With E3 game industry tradeshow gone, the early June stage was all clear for this year’s Summer Game Fest and a constellation of affiliated game showcases to make their mark. And wow, there were some surprises and some great reveals!
Since these events have wrapped up, many content creators have been posting their reactions and dissections to some of the games that emerged. This month, we’re selecting Jake Baldino’s YouTube post-Summer Game Fest video of his personal favorite games that were shown off last week. Jake Baldino is the Lead Video Producer at Gameranx and a podcaster.
In this under-20 minute video, Baldino runs through several games that were revealed at Summer Game Fest, the PC Gaming Show, IGN Live, Xbox’s showcase, among other events. Among some of the games are a few that we are looking forward to, like:
Civilization VII:
Announced at Summer Game Fest, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, a legendary turn-based 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) strategy game leads off Baldino’s video — and was a surprise to him as it was for many. “I didn’t expect that to be announced. I had heard rumblings of a lot of other different 2K-published games being announced, but it ended up being Civ 7, and that was really cool. I’ve only mentioned it a couple of times here, and it’s been a while since a mainline game, but I am a Civ addict. It’s kind of like my weird comfort food game. You wouldn’t normally assume that of me, because it’s kind of more like a smart, scholarly dad style game, but no, I am hooked on these things.”
Even as just an announcement, without gameplay or other game details, the Civilization VII news made a splash in the pool of games announced this year at Summer Game Fest.
Doom: The Dark Ages:
Another icon game for its genre, the Doom first-person shooter franchise by id Software and Bethesda Softworks is returning to the PC and PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S in 2025 as an origin story of sorts set in a medieval era. Think Doom and Hexen blended together except modernized. On Doom: The Dark Ages, Baldino said: I hope this one is just about being badass and brutality and not ammo and health, like juggling constantly. It looks awesome, the weapons, the style, the fact that you’re like riding a freaking dragon that’s cool. You know, it just works for me.” I’m sure many gamers will agree with that sentiment.
Of course, these games are only a couple among a large number of games that Jake Baldino highlighted. Are these games that he selected among your favorites? Feel free to let us know if you agree or disagree with the games highlighted in the video!
Whether you are an event coordinator, press, or general attendee, if you have an event video to share with us, please let us know and we’ll be happy to feature it!
SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, 2024 — Unity (NYSE: U), the world’s leading platform of tools for creators to build and grow real-time games, apps, and experiences across multiple platforms, will demonstrate how virtual and mixed reality is bringing transformative change for companies across industries at the Augmented World Expo (AWE). Running from June 18 to June 20 in Long Beach, California, AWE will give attendees a firsthand, customer-guided look at how extended reality (XR) applications made with Unity are helping businesses drive efficiencies, generate new revenue streams, and transform experiences.
On June 17, the day before the show officially begins, Unity will host a day-long AWE Vision Workshop aimed at helping developers more effectively leverage Unity’s visionOS support and PolySpatial tools used to create applications and experiences for Apple Vision Pro. This full, pre-conference workshop will give attendees practical insights from active developers, with speakers including team members from TriggerXR, TRIPP Inc., Osso VR, govar GmbH, Project Archer, and Dulce Dotcom. The full agenda is available here.
“We have had the opportunity to work with Unity’s PolySpatial tools since the early access phase. The knowledge that we’ve gained from working with this tech has been influential to not only the way we approach development for Vision Pro, but even in the ways that we operate between departments, and as a company overall,” said James Roosevelt, Director of Technology at TriggerXR. “New hardware and platforms come with difficult decisions, trade offs, and great learnings. We’re excited to share how we’ve navigated this new frontier while developing several projects to date for Vision Pro.”
At booth 442, Unity customers will provide live demonstrations showcasing the creative ways they’ve utilized Unity’s development platform for industrial purposes across industries ranging from retail to manufacturing, including how real-time data can sync with a virtual environment in an Apple Vision Pro-based “internet of things” demo that links a Bosch manufacturing machine to its Apple Vision Pro-based digital twin.
“Between the upcoming launch of Unity 6 in GA and the exploding interest in spatial computing, we couldn’t be more excited to continue to help our industry partners tap into the enormous potential that XR unlocks for businesses,” said Sarah Lash, VP of Industry Sales at Unity. “At AWE USA 2024, we’re shining a spotlight on real-world examples of how our customers are leveraging Unity tools to deliver efficiencies and power transformative real-time experiences.”
