Major League Gaming

Major League Gaming [edit]

General Information
Industry:	Professional Gaming League
Founded:	2002
Headquarters:	New York City, New York, USA
Key people:	Sundance DiGiovanni (co-founder) Mike Sepso (co-founder) John Nelson (Comissioner)
Events:	Major League Gaming
Website:	majorleaguegaming.com

[edit] About

Major League Gaming, often abbreviated MLG, founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso, is a North American professional Electronic sports organisation, headquartered in New York City. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada, which were sometimes broadcast on television. The company has also been involved in game development, after buying a software developer for online gaming communities ^[1]. MLG's aim is to elevate computer and console game tournaments to viable competitive and spectator events ^[2]. Even though it used to focus on FPS (First Person Shooter games) and fighting games, MLG eventually opened its horizons to RTS (Real Time Strategy games) and MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games) with StarCraft II and League of Legends, respectively in 2010 and 2011.

[edit] Game Roster

The MLG Pro Circuit roster currently includes Halo: Reach for the Xbox 360, Starcraft II for the PC, and League of Legends for the PC. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the PlayStation 3 is the only online Pro Circuit title. Chris Puckett is the lead Play-by-Play commentator for MLG Live Events. Scott "Gandhi" Lussier provides professional insight into many MLG broadcasts. Danish Maqbool (DMAQ) is the co-host of the MLG Pregame show. Julie Alexandria hosts the Old Spice Report, as well as reporting from the sidelines at MLG Live events.

Major League Gaming also hosts a series of online qualifier ladders for the online-only pro circuit titles leading to the national championship. In the past, MLG hosted Super Smash Bros Melee tournaments during the 2006 MLG season and other games such as Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Tekken 5, Gears of War, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, Shadowrun, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Call of Duty 4, and Gears of War 2.

Each team must purchase a team pass to compete. Halo 3, Gears of War, and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 teams include 4 members, while World of Warcraft teams include 3 members.

On February 6, 2009, MLG Commissioner John Nelson addressed the MLG community about changing the format for the 2009 pro circuit. Semi-pro teams now have the opportunity to gain pro status. The rolling rank points system and the championship bracket were also modified.

In March 2010, it was announced that fighting games will be returning to the pro circuit, with Tekken 6 exclusively on the PlayStation 3, and the return of the Smash competition with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. These two games will appear in the season opener in Orlando, along with the league's flagship, Halo 3, which will make its third season with the league.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be making its debut on the Online Pro Circuit on Gamebattles for PlayStation 3. Originally, the game was on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Due to excessive hacking on the Xbox 360 console via JTAGs, it has been stripped of its "Pro Circuit" branding. Prize payouts will remain the same on both consoles. Playstation 3 players will be eligible to accumulate Pro Points. Those who have enough Pro Points at the end of the 3rd season of the Online Pro Circuit will be eligible to compete live at the MLG Nationals held in Dallas. Those competing on the Xbox 360 will not earn pro points and will have championships held online.

On April 27th, 2012, Major League Gaming announced that they were adding League of Legends to the remaining 2012 Pro Circuit events.^[3]

[edit] MLG Pro Circuit

The early ediitons of MLG Pro Circuit featured mostly First Person Shooter games such as Halo, and fighting games such as Super Smash Bros. However, the league welcomed its first Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game in August 2011 when it held the first League of Legends tournament in Raleigh. A second tournament was held during the 2011 season at the National Championships in Providence

The first event of the 2012 MLG season was the Spring Championship. This event was followed by the Summer Arena and the Summer Championship. ^[4]

[edit] Tournaments

[edit] List of MLG Pro Circuit Events

	Event	Date	Winner	Runner-Up
2011 MLG Pro Circuit
	2011 MLG Pro Circuit Raleigh	2011 (2011.08.26—2011.08.28)	CLG Prime	Epik Gamer
	2011 MLG Pro Circuit Providence	2011 (2011.11.18—2011.11.20)	Team SoloMid	Epik Gamer
2012 MLG Pro Circuit
	2012 MLG Pro Circuit Spring Championship	2012 (2012.06.08—2012.06.10)	Team SoloMid	CLG Prime
	2012 MLG Pro Circuit Summer Arena	2012 (2012.08.03—2012.08.05)	Azubu Blaze	Team SoloMid
	2012 MLG Pro Circuit Summer Championship	2012 (2012.08.24—2012.08.26)	Curse Gaming ¹	Team Dignitas ¹
	2012 MLG Pro Circuit Fall Championship	2012 (2012.11.02—2012.11.04)	Azubu Blaze	NaJin Sword