Dear friends, As everyone knows by now, the Championship Gaming Series is no more. Many have applauded its demise with celebration and renewed hope for a return to the “old days” of gaming and Counter-Strike in particular. However, for me and many of us who have labored so hard to develop eSports it was a sad day. Whenever major corporate support leaves our industry and websites worldwide announce another dead gaming league, eSports takes a big step backwards. In today’s global economy I fear this will be a major step backwards and I’m also concerned that we’ll see other large events go extinct in the next six months. It’s a very dark time for those of us who have invested so much in our beloved eSports. I’m afraid there will be many dark days ahead and it will take years to pick up the pieces and rebuild.
The more immediate issue, especially for the coL Community, is the fate of our beloved compLexity. The Syndicate is approaching its 5th birthday, an eternity in gaming. I don’t imagine the occasion will be marked with a big cake and party. We stand on a precarious cliff and the future is uncertain. I feel that I owe the coL Community the hard facts, so continue reading for them. As things currently stand, DirecTV owns compLexity. They own the name, the trademark, the website content and the URL. I have contacted the powers that be about obtaining the property, but as of today there are no answers. Perhaps they’ll attempt to sell it on the open market. I question the value of the brand without the people behind it, but it’s their right to shop it around. Perhaps they’ll return compLexity to us. I have no way of knowing at this time. The second issue at hand is the financing of the organization. I am no longer willing nor able to float the hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes to keep compLexity at the top of professional gaming. In order to move forward with top tier squads, we would need substantial sponsor support in the near future. Securing that support in today’s economic climate would prove challenging to say the least. These are the issues I’m confronted with while I consider whether to continue on in professional gaming. (Not to mention the fact that I’m now in L.A. and unemployed for the first time in my life.) Should we push forward, shrugging off the challenges that seemingly present impregnable obstacles or should we tip our hats, say thank you and ride off into the digital sunset? These are the questions that plagued me yesterday while my phone blew up and emails rolled in.
I have made my decision. compLexity will press forward. The dream that began in 2003 has endured dark days, and will persevere through this challenge as well. This thing called life is rarely easy. It’ll continually knock you over and kick you while you’re down. Staying true to your vision, beliefs and dreams can be difficult, but it’s what defines the quality of our character and the strength of our convictions. compLexity will press forward. The organization may not be called compLexity. It might not have all the same faces if we don’t have a white knight corporation support us. It might take some time, but compLexity will push on. The dream will survive. Digx, our long time friend and coder, still has the v4 website code. Innate Media Group, one of our loyal supporters, has offered to finish that code so we can release our new online home. NextGen Servers has confirmed its continued support. The players have vowed to remain on board as long as they can financially. The staff has a renewed energy from the thought of running the website the way it should be run.
I’d like to thank the countless people who expressed their concern and well wishes yesterday. Your support and kindness means the world to me. Now, I’d like to ask the coL Community for its support. We need you now more than ever. I’m asking you to rally around our efforts. We’ll need your website involvement, IRC support and encouragement now more than ever in our history. If we do land a lead sponsor, we need you to support that sponsor fanatically to prove the coL Community is worth investing in. We need you to idle/perform #compLexity and bring your friends along for the ride. Support IMG as they work hard to bring you v4 of our website. And last, but certainly not least, we need your thoughts and prayers during what will surely be difficult days ahead. Join us by tagging [C09] (compLexity ’09) for the remainder of 2008. Who knows, maybe DirecTV will listen and return compLexity to the coL Community where it belongs.
Although it’d be easy, compLexity will not tip our hats and ride quietly into the night. We will not lay down and we will not capitulate. We will push the dream forward. We will sacrifice when needed. We won’t allow the passion that has defined this organization for five years be snuffed out like a candle in the storm. compLexity will push forward, and we invite you to join us. It’ll definitely be an interesting ride! Thanks as ALWAYS for your support. [C09], Jake