AWE is set to bring new details on how Unity 6, Cloud Workflows, and the Pixyz Engine will soon work in tandem with flexible data ingestion pipelines to build an SDK that can build multi-platform experiences and repeatable business solutions. This single data and asset management system will help companies with existing 3D data and models visualize these in new ways to simulate processes and solve inefficiencies.
While it can be argued that Jensen Huang and NVIDIA have reached a kind of rock star status in the technology industry through their positioning in the GPU market, sometimes a viral sort of symbol is enough to seal the deal. And the tech giant’s CEO may have achieved just that this week at the massive Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan.
A poster on the social media platform Threads shared the video and picture of Jensen Huang at Computex on the busy expo floor mobbed like a pop star for photos and autographs. One young woman presented her shirt for the NVIDIA CEO to sign. He looks sideways and asks if it’s a good idea but proceeds as the young woman apparently went out of her way to seek out the signature.
Post by @__199504__
View on Threads
Jensen Huang, in his signature leather jacket, has led the charge for the “cool” applications of silicon and AI for years, starting with with the company’s first GeForce 256 GPU in 1999 to enhance gaming experiences. The company expanded from there, growing into robotics, mainstream high-powered computing, server chipsets, and recently have become a massive stakeholder in the booming AI market. Furthermore, Huang has seen his Santa Clara-based silicon and tech giant explode in stock value 174% from a year ago. Jensen Huang’s personal net worth has also bloomed with the value of his company, rising to $107 billion, which places him as the 13th richest person in the world.
On a related note, further demonstrating NVIDIA’s continued rise in the age of AI and HPC, the company reached the status of second-most valuable publicly traded company as of June 6, Thursday, after closing higher in the stock market above Apple’s valuation, sitting at $3 trillion, but still just behind Microsoft’s valuation.
At the Computex 2024 show, besides this viral social media moment, NVIDIA announced an accelerated but evenly-staggered out GPU release schedule over the next few years. From the Computex 2024-related NVIDIA blog post:
“Revealed for the first time, the Rubin platform will succeed the upcoming Blackwell platform, featuring new GPUs, a new Arm-based CPU — Vera — and advanced networking with NVLink 6, CX9 SuperNIC and the X1600 converged InfiniBand/Ethernet switch.
As CEO and Founder of Events for Gamers, I am super excited to share with you all our new podcast series! This series is of course going to be talking about events from around the world, featuring guests that attend events to many that manage the events like in our first episode as seen below. As long as a potential guest has an event and game industry associated interests to discuss, they may find their way on our show!
Please subscribe to the YouTube channel and check out our first episode with Antonio Pasalic, Program Director at WN Events:
In this episode, Antonio and our team talk about the State of the Game Industry, WN Events series, the upcoming WN Istanbul conference (check out the episode for an opportunity to win free tickets to the event!), and thoughts on AI for game development.
If you like the episode, please comment, share, and subscribe! If you are interested, we are ramping up our Patreon community and would love to have you join (thanks!). We have many more episodes in the works that will be rolled out on a regular basis, so be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel and RSS feeds seen in the podcast description.
If you are an industry professional (event coordinator, press, developer, biz dev, or anyone else interested in events and products presented and talked about at events), we’d love to have you on the show! Please let us know.
TOKYO — May 28th, 2024 — INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series connecting indie game fans all over the world, highlighted more than 150 games during its Saturday broadcast introducing world premieres, new trailers, and updates during its 10th-ever digital showcase.
INDIE Live Expo’s May showcase included 150+ world premieres and content updates:
Haunted low-poly pixelated horrors await in Nightmare Operator, the supernatural third-person horror shooter by DDDistortion, now in development for PC via Steam
Serve up delicacies in Kemono Teatime, the pixelated restaurant simulator developed by Studio Lalala, coming to PC via Steam in Fall 2024
Duel against demons as Blade Chimera, the pixelated cyberpunk metroidvania published by PLAYISM and co-developed by Team Ladybug and WSS Playground, announces an August release date
Omega Crafter, the open-world survival crafting adventure currently available in early access developed by Preferred Networks (PFN), shared multiple milestone updates during its dedicated segment
The Kodansha Game Creator’s Lab unveiled multiple announcements during the showcase, including the reveal of BAN: The Prologue of GUCHA GUCHA, the horror adventure from developer Ichimatsu Suzuka. BOKURA, Kodansha’s reality-bending co-op puzzle adventure, celebrated its 500,000th download with a commemorative trailer.
