Esports.gg Stories of the Week (Feb. 11-17) – Loverwatch, LOCK//IN, and Legends cover image

Esports.gg Stories of the Week (Feb. 11-17) – Loverwatch, LOCK//IN, and Legends

Loverwatch is a hit, LOCK//IN is hype, and Apex Legends is revived, as we break down the top esports stories from this past week!

We're right in the middle of a bustling month of esports news and releases, and Esports.gg is keeping you in the loop with everything. This past week (Feb. 18-24), we've seen Season 16 of Apex Legends launch, an Overwatch 2 update, and the VALORANT LOCK//IN event take over our site! But even with these serious proceedings, there was time to take in the Valentines festivities that many games embraced during the past week. Speaking of which...

Overwatch lore is ripe for shipping, romance, and fandom, and releasing a visual-novel-style dating game using the Overwatch 2 character seems like a slam dunk. And it was, with Loverwatch becoming a huge fan favorite, and our guides on the game attracting a lot of attention. But we also had the chance to sit down with the creators of the game. They talked about the design process behind this surprise break-out hit.

Apex Legends Season 16 - Revelry brings the game to new levels

Apex Legends Season 16, entitled Revelry, caused massive hype around the game. With a new gun, a new Team Deathmatch feature, dozens of individual changes, a class rework, and more, we ended up covering a lot of Apex this past week. And all this alongside the news that Apex Legends broke its all-time Steam active player record, and the start of a #SaveApexMobile movement.

The Super Mario Movie hotline is bizarre and brilliant

Our gaming section was blessed with a levity-filled piece of investigative journalism as we answered the question "What happens when you call up the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing hotline?" The answer may shock you... Or not. Anyway, it's a real number you can call, but in case you don't want to do it yourself, we've done it for you. A win for those with phone-call anxiety everywhere.

Aurelion Sol rework is released, is broken, and is immediately disabled

Aurelion Sol has been a controversial hero for as long as he's existed, from his initial reveal as Ao Shin, to being rebuild from the ground up pre-release, to falling to a low pick rate, and now being reworked. But unfortunately this much anticipated rework crashed and burned, being riddled with bugs, open to abuse, and eventually being disabled less than a week after release. Aurelion Sol is yet to return to the game.

LOCK//IN takes over São Paulo, and Esports.gg is on the ground!

Esports.gg is covering the VALORANT LOCK//IN and has several interviews with players at the event. Apart from our interview with ScreaM, above, we also have a snippet from Cloud9 coach mCe who shot back at Paper Rex following their contest. To keep up to date with all the LOCK//IN news, check out our event hub page!

The full Esports.gg articles of the week

Below you'll find the most interesting and surprising Esports.gg articles this week. Be sure to give them all a read and keep up to date on esports news!

TSM Chime gives a candid interview during the LCS. We're in the fourth week of the split, and TSM finds itself in a tie with four other teams.

Team Liquid's Boxi called his shot for the upcoming Lima Major. He predicted that TL would win the whole thing, while also talking about the team's recent addition of Nisha.

A video of Doublelift and Prince went viral after the younger ADC met his hero at the LCS arena. One of the most heart-warming moments of the Spring Split so far!

Our interview with caster Tsunami shed light on his origins, hosting style, and the past season of the SEA DPC.

Chinese SC2 player oliveiras became the first player from his region to win a major competition at Katowice.

Tundra had some unexpected help at BetBoom Universe, as TI-winner Topson and Nightfall stood in for their semi-final matchup. Tundra would go on to win the tournament.

And as always, stay tuned to Esports.gg for all your news, articles, guides, and more!