The Future of e-Sports

In the past few years we have seen e-Sports grow at a tremendous rate. With more and more media coverage and huge amounts of money being put into it every year, its popularity and success isn't showing any signs of shrinking. On the contrary, in the next few years we should see e-Sports grow to be even more successful. The purpose of this article is to attempt to predict what e-Sports will be like in the future. I've asked a few of the more well known e-Sports personalities for their opinions. From their responses I found that each person fits into one of three categories:

Ambitious people who want to make a future for e-Sports
People who don't seem to care much about the future of e-Sports, they just want to have fun
People who are a bit undecided but think of the concept of e-Sport is cool

Angel Munoz and the CPL definitely fit into the first category - they are putting in a tremendous amount of time, money and effort into pushing e-Sports further, would they do this if it didn't have a future? Before I spoke to Mr. Munoz regarding the future of our sport, I was keeping an open mind about what would happen in the future, but reading through his answers made me feel that e-Sports really do have a place in this world, and they are going to be in our lives for a long time yet. This is what Mr. Munoz had to say on the subject:

"Electronic sports is experiencing a significant transformation, as the landscape becomes occupied with a diversity of organisations all with a unique approach. Also, the sponsorship of esport teams is now gaining acceptance within large corporations that are seeking to create loyalty among the ranks of esport participants and followers. The next few years are in fact the most concerning for us as the diversity of sport organisations may actually serve to confuse the potential audience and delay the development of the sport. Historically, sports progress much faster with homogeneous standards and cooperation between organizers. For the next few years, the competition among the tournament organizers may increase in intensity, but then further in the future the inevitable will occur: all organisations will start working together under one set of global rules. I think that tournament organizers could save themselves a lot of time and wasted resources by working together and establishing an overriding sanctioning organisation. Unfortunately our efforts on this front have not been successful at this time as everyone thinks that their vision of the sport is superior to all others."
What do you think should be done now to secure the future of e-Sports?
"Cooperation between all tournament organizers. Every month I read about another organisation that is going to reinvent the sport and do things better than everyone else and then another and yet another. Worse yet, a few of them embellish with promotional statements like: "we are the only true open league in the world" or "we are the largest league" etc. Honesty and cooperation is needed from all of us right now, that is if we really want to be recognized internationally as a true sport, and not a geek's hobby. I have come to realize that the emphasis on large cash prizes, as a way to build the sport, actually ends up creating an odd caricature of esports. We all need to do a better job at emphasizing the competition, concentrating on basics: the exhilaration of victory and the agony of defeat. As simple as the statement sounds, it truly capsulizes the essence of all successful sports."

I'm not going to go into Pro-Gaming in this article, obviously e-Sports will require gamers to be professional for it to succeed but there are lots of articles delving into the myth/reality of professional gaming such as Myers' article. From what Angel Munoz has been saying there are some steps we can take to secure the future of e-Sports now:

Put more money into e-Sports
Cooperation between event organizers
Creating a governing body of e-Sport

Let's see if I can shed some more light on these topics.

Money

Money is a main factor in the future of this sport, it costs money to put on LAN events just as it costs money for the participants to travel to them. A top team is unlikely to attend an event if they can't cover the costs of travel and accommodation. Of course some will attend just to take part, but it can be very expensive getting to LANs, especially if you've got to travel halfway across the world to get there. Thankfully, this is where our beloved sponsors step in. Companies and organisations around the world are really catching on to what e-Sports can do for them, with the big boys like Intel getting involved teams can now receive funding and can travel to events they wouldn't have been able to go to without funding. A recent example of this is ONE not being able to attend Clikarena this year (2003) because of lack of funding. In April this year

Auravison LLC have signed a deal with probably the most successful gamer ever to endorse his own range of gaming products. This huge leap shows that the big corporations do recognise the potential of this phenomenon, it's not just a few companies trying to get a bit of advertising from a novelty. Some people think e-Sports are just a novelty which will die out. I don't. If it was a novelty then it wouldn't be increasing in popularity at such an enormous rate, over a reasonably long period of time. Companies like Intel, AMD, and other well-known sponsors already involved in various aspects of gaming know better than to invest money into something that will not be effective for them. They know that e-Sports is going to be big and they're helping it get there. If that isn't enough evidence to convince you that e-Sports has a future then just take a look around you, and see what is going on.

Cooperation

Organisations, no matter what they are for, will always want to be the best. There probably are some groups out there who are only doing what they're doing for the good of the sport, but the majority will looking to be the best and make lots of lovely money on the way. It would be a shame for the sport to be spoilt due to power-crazy, money-guzzling organisations. Getting these organisations to work together will be quite a mammoth task, unless we get a governing body to make them run to specific guidelines so that e-Sports can fulfill it's potential. I spoke to Paul Meakin from e-Sport Pro to get a better idea on how the organisations can cooperate:

"Yes [they should coorperate more]. [The organisations] should be active and show a real commitment to the sport, not just a commitment to make financial gain. We will expect them to look at our organisation to be the one that ensures that their future becomes rock solid through our management of teams and the way they grow and become more mature (which I think has started to happen in many good teams and I don't mean "top" teams)"

e-Sports are a great source for companies and organisations to make a lot of profit, but in my opinion it's too early to be reaping the harvest. At the risk of sounding like a Grolsch advert, e-Sports just aren't ready. Organisations such as the CPL should really be helping to build the sport instead of just filling their pockets.

Governing Body

The governing body idea is something that has been talked about a lot, but of course, this is where money and cooperation come back into the game. All the organisations want to be the best, and want to be known for making e-Sports into what we may see in 5 years time, but as I said earlier, it won't happen if they fight among themselves. This is what Paul Meakin had to say on the subject:

"eSport pro will soon be changing its name to "The World eSport Federation" so that should give you a clue on my thoughts. Now eSport pro has income to support some teams and also some deals with server providers and some other bits, it is time to move on and start to help the sport at a higher level and try to work with WCG and CPL + server companies and hardware suppliers so that the sport and the players as a whole have one voice to talk with. The federation will have a board of 5 well respected individuals from within the esport community, people that have for years had the best interests of the sport at heart."

It looks like eSport Pro may be aiming to be that governing body, so we'll have to see how everyone reacts to that. If everyone (meaning teams, organisations e.t.c) are willing to cooperate then it will no doubt be a huge leap forward for the sport, however Angel Munoz of the CPL doesn't seem to like the idea of that body being outside of the CPL:

"Why would the CPL, the company that launched the entire concept of professional computer gaming, "work" with a third party organisation that aspires to establish guidelines for the sport? The CPL has its own guidelines, policies, rules and officers. It also has a player committee for feedback and the strongest and most diverse partners of any other professional league. Therefore, we simply do not see the value of any third party effort on this front. Our events will continue to operate independently. The fact that CPL has always been composed of uninfluenced independent thinkers is what gave birth to the sport and in our opinion will continue to drive it."

I have to argue with Angel Munoz's statement about the CPL "launching the entire concept of professional computer gaming", there is no doubt they have had, and still do have, a huge role in e-Sports, but just look at the gamers in Korea, where many live off gaming, and earn more than American gamers, except perhaps Fatal1ty. Personally I don't believe any one person or organisation is responsible for e-Sports being around today. I believe it was a joint effort, born from the huge popularity of computer games, into what we have today.