Try out every game shown during this year’s showcase and at a discounted price thanks to the INDIE Live Expo Steam Sale until Sunday, June 2nd at 11:00 AM / 2:00 PM EST.
“Our first 2024 showcase is in the books! Many thanks to all of the developers who submitted their games to be part of the showcase,” said Ryuta Konuma, Founder and CEO, Ryu’s Office. “This would not have been possible without our gracious sponsors, media partners, and most of all, the millions of watchers around the world whose interest in indies means the world to us.”
INDIE Live Expo extends a special thanks to media partners including Gematsu, Bleeding Cool, QooApp, ButWhy Tho, Digital Dreams – Game-experience, Drops de Jogos, Insider Gaming, The Outerhaven Productions, Final Weapon, The Gamer, PoluxWeb, Cubiq and Gameland.
The INDIE Live Expo Official Discord Channel welcomes developers and consumers alike as a gathering place to discuss the latest indie news. With direct access to developers, indie game fans can lend their voices to the creation and refinement of upcoming indies.
For more information and detailed reports on previous broadcasts, the impact of participating in INDIE Live Expo, INDIE Live Expo Awards, and information on how to promote games for creators, developers, and publishers alike, please consider subscribing to the INDIE Live Expo Letter.
May 20, 2024 Long Beach, California – Leading global spatial computing event, Augmented World Expo (AWE) is thrilled to announce a partnership with XRAI to caption and transcribe all 9 stages at the 15th anniversary AWE USA 2024.
AWE has partnered with XRAI to make their entire conference content more accessible to everyone for the first time ever. The AR and VR technology conference will be using the XRAI platform to provide AI-powered subtitles in over 75+ languages, for all 9 conference stages at the global XR event, taking place June 18-20 in Long Beach, California.
XRAI Glass featured as AWE USA 2024 accessibility partner (Image: AWE 2024)
Using the flagship XRAI Glass app on their mobile phones (iOS and Android), or using a pair of compatible smart glasses, AWE guests can read an AI-transcribed feed from the stage and translate it into any of 75+ languages, all in real-time. Online viewers of the AWE Main Stage sessions will be able to use these AI transcriptions and translations via the conference’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@AWEXR).
In addition, a pilot group of deaf attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the conference content using state-of-the-art XR glasses, allowing them to experience dynamic captioning through cutting-edge spatial technology. This innovative offering will be accessible at both the XRAI and Qualcomm exhibition areas
“The partnership between XRAI and AWE marks a significant step towards inclusivity in the XR industry, and we are incredibly excited to bring our AI-powered translation capabilities to the forefront of this groundbreaking event,” shared Dan Scarfe, Founder and CEO of XRAI.
“By utilizing XR glasses for immersive captioning, we are not only breaking down communication barriers but also showcasing the transformative potential of AR and AI technologies in creating a more accessible and engaging conference experience.”
Globally, over 1.5 billion people, nearly 20% of the population, live with some degree of hearing loss, with 430 million individuals facing significant challenges. AWE’s mission is to advance augmented and virtual reality technology to further human progress and the organization is thrilled for the opportunity to use AI and AR to make the conference event accessible for all.
“Partnering with XRAI for AWE USA 2024 is a significant milestone in our commitment to inclusivity and accessibility in the XR industry,” said Sonya Haskins, Head of Programming. “By utilizing cutting-edge AI and AR technology, we are able to break down communication barriers and ensure that all attendees can fully engage with our conference content, regardless of language or hearing abilities. We are thrilled to offer this transformative experience to our global audience and showcase the true potential of AR and AI technologies in creating a more inclusive and engaging event.”
As the leading global event for the XR industry, AWE is dedicated to showcasing the real-world value that technologies like AI and AR glasses bring to the in-person event experience. At this year’s 15th anniversary event, all conference stages will feature a live caption and translation stream powered by XRAI. This partnership between AWE and XRAI is an exciting step towards creating a more accessible and inclusive XR industry, setting a new standard for future events worldwide.
Happy June Jamboree! We’ve put together yet another great list of events you can attend for the month. Just like last year, June is a huge month for events with over 40 this time listed.
Many of the listed events are included in the calendar from your contributions in submitting events to the calendar. Thank you for continuing to support us!
