Firefall eSports toolkit adds broadcasting, spectator options
Red 5 has added a bevy of spectator and broadcaster options to Firefall in a bid to capture a slice of the eSports market - and to help it grow.
Morgan Romine, Red 5's eSports expert, told PC Gamer that the new tools are designed to help overcome the entry barrier of competitive gaming, in that it's hard to understand what's going on if you're not a pro player yourself.
"If you know Counter-Strike really well then you know what’s going on but if you’re not familiar with Counter-Strike in the first place then it’s not that interesting to watch," she said.
"We lose out as an eSports community when we can’t bring new people into the fold by showing them all the exciting stuff that’s going on. I’m hoping that this toolkit is going to allow us to translate the excitement of what’s going on to the spectators who are watching."
Some of the options the toolkit provides to assist with this include a free camera; a top down view, so players can see the flow of the game at a glance; and an action cam which automatically moves to the hottest zones.
See some of the new features in the preview video below. The free-to-play Firefall is currently in rolling closed beta; you can sign up here. Its first major tournament takes place in gamescom this month and offers a €10,000 prizepool.
