XLeague.tv – What’s It All About?

Remember XLeague.tv, that video game TV and Internet channel? The London-based broadcasters were kind enough to invite us to their community day last week. I took the day off work (hooray!) to have a good nose around their studios. Got photos and everything :)

According to the lovely people I met (Kate Billingham, Lee Catania and Steven Tu), XLeague.tv is about gamers. Yes, the current shows are based around televising matches and Match-of-the-Day-style analysis (anyone remember prizefight.com?) but there’s one major addition. They want to create celebrities.

Yep. Video Game Celebrities.

Fair play to them. As Kate put it, ask someone to think of famous gamers. If you’re lucky then they’ll mention Fatal1ty and… uh… yeah, that’s it. XLeague.tv are planning to support UK-based gamers and help nudge gaming personalities into mainstream UK media.

How Do You Make a Gaming Celebrity?

Good question. The plan is to watch the league tables. Teams that catch their eye will be invited to play in the XLeague studio and featured on the TV channel (travel and accommodation provided). Obviously, they’ll be profiling tournament winners. They’ll also be featuring other gamers. The plan is to prove that competitive gaming isn’t just for the “professionals” and isn’t just for young white males. There are leagues for all abilities and the XLeague profiles will showcase players from all of them.

If you’re camera-shy, don’t let that put you off competing in the leagues. They’re not building a station around embarrassing people – if you don’t want to be featured, you won’t be forced. If you are featured, they’ll give you a bit of media coaching before sticking a camera in your face.

The Leagues?

Yep, it’s all based around their league system. Their league software is developed by CompeteSoft. CompeteSoft was set up by the team behind TeamCompete.com, so their system should be tried and tested against cheating. Apparently, it’s an advancement on MLG, for those of you who are familiar with their system. Here’s how the plan goes:

1. Sign up on the XLeague.tv website
2. Join or set up a “Club” of like-minded people
3. Find a team
4. Play league matches to get your ability ranking
5. Play tournaments and play-offs
6. Win
7. Get famous
8. Retire filthy stinking rich and happy

Well, something like that, anyway. The full league and club details aren’t available on the XLeague.tv website yet. All that stuff is coming soon but here’s what I was told:

League matches get you points. After each match, each team post the final scores of the match. If there is a discrepancy between the scores posted by opposing teams then both teams will be penalised.

After six-to-eight weeks of competing, teams should be settling into their various ability rankings. That’s when the play-offs will be announced for each league. Selected matches will be televised and prizes will be offered.

The Cost?

XLeague matches aren’t free to play. If you just want to play League matches, it’ll cost you £4.49 a month. If you want to enter Leagues and Tournaments then it’s £7.99 per month. If you’re playing Xbox 360 games (Gears of War, Project Gotham Racing 3, Forza Motorsports 2) you’ll also need to factor in the XBox Live Gold membership. That’s an extra £3-ish per month if you buy a year in advance. Not bad for the chance at prizes and fame, I suppose. It’s a more tangible benefit than you’d get from a similarly-priced monthly MMO subscription.

Playing In The Studio?

I had a good gawp around the studios with my trusty Nikon D40. The gaming centre has two separate tables – one for each team. Each player has their own widescreen LCD (Dell) and team headset. XLeague.tv provide the standard equipment but if players want to use their own controllers/keyboards/etc then they are quite welcome to bring them along.

Here’s where the gamers will be playing in the studio. I’m not too keen on the chairs. They look very uncomfortable.

See the round blobby thing next to the monitor? Those are cameras that will be used to pick up the players’ facial expressions during the match. All your strange quirks will be revealed. No secrets in the world of televised gaming! Eek!

What Else Is There?

There was talk of user-generated content, a.k.a. “We Want Your Videos“. As said earlier, XLeague.tv want this channel to be all about gamers. If you’ve made something that you think other people will want to see, send it in. They’ll broadcast anything that looks entertaining – machinima, glitches, tutorials, awesome frags – whatever. The company will take care of getting broadcast permission from the games companies. All they ask is that you stick to games footage or original content – don’t be adding copyrighted music or clips unless you can provide proof that you have permission to use it.

If you do send them your videos, I have been assured that your content will be treated with respect. As an OfCom-licensed broadcaster, there are strict rules that they need to follow when it comes to content. They cannot simply take your videos and broadcast them as their own.

Why UK-Only?

Technically, the matches aren’t UK-only. The reason for the UK focus is simply logistics. They’re a small TV/media channel and at this point in time, they simply can’t afford to fly people in from all over the world. As I understand it, non-UK players are quite welcome in the leagues. You’ll just have to make your own way to London if you want to be on the TV channel.

XLeague.tv is broadcast in the UK on Sky Channel 291 279 208. You can find the programme schedule and selected video footage on their website.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions, either ask in the comments or email me using the sidebar link. I’ll do my best to answer or find out for you.

Links:

XLeague.tv
Splodge from GamersNation was there too

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