Check out this month’s event list below. You can also click here for the main calendar that includes events throughout the rest of the year and beyond.
Last month, we featured a walkthrough of the Game History Gallery at GDC 2024. Shifting from the expo floor to a presentation room, we continue with the Game Developer Conference (GDC) 2024 for this month’s video we’re highlighting.
Kate Edwards, well-known in the video games business as an applied geographer, writer, and content culturalization strategist, led a panel, “Unearthing ‘Tetris Reversed‘: A Tale of Rediscovery and Collaboration,” about the discovery of a prototype of Tetris Reversed. In 2011, the creator of Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov, wanted to explore an evolution of the legendary puzzle game’s mechanics based on his observation of the way players engaged with the original. The prototype was surfaced by Croatian game developer Vedran Klanac, owner of Ocean Media Games.
Kate Edwards opening the panel discussion about Tetris Reversed (Image: GDC Vault)
In this panel, Pajitnov and Klanac meet in person for the first time, and discuss how they worked on the game concept together from afar, how and why the project was abandoned, and what might developments happen (if anything) with Tetris Reversed going forward.
This almost hour-long in-depth and fascinating deep dive discussion into a part of Tetris’ is available free on the GDC Vault, where the videos from past GDC events are available on-demand, about 1/3 of which are free and unrestricted for anyone to watch.
Whether you are an event coordinator, press, or general attendee, if you have an event video to share with us, please let us know and we’ll be happy to feature it!
ARLINGTON, TX (May 6, 2024) – Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) concluded its fourth Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) today crowning four new champions during the largest scholastic esports festival globally and celebrating another year of record growth. CECC Texas presented by McDonald’s welcomed more than 800 student-athletes representing 84 teams (up from 64 in 2023), including a record-breaking 19 conference champions, at Esports Stadium Arlington on May 2-5, along with thousands of fans. In total, 453 teams from 255 schools participated during the 2023-24 CECC season.
Champions included Winthrop University for Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate through Generation Esports, Ball State University for Rocket League, St. Clair College for VALORANT, and Illinois State University for Overwatch 2®
Arial view of the CECc Texas 2024 Arena with fans and on-stage competition (Image: CSMG)
“By elevating scholastic esports, we empower students, schools and conferences while fueling industry growth. This is a testament to the increasing interest from brands, media entities, publishers making this the ultimate destination for the scholastic esports and the gaming community.“ said Michael Schreck, CEO for CSMG. “CECC isn’t just a competition; we’re providing structure, recognition and endless opportunities to shape the future of esports.”
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross joined Schreck on stage during the event along with Arminda and Anthony Grissett, Owner/Operators of McDonald’s of North Texas, to announce CECC will return to Esports Stadium Arlington in 2025, marking it the third straight year Texas will host this event.
CSMG also announced during CECC Texas it has joined forces with Capcom to launch the College Street FighterTM Tour during its 2024-25 academic year with the finalists competing at CECC Texas in 2025 throughout its May Madness event. Wim Stocks will serve as the Commissioner of the College Street Fighter Tour and bring his 20 years of experience in college esports to create a dynamic and engaging format of competitive gaming.
CECC Texas offered something for everyone including the Texas High and Middle School Esports Championships, the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) championship finals across League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, and VALORANT, open tournaments for Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics and HALO Infinite 2v2, the Smoothie King Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate Open, through Generation Esports with a prize pool up to $5,000, gaming-themed onsite activations, and various industry panels.
McDonald’s of North Texas returned for the second year in a row as the presenting sponsor with various promotions and giveaways through the McDonald’s App as well as awarding a free custom @McDonalds PC built by @Oasis PC’s.
“McDonald’s of North Texas was thrilled to once again sponsor CECC and to see first-hand the incredible experience this tournament brings to the teams and fans nationwide,” said David Floyd, Owner-Operator with McDonald’s of North Texas. “As local business owners, it’s an honor that our community could serve as the center of the esports world this weekend. We were also delighted to add a delivery service this year, which was a great success. This feature allowed fans to order food and continue in their CECC experience.”
