Gaming League Announces Salaries, Draft

By Nick Mokey April 27, 2007

Gaming League Announces Salaries, Draft

The Championship Gaming Series, an international league for competitive gaming, demands to be taken seriously. The league announced Thursday that it will offer gamers $5 million in salaries and bonuses this year. It also announced that it will hold its first “draft” at the Playboy Mansion on June 12… so scratch that “taken seriously” part.

"This is the moment the gaming world has been waiting for," said CGS commissioner Andy Reif in a press release. “We will be paying salaries and bonuses to our players in excess of $5 million dollars during the 2007 season. The time has come for a new era of professional gaming as sports entertainment.”

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We’re not sure that gaming fans have been anticipating the CGS anymore than football fans anticipated the ill-fated XFL, but we’ll give Reif the benefit of the doubt.

Online qualifiers for the draft will begin on April 28, with the first live event to be held May 11-12 in Los Angeles. Players who reach the draft will be split into six city-based teams of ten. PC gamers will compete in Counter-Strike: Source and FIFA 2007, while console gamers will compete in Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3. Matches will be broadcast on DIRECTV.

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Gaming

Riot Games Xbox Game Pass benefits: rewards in League of Legends, and more

Vi in Arcane: League of Legends.

Riot Games' League of Legends, Valorant, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift are some of the most popular multiplayer games out there. Now, they are all a part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription. As those games are all free-to-play, the real benefit of this partnership between Microsoft and Riot Games is that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will receive lots of in-game bonuses that’ll save time and money.
As this partnership affects four games, each of which has its own rewards, it can be tough to fully digest all the benefits one can get in Riot Games' catalog of titles with an Xbox Game Pass subscription. To help, we’re breaking down all of the in-game bonuses players can see in League of Legends, Valorant, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift after doing so.
Riot Games available with Xbox Game Pass - Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022
What are the League of Legends Xbox Game Pass benefits?

Being an Xbox Game Pass subscriber will save League of Legends players a lot of money as they'll immediately have access to all 162 Champions in the game. From Vi to K'Sante, you will no longer be limited when it comes to which League of Legends champion to use. Riot Games confirmed that this will apply to all future champions as well. While that alone is a massive boon for Xbox Game Pass subscribers that play League of Legends, connecting the accounts will also net players a 20% XP Boost as well as a Masterwork Chest and Key.
What are the Valorant Xbox Game Pass benefits?

Gaming

Every video game release date announced at The Game Awards 2022

luke from street fighter 6

The Game Awards is home to many new game announcements and release date reveals every single year. At last year's show, we received release dates and windows for games like Tunic and Babylon's Fall. Throughout 2022, we've already gotten release dates for big games such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the remakes of Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, and Dead Island 2, but there are still more release dates that needed to be revealed. That's where The Game Awards 2022 came in.

While the first few months of 2023 were already packed with new game releases like Forspoken, Atomic Heart, and Skull & Bones, the Game Awards 2022 added many more titles to the list, some of which are coming much sooner than expected. Here are all of the release windows that were announced for upcoming games at The Game Awards 2022:

Gaming

Everything announced at The Game Awards 2022

A mech carrying things overlooks a destroyed world in Armored Core 6's reveal trailer.

