Der var på det nærmeste ramaskrig da arrangørerne bag World Series of Video Games, annoncerede at de ville satse mere på World of Warcraft i stedet for Counter-Strike.
Ikke alene var World of Warcraft prioriteret meget højt, men også spil som Guitar Hero og Quake 4 toppede pengelisterne. Counter-Strike 1.6 havde fået plads til et par enkelte events også, men var ikke et af hovedspillene på de forskellige stops i verden. Dog var pengepræmierne til Counter-Strike turneringerne stadigvæk ganske fornuftige.
Men det hele kan være lidt lige meget nu, for WSVG har valgt at smide håndklædet i ringen og lukke butikken fuldstændig. I hvert fald på eventsiden. Jævnfør den pressemeddelelse der er blevet sendt ud, føler man ikke længere sig i stand til at bibeholde den høje standard, som man havde forventet, og har valgt at prioritere anderledes fremadrettet. Desuden mener man at der allerede er så mange aktører på banen, at man ikke længere har lyst til at være en del af konkurrencen.
Hele statementet kan læses her:
Effective immediately, Games Media Properties will no longer produce the World Series of Video Games. The remainder of the 2007 season in Los Angeles, London and Sweden is cancelled.
The World Series of Video Games launched with the goal of expanding interest and participation in competitive gaming. Over the course of two seasons, we have been honored by the strong support the community has shown in attending our festivals, and watching our competitions online and on television-- all in record-setting numbers. We have been grateful for the generous support provided by Intel and other sponsors since our inception.
However, the continuing challenges of securing adequate revenues to sustain the production of the WSVG's large scale events and television programming, in a very crowded field of competitive gaming leagues, has prompted us to re-evaluate our direction as an organization.
Unfortunately, the decision is to cancel the remainder of the WSVG season, as we shift our focus solely to growing our online advertising network of websites, which currently reach seven million users each month.
We are proud of the accomplishments and memorable entertainment we have provided through the World Series of Video Games. While we are sorry that this news will disappoint our fans and players, we are deeply appreciative that we have had the opportunity to contribute to the growth of eSports.
Et trist valg for eSporten, da der stadig var et par interessante Counter-Strike 1.6 events på programmet.
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