The ESPORTSU Collegiate Awards took center stage throughout the weekend recognizing leaders who are driving the ecosystem forward, including:
Commissioner of the Year – J.J. Myers (NACE)
Community Ambassador – Yugina Yun (Gen.G)
Club of the Year – Indiana University
Club President of the Year – TJ Stephens (University of Georgia)
Club Impact Award – Arizona State University
Rising Star Award – Greyson Harding (Michigan State University)
Coach of the Year – Ethan Stone (Indiana University)
Director of the Year – Chris Bilski (Michigan State University)
Program Impact – Michigan State University
Ally of the Year – Christopher Turner (Southern University)
Program of the Year – St Clair College
CECC School of the Year – Winthrop University
The full array of CECC Texas 2024 Collegiate Awards (Image: CSMG)
The ESPORTSU Awards Committee Members included Kyler Tandal (ESPORTSU), ToniAnn Convertino (ESPORTSU), Nikita Bair (Syracuse University),Joey Gawrysiak (Syracuse University), Aaron Colaiacomo (Fisher College), Adam Antor (Ferris State), and Chase Neukam (St Cloud State University).
Finally, the Aurora Series, dedicated to supporting all who identify with a marginalized gender, made its debut at CECC Texas with the University of Houston Scarlet defeating the University of North Texas in a thrilling VALORANT match 13-11 on the main stage.
“The power of esports was on full display this weekend as many colleges are continuing to push this as the ‘new sport’ on campuses across the nation,” said Angela Bernhard Thomas, Chief Esports Officer for CSMG. “The students arrived in all their team gear, the fans came out to cheer, and the brands integrated into the competition. We’re excited to continue to shape the future of the ecosystem.”
Super Smash Brothers Ultimate through Generation Esports – Winthrop University
2nd seeded Winthrop University battled back after losing the first game to beat defending champion and 5th seeded Fisher College (Northeast), 3-1. Winthrop never backed down throughout the tournament, especially in the Grand Finals with Carlos “Sonix” Perez on the Fisher squad, who is considered a top 10 player globally in Super Smash. Bharat “Lima” Chintipall, a sophomore majoring in computer science from Dallas, TX, was named MVP for the tournament.
Winthrop advanced to the finals beating the 6th seeded University of Texas-Arlington 2-0, while Fisher College (Northeast) denied its fellow students and number one seeded Fisher College (East) 2-1 in best-of-3 series.
Rocket League – Ball State University
In one of the most epic Grand Finals in Rocket League, the top seeded Ball State University needed overtime in the final game of the best-of-7 series to beat the three seeded Boise State University, 4-3. No team won a game by more than one goal throughout the match. Arlin “Oath” Burns, a graduate student majoring in clinical mental health counseling from Westfield, IN, was named MVP for the tournament.
In the semi-finals in the best-of-7 series, Ball State bounced the 5th seeded University of Akron 4-0, while Boise State knocked out the 7th seeded Fisher College, 4-2.
VALORANT – St. Clair College
The 5th seeded St. Clair College completed the sweep in a best-of-3 series to defeat 3rd seeded Blinn College, 2-0. The Saints from Windsor, Canada, become the first non-U.S. college to win a CECC championship. Tanner “geeza” McGhee, a freshman majoring in business from Camarillo, CA, was named MVP for the tournament.
In the semi-finals in the best-of-3 series, St. Clair edged out the 8th seeded Winthrop University, 2-1, while Blinn College held off the 2nd seeded Fisher College (White), 2-1.
Overwatch 2 – Illinois State University
The 6th seeded Illinois State University captured their second CECC trophy in three years after taking down the 5th seeded Northwood University, 3-0, in a best-of-5 series. The Redbirds captured their first title at CECC Atlanta in 2022. Denis “Lethal” Tari, a sophomore majoring in business administration from Dubai, took home MVP honors for the tournament.
In the semi-finals in the best-of-5 series, Northwood upset the top seed Winthrop University, 3-1, while Illinois State advanced by sweeping the 2nd seeded Fisher College Esports, 3-0.
