Microsoft and the world of eSports competition are becoming quite the intimate partners as of late. After hosting the eSporting event Halo World Championships earlier this year, Microsoft has also decided to partner with the Coalition to host a million-dollar prize pool for the Gear eSports Pro Circuit beginning later this fall.
Following the news of the Gears eSports Pro Circuit, Microsoft is now announcing that it is putting its machine learning resources behind Dota 2’s The International 2016. Starting today, August 8, 2016, Bing users can now use the search engine to check out predictions on one of the biggest eSports tournaments of the year: Dota ® 2’s The International 2016.
Microsoft, along with a host of others are finally getting behind the massive appeal that eSports gaming has been quietly amassing over the past four years. With competition’s taking peak positions of internet traffic at fourth place just ahead of Facebook and Hulu, it’s no wonder more companies are investing in the medium.
The first day of the group stage will feature six-match series: two from the upper bracket and four from the lower bracket. In the upper bracket, we predict that OG will beat MVP Phoenix and Wings will better Digital Chaos in best-of-three series.
Teams in the lower bracket will play single matches today, increasing the chance for surprises. And indeed, we predict a couple of upsets: Na`Vi will eliminate Team Liquid and Escape Gaming will eliminate Fnatic. Figure 1 shows all predictions for August 8.”
As far as this year’s Dota 2 competition, Bing Predicts have been updated to reflect the changes that occurred after the August 3 – 5 split.
If you’re a betting person, Bing Predicts has EHOME winning the $8.7M pot, beating out defending champions Evil Geniuses in the Semi Finals and eventually trumping Wings Gaming in the Finale.
Bing Predicts has been a healthy source of entertainment for anyone interested in prediction models, betting or competition, as it’s been home to the NCAA March Madness tournament, Academy Awards, the Oscars, the World Cup, the NFL and NBA Playoffs and much more.
As always, the use of Bing Predicts is encouraged but only as a means of entertainment. While its accuracy rate has been an average just above a 70% for most events, it’s far from a sure thing.
The folks behind Bing Predicts also offer some notes on its prediction models to help users understand what and how the system works. Visit the Bing Blogs for more information on how Bing Predicts is crafting its selections and details on its algorithm’s for the events.
