Update: With the cup starting in less than 2 hours ESL reveals a new set of rules including further limitations and a new map as decider. Details here.


With the delayed tournament but already closed sign ups the ESL released the slot distribution based on the amount of sign ups in each region. The qualifier stage will launch tonight with 170 teams participating from all over Europe. Most teams did sign up in Germany followed by France and the UK.
The teams coming on top of the qualifiers will be split in 4 groups with 4 teams each. The finals will be played on GamesCom in Cologne during this years fall and will fight for 15.000€ prize money.




Previous news
Announcement
Qualifiers
Rule announcement
Source

Yesterday night Splash Damage released the third update on BRINK. As announced Friday last week the update delivers a rather small list of changes but includes the major sound bug that appeared on a few maps which is gone by now and the FPS/performance boost was adressed which was successfully confirmed by a few players already.

• Fixed sound dropping out when playing networked games
  
• Improved graphical performance, especially when using Ambient Occlusion
  
• Fixed voice packs being reset to default when you delete another character
  
• Removed ability to use certain cheat protected commands in challenges
  
• Fixed memory leak/crash when alt-tabbed out

• Full servers are no longer filtered out of the browser
  
• Added support for entering a range of numbers (i.e. 10-12) in server filters
  
• Reduced font size in the server browser
  
• Exiting Head customization returns to the correct menu
  
• Fixed being unable to bind KP_Enter in the UI
  
• Increased font size of in-game text chat
  
• 'Enter' now closes text chat prompt if empty
  
• Fixed challenge in menu flashing even after completion

By looking at the changes expectations to receive the first major and big update might be disappointed as most of the competitive community will most likely not care much about things like the chat font size and a flashing challenge.

To get the game updated just log on to steam and the update will be downloaded immediately.

After recently winning ET's first E-Series event hosted by Kaos TV, OVERLOAd decided it was time to look out for a new organisation. Quite quickly we got into contact with the management over at Mouse Control and everything went very fast from there on. They have decided to give ET a second chance after the Team-Target flop. With lan being over joshua steps back into the lineup to reclaim his old position. Therefore I am proud to announce the former OVERLOAd team will from now on be competing under the Mouse Control flag with the following lineup:

saKen
joshua
SQuid
NoHead
Ati_

JALLAAAAAA

The team is currently active in the ClanBase 2on2 and 3on3 OpenCup and the YCN-Hosting Spring Challenge. We will attempt to compete in most upcoming competitions such as the ESL Summer Leagues but unfortunately won't be able to attend the eSports Challenge LAN in july.
Feel free to visit us at the Mouse Control Website or on IRC #mouse-control

See you on the battlefield!

A moment ago the ESL revealed the config and rules for tomorrows BRINK championship qualifiers. Very arguable are the restrictions set for every class and character which also requires everyone to reskill and redefine their abilities on an immense short notice.

Here's what their announcement says:

• Using the Adrenaline and the Self Resurrection perk is forbidden.
  
• Furthermore all level 5 abilities are forbidden.
  
• Removing the hackbox or using the antihack perk
  
• Hacking the target and leaving the area. You have to stay in the same area as the target.

A total amount of 158 Teams signed up so far. Luckily some teams did play their practice matches with BrinkTV's rule set where at least the adrenalin and hackbox topic suits them right now.

Team Dignitas player Anderson was able to give a quick thumbs up on the topic stating "It is good", but also adds a further request: "the only thing missing is the g_spiderSenseDuration 0 var in the config and a limit on turrets is required". First feedback in the German news release brings a few comments with a complain about the amount and weight of these restrictions.

ESL news and server config download
All qualifiers and sign ups

The German multigaming organization Team Hardware4u adds the German ESL Release Cup winner Bumblebee To The Rescue to its roster. The team previously playing ET:QW for n!faculty and BF:BC2 for zeroPoint! consists of some members known to the Crossfire community already: HEADi who did play for shuuk and gods.inc in the early days of ET and Team beta player aFa.

Line Up

Mike "mikeX" Krack (Team-Captain)
Martin "outc1der" Janowiak (Team-Captain)

Andre "HEADi" Neumann
Sebastian "Shortje" Kulle
Artur "aFa" Lazarus
Sebastian "Wuki" Hofer
Andreas "cRks" Günther


The team's first appearance under the new tag will be Tomorrow's ESL BRINK Championship qualifier.