The broadcast team featured a stacked group of professional esports hosting, desk analyst, and casting talent. The event was stage hosted by Elyse “Herculyse” Herrera and floor hosted by Mathew “Septilence” Corfee II. The desk analysts included Carlos “Carlos Ivan” Braadt, Miles “KilomilesIRL” Catenza, Logan “Catinator” Brown, Cassandra “Chixxa” Meltsch, and Madison “N3RDYBIRD” Benge. Shoutcasters included Keegan “ClutchKey” Ohta and Jesse “Twinsalty” Brawders for Overwatch 2, Samuel “SamTalkz” DeLoach II and Sierra “ Zhobiii” Fisbee for VALORANT, Oliver “Bass” Bass and Jeffrey “TheDangerTaco” Skalamera for Rocket League, and Phil “EE” Visu and Saeed Hassan “Sai” Shareef for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Creators also streamed their own CECC Texas experiences directly to their audiences on their channels. Well-known Twitch personalities included Hungrybox for Super Smash Bros.™ Ultimate, TenacityTV for Rocket League, QuarterJade for VALORANT, and Flats for Overwatch 2®, creating a new engagement platform to build college esports fandom.
The Road to Texas featured official CECC sanctioned tournaments including the CECC Midwest Online Regional, CECC East Regional presented by the US Army and Army ROTC at Helix eSports in Foxborough, Mass. CECC South Regional, CECC West Regional, the Big Esports Conference live championship event at The Ohio State University and Game Arena featuring fourteen Big 10 schools, the Atlantic Coast Esports Conference online Rocket League championship, the Western Cactus League live championship at Grand Canyon University, the Military Services Academy qualifier, the ESPORTSU n’ I All Womens Qualifier, and the very competitive Last Chance Qualifier.
Champions representing participating conferences that receive automatic bids include the: Atlantic Coast Esports Conference, Big Esports Conference, Big Sky Conference, Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, East Coast Conference, Great Lakes Esports Conference, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletics Conference, Mid-American Conference, Mid-Atlantic Esports Conference, Midwest Esports Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Mountain West Conference, National Esports Collegiate Conferences, National Junior College Athletics Association Esports, Peach Belt Conference,,Western Cactus League and Western Esports Conference
Full list of CECC Texas-qualified teams (in order of seeding):
Super Smash Brothers Ultimate (through Generation Esports)
Fisher College (East), Winthrop University, Northwood University, University of California-Riverside, Fisher College (Northeast), University of Texas-Arlington, Lubbock Christian University, Manchester College (Indiana), University of Akron, New Jersey City College, Oakland University, Wichita State University, Quinnipiac University, Sacramento State University, University of Houston, University of Miami-Ohio, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, San Jose State University, Marist College, University of North Texas, Southern New Hampshire University, Illinois State University, Arizona State University, and Michigan Tech University.
Rocket League
Ball State University, Boise State University, Indian River State College, Nichols College, University of Akron, Lubbock Christian University, Maryville University, St. Clair College, Davenport College, Fisher College, Syracuse University, Indiana University, University of Arizona, Old Dominion University, University of Air Force, Northern Arizona University, San Jose State University, Staten Island College, Montevallo University, and Saint Xavier University.
Valorant
Blinn College, Simon Fraser College, Northwood University, Fisher College (White), St. Clair College, Fisher College, San Jose State University, Winthrop University, Texas A&M University, Brewton-Parker College, Converse University, Boise State University, Grand Canyon University, Purdue University, Northeastern University, Utica University, Manhattan College, University of North Texas, University of Air Force, and Saint Xavier University.
Overwatch® 2
Wintrhop University, Maryville University, Fisher College, Northwood University, Arizona State University, Illinois State University, University of California-Irvine, Fisher College (Freaks), Converse University, Boise State University, Blinn College, Bryant and Stratton College, University of Miami-Ohio, Southern New Hampshire University, University of Maryland, University of Texas-Arlington, Grand Canyon University, Cleary University, University of Army-West Point, and Salt Lake Community College.
STAMFORD, CT (May 3, 2024) – Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) announced today during the kick-off of its Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) Texas presented by McDonald’s that it has joined forces with Capcom to launch the College Street FighterTM Tour during its 2024-25 academic year with the finalists competing at CECC Texas in 2025 throughout its May Madness event. Street FighterTM 6 will join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,Overwatch 2®, Rocket League, and VALORANT as part of the official game titles for CECC.
“We are immensely excited to welcome Capcom into the CECC family and provide a path to glory for student athletes to showcase their skills in Street Fighter 6,” said Michael Schreck, Chief Executive Officer for CSMG. “In our fourth year of building May Madness, we continue to listen to our players, coaches and fans on how to make our event more inclusive, and the partnership with Street Fighter 6 is a resounding success.”