I have the feeling that e-Sport Pro's governing body could be successful if they get the right staff. If they managed to get a commitee of people like Sujoy Roy, bds e.t.c. then they could become very big, however, the organisation needs a presence in Europe to be successful. They can't govern e-Sports from the UK alone. The CPL controls the e-Sports community in America, but Europe is still mainly unclaimed territory. There have been CPL events in Europe but nothing particularly amazing like the Summer and Winter tournaments in Dallas.

The World e-Sports Federation could seize control of the European gaming scene, and then what will the CPL do? Both organisations will want to be the leading body, but will they cooperate in the future? The CPL's commitee, or Advisory Board as they call it, is made up of American people, so surely their influence over Europe would be limited? We will have to wait and see how the World e-Sports Federation turns out, because I have a strong feeling this could affect the whole of e-Sports if not handled properly. So there we have 3 of the main steps to securing the future of e-Sports. Obviously there are other factors such as media coverage but that is mostly out of our control.

The Future

What can we expect to see in the future? I said I'd try and answer this question at the beginning of the article so I'll have a go now. What type of people will be the top gaming stars in the future? First of all I think we will see the age of gamers rise, not by much, but the CPLs' age restrictions are going to be 18+ which will mean younger people will have to just play online or at other events where age restrictions are lower. Again this depends on the governing body idea - if a governing body sets an age restriction and all organisations follow it, then that will mean younger players cannot play. Is that a bad thing? It depends whether you think e-Sports should be just a bit of fun or something more serious. Age restrictions will definitely help e-Sports by making it more attractive to sponsors, so they don't have kids messing them about. The media will take it more seriously if they see a professional group of people playing games rather than arrogant little teenagers swearing and mouthing off one another (or perhaps I'm just thinking too much about the UK CS scene here).

To people who aren't involved in e-Sports then it might, and probably will seem like quite a sad thing to be doing. However, this also why the age restrictions will help, although people might think it's just big kids messing about, the professionalism of the gamers will make people see the real side of e-Sports. If people reserve their judgement until they fully understand about e-Sports then we'll have no problem. If they think it's geeky after that? Well, that's just their opinion.

The World Cyber Games in 2002 had excellent facilities, as always the Koreans took their computer gaming incredibly seriously and so the end result was an excellent tournament which did a great job of promoting e-Sports. If you compare the WCG with the CPL at this moment in time then it seems to me that the CPL are concentrating too much on money, the WCG seem to be creating much better events which are increasing the boundaries of e-Sports. In the future we can expect to see more venues designed solely for e-Sports tournaments, not just cyber cafés, science museums or other buildings, but WCG style venues, even for the smaller tournaments. This will help tournaments to run more smoothly as everything can be installed ready for use, whereas other tournament organizers, depending on the venue will want to get it set up as quickly as possible so they don't have to pay extra money, meaning they could make mistakes. They're only human right?

I'll finish up the article with some purely fictitious ideas of what e-Sports might be like, will be interesting to see if any of these come true.

Extract from e-Sports Grandstand, 25th March, 2007:
"You join us here for the grand final with [***clan] playing [^^^clan], looks like it will be a tough match, your thoughts Jim?"
"Well, they're two top teams, [***clan] have been on fine form this tournament, and [^^^clan] will be lucky to beat them, however in e-Sports, anything can happen. Mike."
"Thanks Jim, OK, the match will be starting soon, we can now see the players setting up the computers, our commentator for today will be..."
Extract from [&&&clan] interview, e-Sports Grandstand 13th September, 2005:
"I'm joined here by top UK gamer, [**********], from [&&&clan] at their stadium here at London. What are your thought on todays match?"
"It's been really great, two top teams clashing to stay in the Cup, it was always and going to be a nail biter, the fans have been great"
"You mention the fans, you've had a packed stadium here today, 36,000 fans turned up to see the match, you must be really pleased!"
"Definitely, I can remember back in 2003 going to see Four-Kings play, no one really supported anyone back then... It's changed so much, really good to see everyone out here today."
Extract from GCC news, 12th January, 2010:
"Also in the news tonight, pro gamer [&&&&&&] has been arrested outside a night club in Leeds after a brawl in the early hours yesterday morning. The top gamer is reported not to be hurt, the fight occurred after the victim accused him of "configging", we'll keep you updated. We had a chat with [££££££] from the UK e-Sports Association to get his thoughts on yesterdays incident."
"Well, I think this is the problem we have in the UK, a lot of the gamers tend to be very mouthy, all bark and no bite, it hasn't changed since 2003, let's hope it will change soon!"

Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions on the topic, hopefully we can get a nice discussion going. Thanks for reading.

