Since I've been so behind it seems like it would only be fair that I get a little ahead by doing a Miscellaneous Monday post! It can be hard to find topics that flow while giving you a bit of variety so this will be a place for those outcast subjects!

Let's dive in!

An AI strategy first

DeepMind's AI, that has been in development for some time has done something that was once thought to be impossible! It has actually beaten pro players in one of the toughest strategy games out there and one of my personal favourites: Starcraft II.

The AI beat the players not once, not three times, but an astounding 10 times. Granted, the human competition weren't world champion level players, but they were pros that could cheese with the best of them!

What makes this achievement so impressive is that Starcraft is a bit more challenging than games like Chess that were the humble beginnings for all AI. In SCII it would be possible for a build order to easily be programmed to maximize the potential of a win, but countering the myriad of army builds coming your way, defending from those, and countering is an entirely different thing!

The AI was capped to where it was unable to exceed the clicks per minute that a human can manage but it did seem to have an unfair advantage in which it could monitor all of its bases simultaneously. Which is impossible for a human to do.

But the AI did lose one round to its human counterparts.

All in all, this is a fascinating development and could lend itself to training many eSports teams when they choose to play solo and need an AI up to snuff!

Farming Simulator gets eSports league

Yes, you read that correctly. No, I don't have an explanation for this one.

This one definitely belongs in a Weird 'N' Wacky eSports news post but everyone needs a laugh on a Monday. The inexplicably popular farming sim game going pro is a perfect place to start.

Giant's Software is behind the idea and it seems like it is going to be quite the to-do with a lot of hype from the community that is weirdly obsessed over growing digital crops and ploughing a digital field. The tournaments will kick off in Europe and the 10 competitions will conclude in a stunning $280,000 prize pool that has been put up by the developers! I have never played, but for that kind of money, I wonder... how hard could it be?

The top players will all meet at FarmCon2020 (lolz) to face off again for another $110,000 in prizes and cash! Oh, and big names like Logitech and Intel are looking to sponsor it. Go figure!

Epic Game's Store free game of the month

Since the opening of the Steam competitor, they have been releasing games and making some big name titles free in order to garner some attention and traffic!

This time around it is Axiom Verge, a very Super Meteriod looking platformer/scroller. It is drips of simulated nostalgia brought into the modern era and honestly looks quite fun.

I don't want to spoil much, so I'll just say to grab your free copy! I know I will!

Think you might want to try to get take the grand prize for the best digital farmer? What would you do with your winnings? Let me know below!

Stay tuned for more similar content and e-sports!!

Have a fantastic day,

@SammoSK