MILPITAS, Calif., Dec. 4, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Creative Technology Ltd today announced the Sound Blaster® Heroes League, combining a nine-week Heroes of Newerth (HoN) gaming competition with the legendary audio performance of Sound Blaster sound cards and gaming headsets. Creative has joined forces with S2 Games, publisher of Heroes of Newerth, to host the competition offering US$30,000 in cash and US$10,000 in prizes. Unlimited open bracket play runs from December 2012 into February 2013.
The Sound Blaster Heroes League is open to anyone who downloads HoN, with entries open on December 4, 2012 at www.soundblaster.com/HoN. For eight consecutive weeks, five-person teams will compete in Heroes of Newerth open bracket league play, and each week one amateur team will win a spot in the league finals. Concurrent with amateur play, each week a professional gaming team will be announced as part of the Sound Blaster Heroes League. In the ninth week, eight amateur and the eight professional teams will advance to the finals to compete for cash and prizes.
HoN is a wildly popular free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. Pitting the Legion against the Hellbourne, HoN positions teams of five on opposite sides of a map, with each team defending its own towers from attack. Players control one of 111 heroes, with each hero having four abilities that may be acquired and upgraded while the hero gains experience. Players are rewarded with gold, which they can use to purchase items that increase their hero's power. The team that reaches the base of the opponent and destroys their primary structure is the winner.
Sound Blaster audio provides a compelling audio experience for both listening and voice communications in HoN gameplay. Creative's proprietary Sound Blaster CrystalVoice™ suite of voice communications enhancements enables players to enjoy the competitive advantage of hearing each other precisely and clearly, a key weapon for success in the highly competitive team gaming environment where communicating is fundamental to winning.
"We're excited to team up with S2 Games to launch the Sound Blaster Heroes League, expanding beyond our success in gaming tournaments to express our commitment to the gaming community on a higher level, with the formation of a league and essentially a full eSports season of gaming," said Ryan Schlieper, product marketing manager for audio and gaming at Creative.
"We are very excited for the Sound Blaster Heroes League," said S2 Games Commissioner of eSports Sam Braithwaite. "The format for the league is one of my personal favorites and it compliments HoN Tour very well. Amateur and pro players alike are going to have a very action packed couple of months!"
"We're leveraging our great relationship with Team CompLexity professional gamers to launch the Sound Blaster Heroes League," continued Ryan Schlieper of Creative. "Team CompLexity members are true experts at executing online eSports competition and of course it only adds to the excitement that they have one of the best HoN teams on the planet in their stable of cyberathletes."
"We are thrilled to be involved with two phenomenal companies and especially being tied to the launch of these great new products. We are also so excited to be bringing such a great event to the Heroes of Newerth Community. This is one of the most passionate groups of gamers that we have ever had the pleasure to work with," said Jason Bass COO compLexity Gaming.
The Heroes of Sound Blaster League celebrates the launch of the Sound Blaster Z-Series high-performance sound cards and the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage gaming headsets. Both products were unveiled for the first time at Gamescom 2012 and are shipping in time for the 2012 holiday season. Featuring Creative's proprietary SBX ProStudio™ and Crystal Voice™ technologies, the new Sound Blaster products boast cutting-edge designs and industry-leading performance capabilities.
To enter to play in the Sound Blaster Heroes League and to find out more about Sound Blaster audio solutions, visit soundblaster.com. Follow Sound Blaster Gaming at Facebook.com/soundblaster.
Phil O'Shaughnessy
VP Corporate Communications
Creative Labs, Inc.
408-546-6773
About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment with cutting edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, wireless head-phones and portable media devices. Today, Creative re-invents the Sound Blaster, which has a user base of over 400 million, with its ground-breaking Sound BlasterAxx that aims at the new mobile networked generation by bridging the multi-worlds of the computer, smartphones, and tablets. Creative's proprietary technologies, innovative hardware, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment anytime, anywhere.
About S2 Games
S2 Games is a game publisher and developer with a mission to identify, develop, evolve and unleash the future of online multiplayer games. Since its inception in 2003, S2 has been focused on driving innovation into the global online game space, through identifying and solving industry issues, listening closely to its passionate gamer base and incorporating features that gamers truly want. Active in sponsoring and helping drive many global tournaments for their flagship title Heroes of Newerth, S2 is focused on providing the best online multiplayer gaming experience and opportunities for its fans to shine. For more information about S2, please visit www.s2games.com.
This announcement relates to products launched in the United States of America. Availability is subject to change without notice and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. Sound Blaster, Crystal Voice, SBX Pro Studio and ZEN are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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The following pictures are available for download:
| [Image] | PS-Rage-L-USB-Red-10cm-R2 |
| [Image] | Sound Blaster Z |