Last year we had our own little mock-awards ceremony for local eSports (which we plan to do again) and a lot of people questioned why we are not including international organizations and teams. Well, here’s why… they did it themselves, and it was huge. On Monday’s event 46,000 people tuned in on Twitch to watch the first ever eSports Industry Awards where high-ranking members within the eSports community joined up for night to celebrate the success of eSports, and their influence on it. Awards ranged from Best Journalist, to Best Platform, and it was fantastic. The event took place at the The Brewery in Central London and a total of 14 awards were given out to familiar names.
Remembering the Dota 2 International 2016.
Concluding 2016 with an awards ceremony is the perfect send off to celebrate hard work and dedication to what has been a memorable year for eSports around the world. Here’s a list of the award winners:
- eSports Journalist of the Year – Richard Lewis
- eSports Photographer of the Year – Robert Paul
- Best eSports Coverage Website – theScore eSports
- UK eSports Player of the Year – Callum “Swanny” Swan
- Best Hardware Provider – Scuf Gaming
- New eSports Game of the Year – Overwatch
- eSports Rookie of the Year – Amer “Miracle-” al-Barqawi
- eSports Broadcaster of the Year – Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat
- eSports Live Event of the Year – The International 6
- eSports Team of the Year – Team EnVyUs
- eSports Commercial Partner of the Year – Monster
- Best Streaming Platform – Twitch
- Console Player of the Year – Seth “Scump” Abner
- PC Player of the Year – Marcelo “Coldzera” David
- eSports Publisher of the Year – Valve
- Streamer of the Year – Michael “Imaqtpie” Santana
- eSports Game of the Year – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- eSports Personality of the Year – Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo
With both Valve and Counter-Strike taking two awards, as well as an array of CS:GO players and personalities winning, we can surmise that CS:GO was one of the big hitters this year. Annually League of Legends trumps the numbers, but this year has been a tough one for Riot Games after a number of patches and the ongoing dispute with team owners. Valve had an incredible year with both Dota 2 and CS:GO. Remember the Dota 2 International which shattered previous records for the biggest prize pool in the history of eSports – $20 million.
Richard Lewis taking home journalist of the year is a no-brainer. Lewis worked hard to uncover the dark secrets of the betting/gambling scandal which dominated the news earlier this year, as well as digging into specific topics which most journalists would not touch with a ten foot pole.
It feels as if 14 awards was nowhere near enough for the hard work and dedication put in this year, but alas we’re able to celebrate those who made a massive difference. Something I’d like to see for the 2017 awards is definitely some female representation. There are number of women who put in insurmountable effort this year in different categories from development, broadcasting and competing, but let’s not take anything away from this auspicious occasion and congratulations to all the winners!
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Last Updated: November 23, 2016
Gavin Mannion
November 23, 2016 at 11:21
eSports Photographer of the Year – Robert Paul
What? That makes no sense, I get sports photographers because people are moving at high speed and are generally quite far from you so getting the focus and setup right is a true artform…
But guys and girls sitting behind a screen and just moving their hands? That’s no more difficult to photograph than any other still life
MakeItLegal
November 23, 2016 at 11:49
as a photographer , the same can be said when lazy puts a 300 word article up on a slow day.. i mean how hard is it to repeat something you saw somewhere else… paste and copy link and 15 words so u dont outright steal it ?
not to shit on your tits, but to take good photographs is a skill, more so because they use the same stale setting… careful of where u through rocks when u live in a glass house…
Gavin Mannion
November 23, 2016 at 11:50
lol. Photography is incredibly hard.. I’ve been trying to take macro photography recently.. very very difficult.
I’m not knocking photography as a skill, I’m knocking eSports photography. If you are a good photographer you can take great eSports photo’s but probably not Football action shots.. different skills
MakeItLegal
November 23, 2016 at 11:57
not here to bash…i think its important that you are made aware that its a skill , and not a lucky packet type job…
when you move onto people their is alot of thought that can go into a single shot, also the timing etc etc….
keyboard hero has hung his cape…back to overwatch
RinceThis
November 23, 2016 at 12:07
but, but, pictures of people sitting behind a screen are very very interesting!
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 23, 2016 at 12:12
18 awards, 5 go to the people playing? Priorities seem a bit off.
CongoKyle
November 23, 2016 at 12:42
eSports Industry Awards. Industry. 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 23, 2016 at 13:36
I can read. Doesn’t change my perception that it seems the eSports industry doesn’t actually care all that much about its players. 😛
CongoKyle
November 23, 2016 at 12:44
You telling me this isn’t awesome?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5bb0a35b73f6ae2000229252bf62b0e793679959fd4ce707d2d837a5ba6e2c1e.jpg
RinceThis
November 23, 2016 at 11:27
Photographer of the year? What did he do, ask them to turn their webcam on?
Andre Fourie
November 23, 2016 at 11:34
Back and salty as ever!!!
RinceThis
November 23, 2016 at 12:06
Never lose the salt, never surrender!
Andre Fourie
November 23, 2016 at 12:11
XD
Admiral Chief Argonian
November 23, 2016 at 11:29
Misread Gabriel “FalleN” as GabeN