“The Street Fighter franchise is a multi-generational and global game series, so it’s important for us to continue to grow that fandom at the collegiate level,” said Michael Larson, Head of Esports at Capcom USA. “CECC continues to set the standard for competition and community, so it’s a natural format for expansion, and we’re eager for College Street Fighter Tour competitors across North America to show off their skills and join us in Texas next year.”
”The vision for the College Street Fighter Tour is a publisher backed esports series that integrates into the existing infrastructure of The Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup, a bracket style event series that takes place every year and has been coined May Madness. The path to championship includes invitational bids to national and regional level conferences as well as official CECC qualifiers held regionally,” said Angela Bernhard Thomas, Chief Esports Officer for CSMG’s ESPORTSU.
Every college or university from a 2-year or 4-year institution can participate through their conference or through select qualifiers. Wim Stocks will serve as the Commissioner of the College Street Fighter Tour and bring his 20 years of experience in college esports to create a dynamic and engaging format of competitive gaming.
“Since the launch of Street Fighter 6 in June of ’23, it is clear the rich legacy of Street Fighter is stronger than ever and helping lift the fighting game community to still greater heights,” said Stocks. “Having a structure now for a national collegiate competitive series, league, and events, Capcom and ESPORTSU are building a phenomenal ecosystem and mechanism for developing up and coming Street Fighter 6 competitors.”
More details on the College Street Fighter Tour will be shared later this year.
CSMG welcomes 84 teams (up from 64 in 2023) this weekend from a record breaking 19 conference champions to the largest scholastic esports festival globally. They will compete at Esports Stadium Arlington on May 3-5 for the chance to hoist one of the coveted trophies. Fans can watch the CECC Texas on ESPORTSU’s Twitch channel athttps://www.twitch.tv/esportsu.
CECC Texas 2023 was also recently awarded LAN Event of the Year during the inaugural Scholars Awards in Las Vegas, which are produced in partnership with the Esports Awards.
Happy May Madness! We’ve put together yet another great list of events you can attend for the month. As we continue to get into springtime, the event season settles into a solid cadence post-GDC with more conferences coming up with a few special hybrid events for you to enjoy. Notice more online and hybrid events popping up as well? We’re not sure why, but April was a dry month here.
Unfortunately, we are still in the midst of a series of layoffs. It’s a sad state when nearly every week you have hundreds, if not thousands, of fellow professionals having to announce on LinkedIn their need for work. There have been some studios that have been hiring with, interestingly, many in Japan such as Sony being one of them. The Japanese have a more ethical work culture industry-wide that helps maintain workers (for better or worse in some cases). We expect that in the second half of the year, we will start to see a turnaround, but it may take two or three years to recover.
Many of the listed events are included in the calendar from your contributions in submitting events to the calendar. Thank you for continuing to support us!
Check out this month’s event list below. You can also click here for the main calendar that includes events throughout the rest of the year and beyond.
ATLANTA — April 18, 2024 — MomoCon, the largest celebration of gaming and anime in the Southeast United States, returns to the Georgia World Congress Center from Friday, May 24, through Monday, May 27, 2024, and the legendary Suda51 joins as this year’s keynote speaker.
Goichi “Suda51” Suda, renowned director, writer, and game designer from the No More Heroes series, Shadows of the Damned, and killer7 among many other projects, will take the stage on Saturday, May 25, at 4 pm, for an intimate keynote speech about his career, game development, and his upcoming projects.
Furthering the excitement, MomoCon has added Japanese idol group BABYBEARD to this year’s performance lineup. Following the success of the singles NIPPON KARA KONNICHIWA (Hello from Japan) and PIENNIZER, the group will take the stage for “An Adorable Assault on the Senses” on Saturday, May 25, at 2:30 pm.
The show will also host several video game tournaments, with three major brackets for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 3 to create the ultimate Nintendo brawl. Get those fight sticks ready for Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Guilty Gear -Strive-, and Mortal Kombat 1 brackets throughout the weekend, alongside tabletop and card game faceoffs. Learn more and register through the MomoCon 2024 Start.GG page.
Stay up to date with all confirmed 2024 guests, concerts, panels, and more on the MomoCon‘s official website. An official schedule and a full list of events will be revealed closer to the event.
“We are over the moon to have Suda51 back in Atlanta to host this year’s keynote speech,” said Chris Stuckey, MomoCon Co-Founder. “His legacy and work is very important to our fans, and to have him back during such an important year for his career makes it even more important to us. We can’t wait to hear what he has to share!”
