Major League Gaming (MLG) is a professional eSports company that organizes events all over the globe. A professional and financially successful esports organization founded in 2002 by entrepreneurs Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. major-league-gaming
Since 2004, the organization has held annual tournaments in locations throughout the US and Canada, which are often televised. The organization has been engaged in game creation as well as competitions.
The brand was purchased by gaming company Activision Blizzard in early 2016, with plans to utilize it to create an esports-focused television network. The organization's logo is designed to look like the NBA and NHL.
The MLG professional circuit includes games. Originally, MLG competitions included Halo and Super Smash Brothers, but the idea has evolved.
Tekken, Starcraft 2, League of Legends, and Mortal Kombat have all been included at Major League Gaming tournaments. In 2016, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was included.
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2004–2008: Planting roots
During this period, MLG national championship events used Halo: Combat Evolved. The United States dominated the prize-winning line-ups in the Free-for-All game style, 22-2 and 4-4 tournaments.
Along with Halo, teams participated in other esports, such as Super Smash Brothers, which included 11 and 22 players. Again, American players prevailed, but Captain Jack from Japan managed to finish third in the 2004 11 events. This was an uncommon occurrence in the early days of the Major League Gaming idea.
Adapting to change
From 2005 through 2007, Halo 2 succeeded Halo CE, but the winning teams and players tended to be American. In the early days of professional esports, athletes and teams seldom traveled as far as they do now.
Teams like OGRE, Team Domination, Filthy Jackalopes, Karma, and Team 3D won Halo tournaments during this time period. Ken Hoang, PC Chris, and Isai won Super Smash Brothers tournaments.
The season finales were held in New York City in 2004 and 2005 but moved to Las Vegas in 2006, 2007, and 2008. During the regular season, MLG tournaments were held throughout the USA. Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas all had events in 2004.
Rainbow Six, a 4x4 Vegas-style game, was introduced to the Rainbow Six roster in 2007. The rainbow Six Legends won that year, followed in 2008 by the English team MoB Cameo. Super Smash Bros. games were succeeded in 2007 by Gears of War and Shadowrun. Infinity won the first Gears of War, while Three Shot Killers won Shadowrun in 2007.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was added to the list of games for 2008. American team xiNFecTioN won the first CoD, followed by Team EnVyUs. From here on, CoD would be the game that drew the largest MLG audiences and the most media attention. From here, we'll concentrate on how Call of Duty has influenced the Major League Gaming idea.
2009–2011: Cod king
In 2009, the CoD National Championship was held in Anaheim, California, where Xtravagant won the championship and $8,000 first prize. Team EnVyUs took second place with $4,000 Top four: Team FeaR, Genesis. For Canadian great Raymond ‘Rambo' Lussier, this was the first of many titles in a brilliant career.
In 2010, the prize pool for the CoD championship winners increased to $12,000, and a team known as an influence would win it. Craig ‘PLuTo' Walker was one of the team's stars that year, and the tournament would help launch his esports career.
VwS LeveraGe won second place with $6,000, followed by HSG Xtravagant. Rambo was again prominent for the third-placed squad, who earned $3,000, beating off OpTic Gaming ($2,000). OpTic's team that year was headed by Matt “NaDeSHoT” Haag, who is currently retired but utilized the event to launch a successful competitive CoD career.
Prizes worth winning
In 2011, the MLG National Championship was held in Providence, Rhode Island, with a prize pool of $140,000, with $50,000 going to the victors. Quantic Nex-TT-hreat would win the first prize, defeating EnVyUs into second.
OpTic Gaming and ApeX Collapse come in third and fourth. Rambo was still there, but his efforts couldn't get Xtravagant beyond the fifth position. Their $10,000 prize may have helped ease the sting of not making the top four.
During this time period, MLG games featured Starcraft 2 and League of Legends, two of the most prominent esports disciplines. This was an indication of the MLG's ever-expanding reach. In 2011, Lee ‘Leenock' Dong Nyoung of South Korea won the SC2 championship, while Team SoloMid won the League of Legends season-ending event. Halo remained on the MLG games list, but it would be taken out of competitive play in a few years.
More games from 2012 to 2016
In 2012, the National Championships were replaced with a series of winter and summer championships held in various locations throughout the year. This year's MLG games did not include Call of Duty.
It included Starcraft 2, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters XIII, Soul Calibur, and Halo. For the Spring Championship in Anaheim, League of Legends replaced Halo, but for the Summer Championship in Raleigh, King of Fighters was dropped. The Fall Championship in Dallas included SC2, Halo 4, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Mortal Kombat.
Winter & Spring Champs
By 2013, the Winter Championships in Dallas, Call of Duty was back on the list, with Black Ops 2 providing excellent spectator entertainment. The $50,000 prize pool was split between Fariko Impact ($20,000) and UNiTE Gaming ($12,000). Damon ‘Karma' Barlow, a former OpTic Gaming and Team EnVyUs player, played for Fariko Impact.
2013 saw two more important tournaments. Three games were played in the Spring Championship in Anaheim. There were also SC2 and LoL competitions. Starcraft champion Choi ‘Polt' Seong Hun beat out American squad FXOpen in LoL.
In Call of Duty, CompLexity Gaming took home the $50,000 first prize. Later in 2013, the squad won the Fall Championship in Columbus. Speed Gaming won the only other sport played, Dota 2.
Getting bigger
In 2014, the number of MLG events increased. Complexity Gaming won the MLG CoD League Season 1 Playoffs in Boston in April. In June, the series traveled to Anaheim, where Evil Geniuses won the MLG Anaheim 2014 International Playoffs. In October, Team EnVyUs won the $75,000 Call of Duty World League Championship season three play-offs in Columbus. FaZe Clan won the MLG Columbus Open, taking home a $25,000 first prize.
OpTic Gaming won the $75,000 top prize in both of the 2015 play-off events in Columbus and Austin.
OpTic finished second in the MLG Pro League Season 3 Playoffs in Columbus, Ohio, behind FaZe Clan, who won the $175,000 first prize. For the Call of Duty World League Championship Finals in New Orleans in October, OpTic reformed. They took first place and a cool quarter-million dollars.
2016 had two significant events. OpTic Gaming won the $40,000 first prize at the MLG Anaheim Open in June. OpTic replicated the feat in August, defeating Team EnVyUs in the final and earning another $40,000 in cash.