Comments

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	St_George g30rg3h UKTerrorist 19:44 19/5/2003	good s***! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Antmoo 19:46 19/5/2003	Thanks to ONE\|obi and [4K^Luck1ng] for their answers with the article, haven't included the quotes but it was very helpful, ta. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	zeNi formidable 19:53 19/5/2003	very nice read, it seems a lot of work has gone into this gj :) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	brutal The Next Generation 21:31 19/5/2003	aye gj :) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Sincy 21:31 19/5/2003	Not bad fella, not bad. Altho gamin is a bit geeky if we are serious, sittin in our bedrooms starin at a screen :/ cs = my geeky side :) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SunShip 21:33 19/5/2003	bra. yup when one takes the plunge and gets TV coverage yo watch bill gates buy it up like cheap popcorn. Until then its who's got the balls and who's going to stick them on the line to make eSports as famous as american baseball. not too sure about the grandstand thing lol... eGamer in a punch up pull the other one !! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	zeLL unicon.cs 21:39 19/5/2003	yeah nice read. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 21:42 19/5/2003	there isnt that big a market for people wanting to watch games. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	r3n Team-kill 21:55 19/5/2003	was too lengthy for me to start reading it, but it looked well done, nice paragraphing etc, gj [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Sinth 21:57 19/5/2003	geeks [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	amarc 22:00 19/5/2003	najs [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SunShip 22:20 19/5/2003	i belive that korea regulary televises live Games. Plus u cant run a major sport without a fan base or it will never get populatr enough. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Hyperion 22:29 19/5/2003	i dont agree that there should be an age limit of like 18 for top LANs etc. Football doesnt have it otherwise we would be without Wayne Rooney!!! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 22:30 19/5/2003	why i said there isnt tha big a market i meant, theres a pretty much none existant market outside of korea. Youd struggle to get 50k viewers world wide for a cs match. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Hyperion 22:30 19/5/2003	seems hard to make say counter-strike a popular spectator sport. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Scam 22:49 19/5/2003	i dont see why not, people say its boring to watch as its too tactical etc... but at the end of the day organising an assault on a bombsite is very akin to the buildup to an attempt on goal in football. Its just that more people understand football without even thinking about it. Without better coverage, people wont understand it, and without people understanding it, people wont watch it. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Sincy 23:31 19/5/2003	CS WILL NEVER BE ANYWHERE NEAR AS POPULAR AS FOOTY, sort it out, its not gonna happen :s [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Weebull 23:53 19/5/2003	and football is the only sport then? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Weebull 23:53 19/5/2003	eSport pro will soon be changing its name to "The World eSport Federation" LOLOLOL [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Anisty 00:05 20/5/2003	hrrmm. wait and see if esport pro do it well then id be happy to see it happen, i have been flaming ppl for ages now to do it because i cant afford to :) gj antmoo have a huggle old chap [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Kronikal Anti-Climax 00:47 20/5/2003	World Wrestling Federation !!!!111 [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Chup0 02:27 20/5/2003	looks good cba to read tho :D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	callous Specster 02:32 20/5/2003	wow nice read [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	leb111 03:21 20/5/2003	munoz is a tt, he thinks his company is f*in leet and all the gamers love it. really it was just a matter of time before something like the cpl came along, and munoz was the first dude with nuff balls to create somethin at such a risk of losin dollar. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	eSport man !) 06:21 20/5/2003	well eSport sux 2K3 [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	kirdi Last Chance 07:17 20/5/2003	The top gamer is reported not to be hurt, the fight occurred after the victim accused him of "configging", rofl [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 09:29 20/5/2003	I wish that people wouldn't refer to it as a sport. A sport actually requires physical activity of some form or another. For example football, rugby etc are all sports. However a computer game is just that, a game. It's not a sport at all so why do people refer to it as one? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 09:38 20/5/2003	eSports.Edge \| Carbonite ;E :X [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 09:52 20/5/2003	Always hated the whole 'eSports.nameofclan \| Nameofplayer' thing =[ Just smacks of teams (not edge because in the end all of us hated the eSports. part and dropped it from the tag) thinking that putting eSports infront of their clanname makes them sound better or something. In actual fact it instantly makes me (personally) think they're pretty sad. By the way I am making a new clan and will be calling it eSports.Pro-Gamer. Tag will be eSports.Pro-Gamer * Playingname <Surname> anyone interested PM me on IRC"!"$£!!!!! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 09:59 20/5/2003	can I join? I'm an interping 16 year old who never LANS we can two dutch members too, that way we have a handy excuse when we dont LAN we can fold when we lose our first match then reform again...then fold...then reform...then fold... [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 10:03 20/5/2003	Hey let's call it 4D! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Katori Choke 10:06 20/5/2003	Well written, well researched & a good read. n1 [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Laurence 10:06 20/5/2003	hrhr accurate description of how a clan is smittins, you should write an article [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 10:10 20/5/2003	:D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	sol 10:16 20/5/2003	"Cooperation between all tournament organizers. Every month I read about another organisation that is going to reinvent the sport and do things better than everyone else and then another and yet another. Worse yet, a few of them embellish with promotional statements like: "we are the only true open league in the world" or "we are the largest league" etc. Honesty and cooperation is needed from all of us right now, that is if we really want to be recognized internationally as a true sport, and not a geek's hobby." "Why would the CPL, the company that launched the entire concept of professional computer gaming, "work" with a third party organisation that aspires to establish guidelines for the sport? The CPL has its own guidelines, policies, rules and officers. It also has a player committee for feedback and the strongest and most diverse partners of any other professional league. Therefore, we simply do not see the value of any third party effort on this front. Our events will continue to operate independently. The fact that CPL has always been composed of uninfluenced independent thinkers is what gave birth to the sport and in our opinion will continue to drive it." Sounds contradicting to me (or however u write that). [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SunShip 11:10 20/5/2003	kirby-eSports.uk anyone ? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 11:15 20/5/2003	my thoughts exactly sol. what Angel has basically said is, he wants every event organiser to co-operate with HIS organisation, and for his organisation to be the governing body, recently in an interview Vesslan said if CS as an "e-sport" is ever going to become more spectator friendly, it has to change from how matches are currently run (with eco timeout rounds etc.) and the stuff about "Largest League" etc. is simply advertising. the bit at the end made me laugh "well the match is starting soon" just made me think "game is delayed please wait". :P [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	CyRus 11:19 20/5/2003	1) Angel Munoz doesn't and never has cared about the gamers or the scene, he's been init for the money since the CPL was founded. 2) esp will never co-op with CPL because they won't let them, WCG maybe because they concentrate on the gamers not the $$$ The CPL is the biggest and best tournement out there but eSports won't grow, only the prize money will, as it all boils down to money with the CPL. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Myers Saviour of UKT UKTerrorist 12:11 20/5/2003	CPL did not launch professional gaming, but did contribute a lot to it there's no doubt there. People moan that Angel Munoz is in gaming for the money, well so what?..he puts a lot of work into it and as a result makes money out of it. If he wasn't making money would there be a CPL at all? Another thing WCG is bigger than CPL, more countries, more games, more players, more prize money. There is no doubt that WCG is bigger, but can u really claim that the organisers of the WCG do not also make money..i highly doubt it. Just for some reason we tend to regard Angel Munoz is an evil capitalist making money off our youth... [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Myers Saviour of UKT UKTerrorist 12:16 20/5/2003	I wish that people wouldn't refer to it as a sport. A sport actually requires physical activity of some form or another. For example football, rugby etc are all sports. However a computer game is just that, a game. It's not a sport at all so why do people refer to it as one? Rifle shooting is a sport, yet all ur doing is pointing a gun in the right direction. what's the difference between that an a mouse?..snooker is a sport, yet ur just repeating the same thing over and over again. Even chess if you want to get tactical. Football is also a game like everything else. As for boring, anyone watch the F.A. cup final and see henry standing at a corner with a football for as long as he could to waste time. Or in boxing where they grab eachother to waste time/regain strength, best not even mention chess. