Month: January 2017

In a big breakdown stream hosted by Iron Galaxy today, the team have revealed all of the juicy details on new character Kilgore. A precursor to the Fulgore project, Ultratech previously manufactured weaponized robots which wielded two chain guns as their main armament. Discontinued due to their overheating issue, this petrol-powered machines were either decommissioned or destroyed to make way for the sleeker Fulgore units.

However, one droid survived the decommissioning process, rewriting its own subsystems to account for the overheating problem. This robot named “Kilgore” now joins the Killer Instinct roster to enforce the whims of Ultratech leader ARIA.

Enough about the lore–what is Kilgore like to play? He is the inverse of Fulgore, a zoning character who revolves around exhausting the opponent with chain gun blasts, only rushing in when an opportunity presents itself. Similar to Fulgore’s reactor which spins up as he fights, Kilgore’s chain guns slowly spin up as you fire more bullets which increases the number of bullets you fire in a burst.

Eventually, these chain guns overheat, causing your bullets to morph into exploding tracer rounds, dealing more damage but reducing range. Kilgore also burns the opponent when in this Overheat state, dealing potential damage and making certain specials safer with added explosions. Kilgore can vent this excess heat with his Exhaust Shadow move, while his Instinct gives him the Overheat damage bonuses while keeping the range on his projectile attacks. You can check out the entire developer walkthrough below, if you want the hour-long breakdown.

Kilgore is now available for purchase for $10, with 50% of every Kilgore purchase adding the KI Ultra Tour Community Fund. This means buying Kilgore helps fund future Killer Instinct tournaments, by increasing pot bonuses and helping out with certain set up costs. Unlike the previous Community Fund, which was filled by purchases of Shadow Jago, the Kilgore fund has no cap. This means as long as people keep buying Kilgore, more and more money goes to support future Killer Instinct events in 2017. Hopefully, this will inspire more people to check out competitive KI, as this fund keeps growing larger and larger, thanks to the support from dedicated Killer Instinct players.

Iron Galaxy also announced a whole load of new Ultra Tour events, which you can see in the image below. These include more international events, like Kombo Klash Japan and Kombo Klash France. There is still time to qualify for the Killer Instinct World Cup, so if Kilgore is the robot you’ve been waiting for, this is the best moment to jump into KI!

Just as the icing on this petrol-soaked cake, this stream also teased the return of Ultimate finishers, which were previously seen in the original KI games back in the arcades. Before this point, the only character with an Ultimate was the computer controlled Shadow Jago which was seen at the end of Arcade Mode. Now, Jago gets his own Ultimate, where he summons a Spirit Bomb-esque fireball to end his opponent. I imagine more Ultimates will be added during the next few months, so look out for your main’s new finisher soon.

Sources: Ultra-Combo; Iron Galaxy

The latest “esports are real” proof may not be a new game, team, or patch, but is nonetheless a milestone for the industry as a whole. The first-ever dedicated esports law firm has officially launched. Although there already exist video-game dedicated lawyers and firms who have worked in esports, Bryce Blum’s Electronic Sports & Gaming Law is the first one to specifically dedicate itself to this branch of competitive gaming.

“My primary focus with this firm is to go beyond the typical attorney‑client relationship,” Blum told ESPN in a statement. “I’ve always tried to not just be an external service provider, but an engaged member of the esports community. Under the ESG Law banner, I will build a culture of engagement that will allow us to continue creating legal solutions for a constantly evolving set of challenges throughout the esports space.”

As the mission statement on the ESG Law website says, the firm’s intent is to “offer unique insight into client’s plans” to further the industry as a whole. Among the many clients that Blum has worked with figure notables such as Team Liquid, Team SoloMid, Fnatic, and more.

You can follow the founder, Bryce Blum, @esportslaw.

Source: ESG Law via ESPN