The ESL European Enemy Territory section is back in action with the well-known Summer Leagues. We expect at least the same amount of teams that we had in the previous seasonal leagues, and why not, maybe even more!

As in each seasonal leagues, we try to improve our rules and schedule so that players enjoy playing. Same goes for the Summer Leagues, where we are asking all teams/1on1 players that before signing up, they should add a viable IRC contact method on their player/team page.

UPDATE: Due to low interest the cup has been abandoned. Teams attending LAN please make sure you play the maps asap, as the map makers only have this week to make any last changes.

As announced Last Week - There will be a cup this sunday testing all the maps in the TLR Mapping competition. New releases of all the maps will be used in this competition although sadly the maker of the map jungle was unable to update his map entry. Feel free to download and test the latest editions of each of the maps in the map pack below.

Details
Date: Monday 23rd May
Time: 19:00CET
Group stage games: 40mins allowance each (will finish at 22:15 at the latest)
Grand Final: 22:30 (best of 3, each team picks one new map each and eliminates if they need to play a third)
Format: 5on5
Map Pack: LINK

Currently all the interested teams from last week have not confirmed that they can play in the competition so we are welcoming more teams to become interested. Teams competing at the eSports Challenge will be a higher priority to play in this competition - Final list of teams will be down to myself, and in general the more skilled teams will be selected.

Six teams to play:
TBA

Confirmed They can play:
vital Gaming
draakjes

Interested & Unconfirmed:
Anexis-eSports
Team WinFakt!
Team Rockit
UV-Gaming


Maps Feedback Thread: LINK
Competition Schedule: Schedule
Round 1 - 19:00 on map: Pirates
Team 1 vs. Team 2
Team 3 vs. Team 4
Team 5 vs. Team 6

Round 2 - 19:40 on map: jungle
Team 1 vs. Team 3
Team 2 vs. Team 6
Team 4 vs. Team 5

Round 3 - 20:20 on map: Tounine
Team 1 vs. Team 4
Team 2 vs. Team 5
Team 3 vs. Team 6

Round 4 - 21:00 on map: Frozen
Team 1 vs. Team 5
Team 2 vs. Team 3
Team 4 vs. Team 6

Round 5 - 21:40 on map: Midnight (formerly castle)
Team 1 vs. Team 6
Team 2 vs. Team 4
Team 3 vs. Team 5

Grand Final - 22:30 each team picks on map each
Groupstage Team #1 vs. Groupstage Team #2[/hide]

UPDATE: To play the updated maps yourself, join one of the public server IPs @ 213.108.29.145:27030 or 213.108.29.184:27050

It has been a busy week for H2k Gaming. With the announcing of H2k Gaming.Gears of War, the introduction of several new H2k Gaming clan members, but now this?! Madness!

I personally, take great pride in introducing these guys to the Hard2kill family. Being good friends of mine and participating under a management name I was once responsible for, its great to have them joining the ranks by my side with this fierce new game.

Brink is described as an immersive first person shooter game which is a brand new themed game which is hitting the markets all around the world this year. With ESL shotgunning the competition, with the qualifying tournaments already on the way for a grand money prize. Its attracting all gamers from all corners of the globe.

And then it is time to announce a whole new stage in Team Decerto's history as today we welcome a new division to our roster. We are talking about a new game that already promises to be a huge success among eSport communities and the one game that has become a sensation among numerous players.

With the first tournament already in its way, Brink is currently dragging in a lot of attention, as many teams are already going through several practice hours to run up for the 15,000 euros that ESL have set for the Brink Championship. With qualifiers in countries like The United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Poland and more, this event promises to be one hell of a competition.

Coming from already established Enemy Territory teams and games like COD4 and Team Fortress, our new division is looking forward to become one of the top teams in this new game, which obviously keep us waiting to see what their development will be.

On Wednesday 8th June, London will play host to the Alienware Gaming Night, an interactive event showcasing the latest products from the brand known worldwide for its top-of-the-range gaming systems.