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	conspiracy 12:31 20/5/2003	nice [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Antmoo 12:37 20/5/2003	A sport just has to be competative, otherwise it is just a recreation. There arn't any rules on if it has to be physically draining or not. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	dave 12:54 20/5/2003	Just for some reason we tend to regard Angel Munoz is an evil capitalist making money off our youth... ^ that'd be coz his american [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 12:58 20/5/2003	probably cos of the way he handles criticism of the cpl along with his little minons in CAL --> banning ppl who criticise [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 13:09 20/5/2003	"e-sport" shares more similarities with Motor-Sport. its also kinda like snooker, eco tomeout-rounds bit like safety shots. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	deebo Mel Gibson UKTerrorist 13:16 20/5/2003	i wouldnt consider s***e like darts a sport or snooker for that matter. They should never be televised, or even played for that matter. footballs a real game, and rugby nearly is, cept u chase an egg around while you battle with and feel the arse of fully grown men. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Korizin 13:36 20/5/2003	Im doin an english essay on this at college lol, cheers for the idea, i had a choice of doin it on this, or how smokin is bad for your health, easy choice!!! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Scam 13:46 20/5/2003	The largest reason cs isnt thought of as a sport isnt because of the physical activity thing (chess, snooker etc... thats not what defines a sport) - its because there are no worldwide/league-wide etc... rules to follow... not really. You dont see a football game being played without a clock, and the first to 10 goals do you? Once theres some constistancy in the game it can progress as a true sport. (Although playing different rules every now and again could be fun : ) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	fsk twisted Reality 14:41 20/5/2003	I cant wait to hear john motson commentate on some esport game :D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	CyRus 14:42 20/5/2003	The largest reason cs isnt thought of as a sport isnt because of the physical activity thing (chess, snooker etc... thats not what defines a sport) - its because there are no worldwide/league-wide etc... rules to follow... not really. You dont see a football game being played without a clock, and the first to 10 goals do you? Once theres some constistancy in the game it can progress as a true sport. (Although playing different rules every now and again could be fun : ) Thats why we need a players union like the F.A/UEFA [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Zommy 15:46 20/5/2003	Esports-Pro world federation malarky will never work. Why any big cooperation want/feel the need to speak to some p***y people who claim to be in any authority. They have nothing to offer that say, anyone with a clue could not just tell them over the phone. Plus their blatantly going to be trying to make money out of it, again another reason why it will fail horribly. It aint gonna happen without some sort of government backing. Speaking from 4K's POV, when we went to the banks etc to open up our account we were turned away as there is no governing body beacause we were 'not a club/team' and were forced into registering the company (no big deal i guess). The sport needs one and it needs something to make people like the cpl stand up and take heed, but what it doesnt need is some two-bit operation claiming to be one. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	rode0 16:37 20/5/2003	tbh jsut get bill gates addicted to e-sports and thus no more to b said or done ??? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Munoz 16:56 20/5/2003	"WCG is bigger than CPL, more countries, more games, more players, more prize money." More games? Agreed and being addressed for the Winter Event. More money? CPL Cannes $20K CPL Summer $200K CPL Scan and Cologne $80K CPL Winter $150K = $450K without including qualifier prizes. More players? Just for Summer alone we have 750 players registered for the tournament and another 4,000 people as BYOC and spectators. More countries? People are registered from 60 countries for the Summer Event a list of the countries is located at the CPL Forums. ----- I'll- address the apparent contradiction. We will cooperate with any current large organizer of esport events, but simply cannot see ourselves cooperating with a self-formed / self-proclaimed federation. The "federation" should be an alliance of organizers not a new party to the scene. I think the community will be surprised at some of the alliances that the CPL is currently working on. More info on this at a later date. Cheers, -Angel [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	thehand 17:43 20/5/2003	"[quote]eSport pro will soon be changing its name to "The World eSport Federation"[/quote] rofl. The whole concept is yet another doomed project to come from the meakin's evil lair. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	WCG SAM 17:57 20/5/2003	hi my name is Sam Hassanine. WCG europe . let me answer to Angelz ! "Cooperation between all tournament organizers "... Angelz i contacted you a few months ago when i was in australia.. and you said.. : If you want us to consider you then you can prepare a proposal for us. Also be aware that a CPL license is $250,000 up front. So this is a serious commitment. .... without comment ... i was working 1 year in WCG australia and a good organisation wanna host CPL there.. anyway i agree for co working in same way with CPL. i m working for WCG but i ve a good relationship with Ralf from CPL europe : dear Ralf i ll take soon position in europe for WCG europe Event .. i hope we will keep in touch and help esport and each other his answer : Hope so too and speak to you soon --------------------- Ralf Reichert He is a good guys and i respect him a lot .. CPL europe & world as well ! I'll be happy to co work with CPL and other great event like ESWC. i ve got nothing against CPL. it s a very professional and good event.. maybe you changed your mind since last november ? i hope... cause today Esport really need a coordination between all part Sam Hassanine WCG Europe Evilwhite@hotmail.com [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Kronikal Anti-Climax 18:36 20/5/2003	Why bulls*** us all like that dude ... [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 18:55 20/5/2003	I'm afraid I do not classify snooker, pool, darts, chess or whatever as sports. They are GAMES....chess is a board game ffs and darts is a game you play down the pub when you're p***ed. I cannot actually imagine anyone having a few beers with his mates saying "Yeah I got this clan match tonight for my eSport team" you'd just get laughed at with people saying "Mate you sit at a PC and move your fingers and arm a bit to shoot people, that's not a sport". Shooting is not a sport really either, it's called a sport because it started out as hunting e.g. a bloodsport and took the classification I would guess from there. I mean come on, you walk around stalking a deer for a few hours then shoot it. That's not a sport. =\| [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Anisty 19:23 20/5/2003	urr that's not what shooting is.. shooting involves targets of paper... not deers. top shooters need to be in great physical shape and mental to be able to be the best. darts is a sport, snooker/pool are sports and so can computer gaming be. playing rugby can just be a game for fun as well, or it can be a sport. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 19:39 20/5/2003	you havnt seen those olympic clay target shooters if you think they have to be in a great shape. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 19:39 20/5/2003	its till kind of clasified as a sport though [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 20:01 20/5/2003	i think the "chess is a sport etc." arguement is riddled with holes and is a rather weak arguement. CS isnt a sport, and never will be, its completely different. Motor-Sport is "driven" by the actual Cars (no pun intended) like "E-Sport" is driven by Computer. Motor-Sport works on many levels, various cars, completely different styles, F1, Rally, Go Karts etc. some taken more seriously than others. "E-Sport" works in a similar way, the computers are what makes the whole "sport" tick forward, but its based around many games, some similar, some very different to each other. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Scam 20:11 20/5/2003	''I'm afraid I do not classify snooker, pool, darts, chess or whatever as sports. They are GAMES....chess is a board game ffs and darts is a game you play down the pub when you're p***ed. I cannot actually imagine anyone having a few beers with his mates saying "Yeah I got this clan match tonight for my eSport team" you'd just get laughed at with people saying "Mate you sit at a PC and move your fingers and arm a bit to shoot people, that's not a sport".'' You say YOU dont classify those games as sports... the problem is that they are. You can sit down and talk about any sport in the way you are quite easily - thats half the problem. Its so easy to be negative about something like this, why not give it a go? Theres been more stupid 'games' given 'sports' status and large competitions made out of them. After all, football is is only kicking a ball around a field, snooker is only hitting a few balls into holes on a table, as is golf, and chess is... err? