the top players in the world are getting paid a whole lot of cash. Some of the players and spectators don’t even realize how much money is involved in the industry and never get to realize how much money is made by the players.

Let me tell you something, the top ten players in the world get paid pretty crazy amounts, every year. So who are these top ten players, where do they come from, what games do they play and how much money do they make?

During their latest Inside Xbox Livestream,343 Industries announced that Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming to PC, both on Steam and the Microsoft Store.

Alongside this announcement, it was also confirmed that Halo: Reach would also be coming to The Master Chief Collection, though at this time the release date for Halo: Reach has not been confirmed.

On PC, Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be released in stages, with each game in the collection receiving an independent release. This will allow Microsoft to put more effort into each game of the series, which currently contains Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo: ODST and Halo: Reach (Soon). The game will feature adjustable frame rates on PC, support for a variety of resolutions, including ultra-wide resolutions and offer updated graphics and support PC specific features like rebindable keyboard/mouse controls and FOV adjustment options.

Fernando Alonso, a Formula 1 star and a two-time champion has launched an Esports team. The team will feature Jamie Chadwick amongst the drivers, who is a British Formula 3 race driver and race winner. The Alonso Esports team already packs some serious punch.

Previously, Fernando was a partner to a Professional Spanish outfit G2. His collaboration with this sim-racing team did not last very long though, as he split with them in less than a year.

The new team Alonso is forming is essentially a partnership. His FA Racing team, which competes in actual Formula Renault Eurocup, and the Veloce Esports team teamed up. Their technical partner will be Logitech G. In the initial launch, seven drivers were announced.

Original article can be found at Gaming4.Cash