Coliseum

SXSW Gaming has announced their intentions to pony up $25,000 for a massive Super Smash Bros. Melee invitational next month. The Battle of the Five Gods will see twenty of the best Melee players descend on the Austin-based event to either prove they are still at the top of their game or have what it takes to topple the game’s handful of deities.

As of now, little information is available on who will be in attendance apart from the eponymous five gods–Alliance’s Adam “Armada” Lindgren, Team Liquid’s Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma, Cloud9’s Joseph “Mango” Marquez, Most Valuable Gaming’s Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman, and Evil Geniuses’ Kevin “PPMD” Nanney. After that, things get a little fuzzy.

The aforementioned players are held in such high esteem due to their immense Melee skills and their dominance of the modern competitive era. However, competitors like Team SoloMid’s William “Leffen” Hjelte, Panda Global’s Justin “Plup” McGrath and Robert “Wobbles” Wright, Tempo Storm’s Weston “Westballz” Dennis and Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson, Jeremy “Fly Amanita” Westfahl, and Joey “Lucky” Aldama have proven themselves against the gods in recent years, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if many of them were invited to compete as well.

The Battle of the Five Gods, which will be hosted in cooperation with Curse and Twitch, is scheduled for March 17-19 in Austin, Texas. Keep an eye on the official website for more details.

Source: SXSW Gaming

After just four days of registration, Street Fighter V broke the Evolution Championship Series’ attendance record for one game. Now, four days later, it’s surpassed another milestone.

This morning, Evo organizer Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar tweeted his surprise at the current numbers. While an exact figure wasn’t mentioned, photographer Robert Paul asked if, perhaps, over 3,000 players have registered for Street Fighter V, to which Cuellar responded with an affirmative image.

Before this, Ultra Street Fighter IV held the record for most participants  at 2,227 individual competitors. Street Fighter V appears to be a worthy successor to that legacy, with numbers impressive enough to warrant its appearance at the massive Mandalay Bay arena. Let’s go.

Evo 2016 is scheduled for July 15-17 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Further details can be found here.

Source: Joey Cuellar