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DiamondX 20:15 20/5/2003	Angel, but the WCG also pays to fly and accomadate 600 gamers for their event. 600 gamers x $1000 a person is $600,000 alone. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 20:51 20/5/2003	DiamondX has just proved a point raised already that CPL focus on money, event prize money, and overall profit for the company. where as WCG seems to have a bit more passion, and aims at promoting the "sport" through huge tournaments where by the income is generated through other sources. "You need to have money, to make money" as the old saying go's, i think that while a governing body is essential in for "e-sport" i think it Angel has made a huge mistake in the way he answered the questions. the governing body needs to bridge the gap between players, event organisers, and potential sponsors. It seems Angels selfish attitude towards all this wont go in his favour when this governing body is selected, as he seems to lack the passion that the WCG have. the CPL did not create professional Gaming, Korean gamers have been earning $100,000's long before anything like this came about. Fatal1ty earns his money through endorsment, whereas Korean Pro-Gamers earn their money primarilly through pro-gaming in various Leagues. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Chris0 20:51 20/5/2003	DiamondX, dont the LAN centres who host the quals pay for the flights etc ? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 21:14 20/5/2003	We will cooperate with any current large organizer of esport events, but simply cannot see ourselves cooperating with a self-formed / self-proclaimed federation. The "federation" should be an alliance of organizers not a new party to the scene. couldnt agree more let the ppl who've done a lot for the scene reap the benefit of governing the "sport"/"esport"/"game" [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	WCG Sam 21:21 20/5/2003	chriso ... yes the host paid,.... financed by WCG // Samsung who paid 50/80 % so WCG paid and help each strategic partners.. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DoZ Anti-saviour of UKT 21:34 20/5/2003	A governing body would be a great idea, but it'd have to head more in the direction of the wcg as opposed to the cpl. The wcg have shown that they will make changes that the majority of players wish, and as can be seen from the feedback of players from cpl's ut2k3 competition - the cpl have little interest in that. Having the player feedback from those who are going to win anyway is merely a token attempt to make it look like they care. We need not only coordination between gamers and competitions, but also between the governing body and the developers of games. For gaming to REALLY move on, we cannot have as large random factors ruling a game as we do in cs. Or as buggy a build of a game as to render all demo recording worthless as with ut2k3. Do WCG pay flights and accommodation for all competing teams? A move like that on the part of cpl, and then them truely opening their doors to allow a much larger international contingent playing there would raise the level of competition much higher. As it is we still see European dominance in the standings despite such a large amount of US teams there. Only when competition is based on skill with standardised rules and teams are capable of attending events will we see anything close to the kind of professionalism companies like the cpl talk about. It's a LONG time coming if they aren't willing to invest more into it than making large showy events. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DoZ Anti-saviour of UKT 21:37 20/5/2003	And if cpl are working with Meakin's army as a federation that wouldn't suprise me in the slightest, yet another wrong turn in the history of the cpl. The event could be so much more [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Gravi 23:12 20/5/2003	nice article, a bit long though [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Nazg0l fightclubclan 23:24 20/5/2003	lets face it, cs is boring as hell to watch, so its never gonna take off in a million years unless someone makes a pro version of cs that is actually based on skill and quick thinking. i believe quake duelling or TDM would be a far better choice for the future of esports... if it was a dying scene. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 23:25 20/5/2003	yeh but it could be quite hard to write an in depth article on the future of e-sports in a few paragraphs. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 23:28 20/5/2003	nazg0l, its not boring to watch somtimes. however things like eco timeout rounds are. matches of mr12 take like an hour, which is pretty poor, considering _some_ players want mr15 to make the pistol round less imporant. if its ever going to get televised, it certainly needs somthing to speed it all up, like charges only. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Munoz 00:23 21/5/2003	WCG and CPL are different types of organizations, but if anyone says they give higher prizes than CPL I will take exception. WCG does not pay for travel to the events, Samsung and local area sponsors do. It's up to the local franchisees to secure sponsorships which are then matched by Samsung up to a 50/50% split. The CEO of Samsung is the head of the organization behind WCG, so these arrangements are accessible to them. We on the other hand, like to keep our sponsorship relationships a bit more seperate, so that we can maintain our independence. The CPL holds less qualifiers than WCG but all of the winners receive travel money. In the US alone 20 teams will receive $1,500 from CompUSA to attend the Summer Event. Another ten international qualifiers are actually offering more. And because we have more than one event a year, this is repeated again for the Winter Event. ---- On CPL not starting professional gaming. I can only answer that before CPL I never heard of a computer game tournament held on a LAN with identical computers, that offered cash prizes. If you know of one lets us know because many reporters over the years have researched this and have come empty handed. And until we see proof to the contrary we will continue to assert that we launched professional computer gaming, have promoted it the longest and are the industry leaders. ----- Final comment: The WCG is a valuable organization. I honestly believe that both organizations (CPL and WCG) can co-exist peacefully and the each has an important role in the future of electronic sports. Only people like diamondx are always picking away at the differences. My ongoing relationship with WCG has been very positive. In fact, they attend our US events. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Dev theb0g 00:32 21/5/2003	Nice concluding paragraph Angel, i think in the best interests of 'eSports' the WCG and the CPL (who to date have done a lot for gaming and the community) should try to co-exist. Nice article Antmoo, i read it before you posted it so you have heard me say this before. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 02:32 21/5/2003	at the moment, the CPL and WCG do not provide enough for players to live off, with perhaps the exception of those at the very top. with this, its hard for clans of a lesser standard to achieve the same level of dedication as those at the very top. SK devote themselves to the game, and it shows, alot of swedish clans do, but there is an ever growing gap in the international top clans, that will keep growing untill those of a lower standard can devote enough time to their game. with the absense of contracts and salaries in most clans cases, its hard to get any real structure behind the whole game. while annual LAN events might be good enough to provide a healthy ammount of profit to sponsors, organisers and players, its simply not enough. real professional gamers are a long way off, professional gamers are a must for "e-sport" to really take off. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DiamondX 02:51 21/5/2003	Angel Munoz, don't get me wrong, I just like to keep you on your toes, there are no real hard feelings here =). The CPL is doing a lot of good stuff for eSports. The only reason I say stuff like that is just to see what you have to say honestly since really you have no real media to answer questions to =p. (And I don't mean you don't have media coverage, I mean you don't have media that follows it hardcore like espn covers the nfl and the nfl owners/players etc that get analysed every time they breath). I would ask the WCG similar questions, except unlike you they don't talk on various forums =p. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	`NWA 06:26 21/5/2003	this article also got front of schroet.com where it describes ukt as the famous ukterrorist.com :D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SEL\|Mr.Kill 06:36 21/5/2003	First of to make something like this work you need to stop trying to discuss what organization is best, since that is contradictory to the purpose. Both CPL and WCG are great organizations, period. As Angel said in his statement it would be excellent if the organizations started working together but trying to make a World eSport federation at this stage is doomed. If you look at real sports the federations all have started from below: first you form teams, which creates a league which turns into a federation which later when that has happened in more countries start working together to form a global federation. Without a way and means to get rules enforeced a federation has no power what so ever which means your are creating a paper lion. Further than that, by just starting it up centraly will only make the current organizations work against you. I am for cooperation in eSports but it has to come naturaly where the organizations, I would guess slowly, start working together. Regards Mattias, Swedish eSport League [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	CyRus 08:43 21/5/2003	Personally I think a players union would be great, but getting it to work correctly is another thing altogether. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]