The Game Awards has rolled around once again, awarding developers who made some of the year’s best games and unveiling a bunch of new trailers and game announcements. Geoff Keighley’s annual event is equal parts award show and video game showcase, and The Game Awards 2022 was no different.
Games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Final Fantasy XVI, and Tekken 8 made appearances, while Death Stranding 2 and Armored Core VI were revealed for the first time. There were a ton of game reveals to take in, so here's a roundup of every announcement from The Game Awards 2022.
THE GAME AWARDS 2022: Official 4K Livestream: Thursday, December 8 (7:30p ET/4:30p PT/12:30a GMT)
Hades II announced by Supergiant Games
Hades II - Reveal Trailer
Supergiant Games, the developer behind 2020's critically acclaimed Hades, revealed its next game will be a sequel to Hades. We got a look at some beautiful animation and roguelike gameplay starring the Princess of the Underworld, and we learned that the game, officially titled Hades II, will enter early access next year.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is out on March 17
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - Official Reveal Trailer
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor got an awesome and intense trailer at the Game Awards 2022, and voice actor Cameron Monaghan came out afterward to hype up the game further. The game is launching on March 17, 2023.
Hideo Kojima unveils Death Stranding 2
DEATH STRANDING 2（Working Title）- TGA 2022 Teaser Trailer
It wouldn’t be a Geoff Keighley show without an appearance from Hideo Kojima, and thankfully Kojima had more to promote than a podcast this time around. We got the first trailer for the Death Stranding 2, a working title currently stylized as DS2, from Kojima Productions. This first teaser trailer is just as vague as Death Stranding's were, as it features Lea Seydoux's character traveling with al baby before talking with Norman Reedus' Sam.
Horizon Forbidden West will get an expansion set in LA next April
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores | Announce Trailer
Like The Frozen Wilds for Horizon Zero Dawn, Burning Shores is a massive expansion for this year's Horizon Forbidden West. The cinematic reveal trailer shows Aloy flying around a volcanic Los Angeles archipelago before a giant creature in the Hollywood sign attacks her. Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores will launch on April 19, 2023.
New The Super Mario Bros. Movie clip stars a ton of Toads
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | “Mushroom Kingdom” | Official Movie Clip
Keegan Michael-Key showed up during The Game Awards to show off a new clip from The Super Mario Bros. Movie. After joking about whether Toad has a hat or just a head, he showed off a clip of Mario walking through the Mushroom Kingdom amid ton of multicolored Toads. It's our longest uncut look at footage of this animated feature yet and it does a great job highlighting Illumination's interpretation of Mario's world. The Super Mario Bros. Movie comes to theaters on April 7.
Crash Team Rumble announced by Activision
Crash Team Rumble - Official Announcement Trailer | The Game Awards 2022
After two years of leaks and rumors regarding a new Crash Bandicoot multiplayer game, Activision finally revealed Crash Team Rumble at The Game Awards. Crash Bandicoot literally crashed the show to unveil the 4v4 multiplayer action game where players must shoot and jump around stages as classic Crash Bandicoot characters. Crash Team Rumble launches in 2023.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon coming from FromSoftware
ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON　アナウンスメントトレーラー【The Game Awards 2022】
Hot off the heels of Elden Ring, FromSoftware was ready to tease its next game. "Feed the Fire. Let the Last Cinders Burn," the trailer says before it becomes clear that it's a new Armored Core game. We then see a lot of cinematic mech action that looks unlike anything FromSoftware has made in the last decade. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon will launch in 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Final Fantasy XVI Revenge trailer gives us our best look at the game yet
Final Fantasy 16 - Revenge Trailer | The Game Awards 2022
Final Fantasy XVI Executive Producer Naoki Yoshida revealed a new Final Fantasy XVI trailer titled Revenge at The Game Awards. This showing gave us a deeper look at the story and themes of revenge that run throughout the whole game. We saw more of the Eikons that players will fight against and some new bits of exploration and combat gameplay. To cap things off, Square Enix confirmed that Final Fantasy XVI would be released for PS5 on June 22, 2023.
Everything else

BioShock creator Ken Levine finally revealed his first title at Ghost Story Games: Judas.
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, an isometric action-adventure game, was announced by PlatinumGames and launches on March 17, 2023.
Nintendo showed off a sizzle reel of its announced 2023 games.
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord got a trailer.
Destiny 2's Lightfall expansion got a new gameplay trailer.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League got a new trailer revealing that an evil Batman is in the game, meaning that it will feature the late Kevin Conroy's final performance. It will be released on May 26, 2023.
Party Animals' trailer showed off its various playable animals, the outfits they can wear, and the stages they fight on.
The Last of Us Part 1 comes to PC on March 3, 2023.
Celeste follow-up Earthblade was announced and launches in 2024.
Dune Awakening got an in-engine trailer.
Forspoken is getting a demo on PS5.
Genshin Impact got a trailer teasing an upcoming character.
Ascendant Studios and EA Original revealed Immortals of Aveum.
Tekken 8 got a new trailer revealing lots of new fighters.
Nightingale got a new trailer.
An Xbox Game Pass trailer highlighted games available on the subscription service, as well as ones coming in 2023.
Colossal Cave's full 3D reimagining from Sierra Online founders Ken and Roberta Williams will be released on January 19, 2023.
Baldur's Gate 3 will finally leave early access and release in August 2023.
Airship Syndicate and Digital Extremes announced a fantasy online action RPG called Wayfinder, which will get a beta next week.
Fire Emblem: Engage got a new trailer confirming that a DLC starring Three Houses characters and more will launch throughout 2023.
Sky got a trailer highlighting an upcoming in-game concert.
Diablo IV's June 6, 2023, release date was confirmed after a musical performance from Halsey and a new trailer.
Amazon Games will publish Bandai Namco Studios' anime-style MMORPG Blue Protocol for PC and current-gen consoles in 2023.
Remnant II, a sequel to the sleeper hit multiplayer shooter Remnant: From the Ashes, was announced.
Transformers: Reactivate was announced with a cinematic teaser trailer.
Company of Heroes 3 got a live-action trailer
Meta Quest game Behemoth VR was revealed with a cinematic trailer.
Don't Nod and Focus Entertainment announced action RPG Banishers: Ghost of a New Eden.
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine II received a new gameplay trailer.
Meet Your Maker's April 4, 2023 release date was confirmed in a cinematic trailer.
A gameplay overview trailer for Blood Bowl III was shown off.
The next-gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was highlighted in a launch trailer.
We got a first look at The Lords of the Fallen gameplay.
Epic Games and 505 Games announced Crime Boss: Rockay City, a first-person heist game game starring Michael Madsen and Kim Bassinger, Damion Poitier, Danny Trejo, Danny Glover, Michael Rooker, Vanilla Ice, and Chuck Norris. It will launch on March 28, 2023.
The first raid for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II received its debut trailer.
The Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion got a new trailer that reveals Idris Elba is in the game.
Rocket League: Frosty Fest begins December 14.
Wild Hearts got a new trailer unveiling some of the giant new Kemono that players will fight.