ESEA League

ESEA League logo

ESEA League is an electronic sports competitive video gaming community founded by E-Sports Entertainment Association (ESEA). It is widely known for their anti-cheat software. ESEA features a system that allows players of all levels to play matches with others.[1]

History

ESEA League began offering lessons to improve gaming skills in 2003 providing instruction in Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and Warcraft III.[2] ESEA created the first professional fantasy e-sports league in 2004.[3] ESEA began its league history with Counter-Strike,[4] but later added Team Fortress 2 (TF2) a game which gained more popularity after its adaption to "Free-to-play" gaming.[5]

Viewing

ESEA League games can be viewed by fans as live streams from internet broadcasting channels such as TwitchTV, eXtv, Nova Spivack's Live Matrix, TeamFortress.tv and clips on YouTube.[6] The annual sponsored ESEA League LAN Finals are held in Dallas, Texas.[7][8][9]

Controversy

On May 1, 2013 a user reported that the ESEA's anti-cheat software was being used to mine Bitcoins without the user's consent. This was confirmed by ESEA's co-founder Eric ‘lpkane’ Thunberg in two subsequent forum posts. As of the date of discovery, the claimed dollar value of bitcoins mined totaled $3,713.55.[10][11][12] As of November 2013, ESEA has agreed to a US $1 million settlement, though a separate class action lawsuit is still ongoing.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "ESEA Stats". E-Sports Entertainment. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  2. ↑ "E-Sports Entertainment Association". ESEA News. 2003-08-17. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  3. ↑ Walker, Rob (2006-02-05). "Double Fantasy". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  4. ↑ "ESEA's Fantasy E-Sports League Opens". sk-gaming. 2004-09-10. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  5. ↑ Hussain, Tamoor (2012-06-29). "The five biggest problems with free-to-play gaming". CVG. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  6. ↑ "EG.casey vs Loaded: an ESEA-I match". YouTube. 2009-09-08. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  7. ↑ Gaudiosi,John (2012-03-03). "Pro Gaming Captivates Dallas with ESEA League Season 10". gamerlive.tv. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  8. ↑ Breslau,Rod (2012-06-27). "ESEA Season 11 LAN Finals This Weekend". gamespot. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  9. ↑ "90k prizes new CS:GO ESEA LEAGUE". HLTV. 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  10. ↑ "ESEA accidentally release malware into public client, causing users to farm Bitcoins". PC Gamer. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2013-05-01.
  11. ↑ "E-Sports League Mined Bitcoins with Subscribers' Computers". Kotaku. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2013-05-01.
  12. ↑ "E-Sports League Stuffed Bitcoin Mining Code Inside Client Software". Slashdot. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  13. ↑ Michael Mcghee (20 Nov 2013). "ESEA In $1m Settlement". Cadred. Retrieved 22 Nov 2013.