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	St_George g30rg3h UKTerrorist 19:44 19/5/2003	good s***! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Antmoo 19:46 19/5/2003	Thanks to ONE\|obi and [4K^Luck1ng] for their answers with the article, haven't included the quotes but it was very helpful, ta. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	zeNi formidable 19:53 19/5/2003	very nice read, it seems a lot of work has gone into this gj :) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	brutal The Next Generation 21:31 19/5/2003	aye gj :) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Sincy 21:31 19/5/2003	Not bad fella, not bad. Altho gamin is a bit geeky if we are serious, sittin in our bedrooms starin at a screen :/ cs = my geeky side :) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SunShip 21:33 19/5/2003	bra. yup when one takes the plunge and gets TV coverage yo watch bill gates buy it up like cheap popcorn. Until then its who's got the balls and who's going to stick them on the line to make eSports as famous as american baseball. not too sure about the grandstand thing lol... eGamer in a punch up pull the other one !! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	zeLL unicon.cs 21:39 19/5/2003	yeah nice read. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 21:42 19/5/2003	there isnt that big a market for people wanting to watch games. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	r3n Team-kill 21:55 19/5/2003	was too lengthy for me to start reading it, but it looked well done, nice paragraphing etc, gj [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Sinth 21:57 19/5/2003	geeks [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	amarc 22:00 19/5/2003	najs [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SunShip 22:20 19/5/2003	i belive that korea regulary televises live Games. Plus u cant run a major sport without a fan base or it will never get populatr enough. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Hyperion 22:29 19/5/2003	i dont agree that there should be an age limit of like 18 for top LANs etc. Football doesnt have it otherwise we would be without Wayne Rooney!!! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 22:30 19/5/2003	why i said there isnt tha big a market i meant, theres a pretty much none existant market outside of korea. Youd struggle to get 50k viewers world wide for a cs match. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Hyperion 22:30 19/5/2003	seems hard to make say counter-strike a popular spectator sport. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Scam 22:49 19/5/2003	i dont see why not, people say its boring to watch as its too tactical etc... but at the end of the day organising an assault on a bombsite is very akin to the buildup to an attempt on goal in football. Its just that more people understand football without even thinking about it. Without better coverage, people wont understand it, and without people understanding it, people wont watch it. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Sincy 23:31 19/5/2003	CS WILL NEVER BE ANYWHERE NEAR AS POPULAR AS FOOTY, sort it out, its not gonna happen :s [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Weebull 23:53 19/5/2003	and football is the only sport then? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Weebull 23:53 19/5/2003	eSport pro will soon be changing its name to "The World eSport Federation" LOLOLOL [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Anisty 00:05 20/5/2003	hrrmm. wait and see if esport pro do it well then id be happy to see it happen, i have been flaming ppl for ages now to do it because i cant afford to :) gj antmoo have a huggle old chap [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Kronikal Anti-Climax 00:47 20/5/2003	World Wrestling Federation !!!!111 [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Chup0 02:27 20/5/2003	looks good cba to read tho :D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	callous Specster 02:32 20/5/2003	wow nice read [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	leb111 03:21 20/5/2003	munoz is a tt, he thinks his company is f*in leet and all the gamers love it. really it was just a matter of time before something like the cpl came along, and munoz was the first dude with nuff balls to create somethin at such a risk of losin dollar. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	eSport man !) 06:21 20/5/2003	well eSport sux 2K3 [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	kirdi Last Chance 07:17 20/5/2003	The top gamer is reported not to be hurt, the fight occurred after the victim accused him of "configging", rofl [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 09:29 20/5/2003	I wish that people wouldn't refer to it as a sport. A sport actually requires physical activity of some form or another. For example football, rugby etc are all sports. However a computer game is just that, a game. It's not a sport at all so why do people refer to it as one? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 09:38 20/5/2003	eSports.Edge \| Carbonite ;E :X [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 09:52 20/5/2003	Always hated the whole 'eSports.nameofclan \| Nameofplayer' thing =[ Just smacks of teams (not edge because in the end all of us hated the eSports. part and dropped it from the tag) thinking that putting eSports infront of their clanname makes them sound better or something. In actual fact it instantly makes me (personally) think they're pretty sad. By the way I am making a new clan and will be calling it eSports.Pro-Gamer. Tag will be eSports.Pro-Gamer * Playingname <Surname> anyone interested PM me on IRC"!"$£!!!!! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 09:59 20/5/2003	can I join? I'm an interping 16 year old who never LANS we can two dutch members too, that way we have a handy excuse when we dont LAN we can fold when we lose our first match then reform again...then fold...then reform...then fold... [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 10:03 20/5/2003	Hey let's call it 4D! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Katori Choke 10:06 20/5/2003	Well written, well researched & a good read. n1 [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Laurence 10:06 20/5/2003	hrhr accurate description of how a clan is smittins, you should write an article [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 10:10 20/5/2003	:D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	sol 10:16 20/5/2003	"Cooperation between all tournament organizers. Every month I read about another organisation that is going to reinvent the sport and do things better than everyone else and then another and yet another. Worse yet, a few of them embellish with promotional statements like: "we are the only true open league in the world" or "we are the largest league" etc. Honesty and cooperation is needed from all of us right now, that is if we really want to be recognized internationally as a true sport, and not a geek's hobby." "Why would the CPL, the company that launched the entire concept of professional computer gaming, "work" with a third party organisation that aspires to establish guidelines for the sport? The CPL has its own guidelines, policies, rules and officers. It also has a player committee for feedback and the strongest and most diverse partners of any other professional league. Therefore, we simply do not see the value of any third party effort on this front. Our events will continue to operate independently. The fact that CPL has always been composed of uninfluenced independent thinkers is what gave birth to the sport and in our opinion will continue to drive it." Sounds contradicting to me (or however u write that). [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SunShip 11:10 20/5/2003	kirby-eSports.uk anyone ? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 11:15 20/5/2003	my thoughts exactly sol. what Angel has basically said is, he wants every event organiser to co-operate with HIS organisation, and for his organisation to be the governing body, recently in an interview Vesslan said if CS as an "e-sport" is ever going to become more spectator friendly, it has to change from how matches are currently run (with eco timeout rounds etc.) and the stuff about "Largest League" etc. is simply advertising. the bit at the end made me laugh "well the match is starting soon" just made me think "game is delayed please wait". :P [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	CyRus 11:19 20/5/2003	1) Angel Munoz doesn't and never has cared about the gamers or the scene, he's been init for the money since the CPL was founded. 2) esp will never co-op with CPL because they won't let them, WCG maybe because they concentrate on the gamers not the $$$ The CPL is the biggest and best tournement out there but eSports won't grow, only the prize money will, as it all boils down to money with the CPL. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Myers Saviour of UKT UKTerrorist 12:11 20/5/2003	CPL did not launch professional gaming, but did contribute a lot to it there's no doubt there. People moan that Angel Munoz is in gaming for the money, well so what?..he puts a lot of work into it and as a result makes money out of it. If he wasn't making money would there be a CPL at all? Another thing WCG is bigger than CPL, more countries, more games, more players, more prize money. There is no doubt that WCG is bigger, but can u really claim that the organisers of the WCG do not also make money..i highly doubt it. Just for some reason we tend to regard Angel Munoz is an evil capitalist making money off our youth... [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Myers Saviour of UKT UKTerrorist 12:16 20/5/2003	I wish that people wouldn't refer to it as a sport. A sport actually requires physical activity of some form or another. For example football, rugby etc are all sports. However a computer game is just that, a game. It's not a sport at all so why do people refer to it as one? Rifle shooting is a sport, yet all ur doing is pointing a gun in the right direction. what's the difference between that an a mouse?..snooker is a sport, yet ur just repeating the same thing over and over again. Even chess if you want to get tactical. Football is also a game like everything else. As for boring, anyone watch the F.A. cup final and see henry standing at a corner with a football for as long as he could to waste time. Or in boxing where they grab eachother to waste time/regain strength, best not even mention chess. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	conspiracy 12:31 20/5/2003	nice [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Antmoo 12:37 20/5/2003	A sport just has to be competative, otherwise it is just a recreation. There arn't any rules on if it has to be physically draining or not. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	dave 12:54 20/5/2003	Just for some reason we tend to regard Angel Munoz is an evil capitalist making money off our youth... ^ that'd be coz his american [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 12:58 20/5/2003	probably cos of the way he handles criticism of the cpl along with his little minons in CAL --> banning ppl who criticise [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 13:09 20/5/2003	"e-sport" shares more similarities with Motor-Sport. its also kinda like snooker, eco tomeout-rounds bit like safety shots. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	deebo Mel Gibson UKTerrorist 13:16 20/5/2003	i wouldnt consider s***e like darts a sport or snooker for that matter. They should never be televised, or even played for that matter. footballs a real game, and rugby nearly is, cept u chase an egg around while you battle with and feel the arse of fully grown men. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Korizin 13:36 20/5/2003	Im doin an english essay on this at college lol, cheers for the idea, i had a choice of doin it on this, or how smokin is bad for your health, easy choice!!! [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Scam 13:46 20/5/2003	The largest reason cs isnt thought of as a sport isnt because of the physical activity thing (chess, snooker etc... thats not what defines a sport) - its because there are no worldwide/league-wide etc... rules to follow... not really. You dont see a football game being played without a clock, and the first to 10 goals do you? Once theres some constistancy in the game it can progress as a true sport. (Although playing different rules every now and again could be fun : ) [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	fsk twisted Reality 14:41 20/5/2003	I cant wait to hear john motson commentate on some esport game :D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	CyRus 14:42 20/5/2003	The largest reason cs isnt thought of as a sport isnt because of the physical activity thing (chess, snooker etc... thats not what defines a sport) - its because there are no worldwide/league-wide etc... rules to follow... not really. You dont see a football game being played without a clock, and the first to 10 goals do you? Once theres some constistancy in the game it can progress as a true sport. (Although playing different rules every now and again could be fun : ) Thats why we need a players union like the F.A/UEFA [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Zommy 15:46 20/5/2003	Esports-Pro world federation malarky will never work. Why any big cooperation want/feel the need to speak to some p***y people who claim to be in any authority. They have nothing to offer that say, anyone with a clue could not just tell them over the phone. Plus their blatantly going to be trying to make money out of it, again another reason why it will fail horribly. It aint gonna happen without some sort of government backing. Speaking from 4K's POV, when we went to the banks etc to open up our account we were turned away as there is no governing body beacause we were 'not a club/team' and were forced into registering the company (no big deal i guess). The sport needs one and it needs something to make people like the cpl stand up and take heed, but what it doesnt need is some two-bit operation claiming to be one. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	rode0 16:37 20/5/2003	tbh jsut get bill gates addicted to e-sports and thus no more to b said or done ??? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Munoz 16:56 20/5/2003	"WCG is bigger than CPL, more countries, more games, more players, more prize money." More games? Agreed and being addressed for the Winter Event. More money? CPL Cannes $20K CPL Summer $200K CPL Scan and Cologne $80K CPL Winter $150K = $450K without including qualifier prizes. More players? Just for Summer alone we have 750 players registered for the tournament and another 4,000 people as BYOC and spectators. More countries? People are registered from 60 countries for the Summer Event a list of the countries is located at the CPL Forums. ----- I'll- address the apparent contradiction. We will cooperate with any current large organizer of esport events, but simply cannot see ourselves cooperating with a self-formed / self-proclaimed federation. The "federation" should be an alliance of organizers not a new party to the scene. I think the community will be surprised at some of the alliances that the CPL is currently working on. More info on this at a later date. Cheers, -Angel [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	thehand 17:43 20/5/2003	"[quote]eSport pro will soon be changing its name to "The World eSport Federation"[/quote] rofl. The whole concept is yet another doomed project to come from the meakin's evil lair. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	WCG SAM 17:57 20/5/2003	hi my name is Sam Hassanine. WCG europe . let me answer to Angelz ! "Cooperation between all tournament organizers "... Angelz i contacted you a few months ago when i was in australia.. and you said.. : If you want us to consider you then you can prepare a proposal for us. Also be aware that a CPL license is $250,000 up front. So this is a serious commitment. .... without comment ... i was working 1 year in WCG australia and a good organisation wanna host CPL there.. anyway i agree for co working in same way with CPL. i m working for WCG but i ve a good relationship with Ralf from CPL europe : dear Ralf i ll take soon position in europe for WCG europe Event .. i hope we will keep in touch and help esport and each other his answer : Hope so too and speak to you soon --------------------- Ralf Reichert He is a good guys and i respect him a lot .. CPL europe & world as well ! I'll be happy to co work with CPL and other great event like ESWC. i ve got nothing against CPL. it s a very professional and good event.. maybe you changed your mind since last november ? i hope... cause today Esport really need a coordination between all part Sam Hassanine WCG Europe Evilwhite@hotmail.com [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Kronikal Anti-Climax 18:36 20/5/2003	Why bulls*** us all like that dude ... [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Carb theb0g 18:55 20/5/2003	I'm afraid I do not classify snooker, pool, darts, chess or whatever as sports. They are GAMES....chess is a board game ffs and darts is a game you play down the pub when you're p***ed. I cannot actually imagine anyone having a few beers with his mates saying "Yeah I got this clan match tonight for my eSport team" you'd just get laughed at with people saying "Mate you sit at a PC and move your fingers and arm a bit to shoot people, that's not a sport". Shooting is not a sport really either, it's called a sport because it started out as hunting e.g. a bloodsport and took the classification I would guess from there. I mean come on, you walk around stalking a deer for a few hours then shoot it. That's not a sport. =\| [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Anisty 19:23 20/5/2003	urr that's not what shooting is.. shooting involves targets of paper... not deers. top shooters need to be in great physical shape and mental to be able to be the best. darts is a sport, snooker/pool are sports and so can computer gaming be. playing rugby can just be a game for fun as well, or it can be a sport. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 19:39 20/5/2003	you havnt seen those olympic clay target shooters if you think they have to be in a great shape. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	phonics 19:39 20/5/2003	its till kind of clasified as a sport though [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 20:01 20/5/2003	i think the "chess is a sport etc." arguement is riddled with holes and is a rather weak arguement. CS isnt a sport, and never will be, its completely different. Motor-Sport is "driven" by the actual Cars (no pun intended) like "E-Sport" is driven by Computer. Motor-Sport works on many levels, various cars, completely different styles, F1, Rally, Go Karts etc. some taken more seriously than others. "E-Sport" works in a similar way, the computers are what makes the whole "sport" tick forward, but its based around many games, some similar, some very different to each other. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Scam 20:11 20/5/2003	''I'm afraid I do not classify snooker, pool, darts, chess or whatever as sports. They are GAMES....chess is a board game ffs and darts is a game you play down the pub when you're p***ed. I cannot actually imagine anyone having a few beers with his mates saying "Yeah I got this clan match tonight for my eSport team" you'd just get laughed at with people saying "Mate you sit at a PC and move your fingers and arm a bit to shoot people, that's not a sport".'' You say YOU dont classify those games as sports... the problem is that they are. You can sit down and talk about any sport in the way you are quite easily - thats half the problem. Its so easy to be negative about something like this, why not give it a go? Theres been more stupid 'games' given 'sports' status and large competitions made out of them. After all, football is is only kicking a ball around a field, snooker is only hitting a few balls into holes on a table, as is golf, and chess is... err? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DiamondX 20:15 20/5/2003	Angel, but the WCG also pays to fly and accomadate 600 gamers for their event. 600 gamers x $1000 a person is $600,000 alone. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 20:51 20/5/2003	DiamondX has just proved a point raised already that CPL focus on money, event prize money, and overall profit for the company. where as WCG seems to have a bit more passion, and aims at promoting the "sport" through huge tournaments where by the income is generated through other sources. "You need to have money, to make money" as the old saying go's, i think that while a governing body is essential in for "e-sport" i think it Angel has made a huge mistake in the way he answered the questions. the governing body needs to bridge the gap between players, event organisers, and potential sponsors. It seems Angels selfish attitude towards all this wont go in his favour when this governing body is selected, as he seems to lack the passion that the WCG have. the CPL did not create professional Gaming, Korean gamers have been earning $100,000's long before anything like this came about. Fatal1ty earns his money through endorsment, whereas Korean Pro-Gamers earn their money primarilly through pro-gaming in various Leagues. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Chris0 20:51 20/5/2003	DiamondX, dont the LAN centres who host the quals pay for the flights etc ? [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Smittins 21:14 20/5/2003	We will cooperate with any current large organizer of esport events, but simply cannot see ourselves cooperating with a self-formed / self-proclaimed federation. The "federation" should be an alliance of organizers not a new party to the scene. couldnt agree more let the ppl who've done a lot for the scene reap the benefit of governing the "sport"/"esport"/"game" [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	WCG Sam 21:21 20/5/2003	chriso ... yes the host paid,.... financed by WCG // Samsung who paid 50/80 % so WCG paid and help each strategic partners.. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DoZ Anti-saviour of UKT 21:34 20/5/2003	A governing body would be a great idea, but it'd have to head more in the direction of the wcg as opposed to the cpl. The wcg have shown that they will make changes that the majority of players wish, and as can be seen from the feedback of players from cpl's ut2k3 competition - the cpl have little interest in that. Having the player feedback from those who are going to win anyway is merely a token attempt to make it look like they care. We need not only coordination between gamers and competitions, but also between the governing body and the developers of games. For gaming to REALLY move on, we cannot have as large random factors ruling a game as we do in cs. Or as buggy a build of a game as to render all demo recording worthless as with ut2k3. Do WCG pay flights and accommodation for all competing teams? A move like that on the part of cpl, and then them truely opening their doors to allow a much larger international contingent playing there would raise the level of competition much higher. As it is we still see European dominance in the standings despite such a large amount of US teams there. Only when competition is based on skill with standardised rules and teams are capable of attending events will we see anything close to the kind of professionalism companies like the cpl talk about. It's a LONG time coming if they aren't willing to invest more into it than making large showy events. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DoZ Anti-saviour of UKT 21:37 20/5/2003	And if cpl are working with Meakin's army as a federation that wouldn't suprise me in the slightest, yet another wrong turn in the history of the cpl. The event could be so much more [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Gravi 23:12 20/5/2003	nice article, a bit long though [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Nazg0l fightclubclan 23:24 20/5/2003	lets face it, cs is boring as hell to watch, so its never gonna take off in a million years unless someone makes a pro version of cs that is actually based on skill and quick thinking. i believe quake duelling or TDM would be a far better choice for the future of esports... if it was a dying scene. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 23:25 20/5/2003	yeh but it could be quite hard to write an in depth article on the future of e-sports in a few paragraphs. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 23:28 20/5/2003	nazg0l, its not boring to watch somtimes. however things like eco timeout rounds are. matches of mr12 take like an hour, which is pretty poor, considering _some_ players want mr15 to make the pistol round less imporant. if its ever going to get televised, it certainly needs somthing to speed it all up, like charges only. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Munoz 00:23 21/5/2003	WCG and CPL are different types of organizations, but if anyone says they give higher prizes than CPL I will take exception. WCG does not pay for travel to the events, Samsung and local area sponsors do. It's up to the local franchisees to secure sponsorships which are then matched by Samsung up to a 50/50% split. The CEO of Samsung is the head of the organization behind WCG, so these arrangements are accessible to them. We on the other hand, like to keep our sponsorship relationships a bit more seperate, so that we can maintain our independence. The CPL holds less qualifiers than WCG but all of the winners receive travel money. In the US alone 20 teams will receive $1,500 from CompUSA to attend the Summer Event. Another ten international qualifiers are actually offering more. And because we have more than one event a year, this is repeated again for the Winter Event. ---- On CPL not starting professional gaming. I can only answer that before CPL I never heard of a computer game tournament held on a LAN with identical computers, that offered cash prizes. If you know of one lets us know because many reporters over the years have researched this and have come empty handed. And until we see proof to the contrary we will continue to assert that we launched professional computer gaming, have promoted it the longest and are the industry leaders. ----- Final comment: The WCG is a valuable organization. I honestly believe that both organizations (CPL and WCG) can co-exist peacefully and the each has an important role in the future of electronic sports. Only people like diamondx are always picking away at the differences. My ongoing relationship with WCG has been very positive. In fact, they attend our US events. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Dev theb0g 00:32 21/5/2003	Nice concluding paragraph Angel, i think in the best interests of 'eSports' the WCG and the CPL (who to date have done a lot for gaming and the community) should try to co-exist. Nice article Antmoo, i read it before you posted it so you have heard me say this before. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	Samje 02:32 21/5/2003	at the moment, the CPL and WCG do not provide enough for players to live off, with perhaps the exception of those at the very top. with this, its hard for clans of a lesser standard to achieve the same level of dedication as those at the very top. SK devote themselves to the game, and it shows, alot of swedish clans do, but there is an ever growing gap in the international top clans, that will keep growing untill those of a lower standard can devote enough time to their game. with the absense of contracts and salaries in most clans cases, its hard to get any real structure behind the whole game. while annual LAN events might be good enough to provide a healthy ammount of profit to sponsors, organisers and players, its simply not enough. real professional gamers are a long way off, professional gamers are a must for "e-sport" to really take off. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	DiamondX 02:51 21/5/2003	Angel Munoz, don't get me wrong, I just like to keep you on your toes, there are no real hard feelings here =). The CPL is doing a lot of good stuff for eSports. The only reason I say stuff like that is just to see what you have to say honestly since really you have no real media to answer questions to =p. (And I don't mean you don't have media coverage, I mean you don't have media that follows it hardcore like espn covers the nfl and the nfl owners/players etc that get analysed every time they breath). I would ask the WCG similar questions, except unlike you they don't talk on various forums =p. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	`NWA 06:26 21/5/2003	this article also got front of schroet.com where it describes ukt as the famous ukterrorist.com :D [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	SEL\|Mr.Kill 06:36 21/5/2003	First of to make something like this work you need to stop trying to discuss what organization is best, since that is contradictory to the purpose. Both CPL and WCG are great organizations, period. As Angel said in his statement it would be excellent if the organizations started working together but trying to make a World eSport federation at this stage is doomed. If you look at real sports the federations all have started from below: first you form teams, which creates a league which turns into a federation which later when that has happened in more countries start working together to form a global federation. Without a way and means to get rules enforeced a federation has no power what so ever which means your are creating a paper lion. Further than that, by just starting it up centraly will only make the current organizations work against you. I am for cooperation in eSports but it has to come naturaly where the organizations, I would guess slowly, start working together. Regards Mattias, Swedish eSport League [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]
	CyRus 08:43 21/5/2003	Personally I think a players union would be great, but getting it to work correctly is another thing altogether. [ Comment: Report \| IP: Logged ]

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