Well it's quite some time since I last did a blog on Fnatic, infact I believe just shortly after I joined some four, nearly five months ago. So we're now in 2009, which when I think about it always makes me laugh. If you look back at many of the classic 80's films, they reference this time and back then thought by now we'd all be flying around on our own mini space crafts instead of cars and own homes on different planets! Anyway, back to reality and the topic of the last few months and more so recent weeks now we move into a new year - the financial crisis! Many believe the current financial crisis is first and foremost a crisis of confidence. Surely we have to recognize that a financial system built on credit cannot survive if the issuer of that credit continues to pile up debt. For years now, many of us have been consuming beyond our means. A long-term solution to this problem can only come from careful rebalancing of global production, consumption patterns and educated borrowing. We need to produce and save more. However how many of you have actually changed your spending habits, or indeed sat back and thought about saving, whilst adjusting your lifestyle? If the truth be known, probably not many of us? To bring this back into context it means that in my opinion this is going to be one of the toughest years for eSports. The sponsors and investors will want more for their money, ensuring they maximise their exposure. On the other hand sadly some will see eSports as "an un-necessary expenditure" and drain on their marketing budget. I personally couldn't disagree stronger with that and hope they all still realise the true value of eSports and the power it has. To counter this the eSports community world wide needs to pull together even more than previous years and use our combined power to see through these "tough" times. As a unified force things can only continue to grow and evolve. It would appear that many share this opinion and so have started their own "movements" or indeed "associations" to expand eSports to that ever desired main stream audience. So here is my short views (for what it is worth) on a few: UKeSa - I like what the association originally set out to do. I personally think that already they've got carried away and attempted to run before walking. If they had started off small and tested the water on season one, instead of looking at attempting hold courses and put so much red tape behind essentially some very simple leagues. Clanbase and ED have been doing this for years without an associations involvement. Clearly some of these issues will be ironed out as even the steering group behind it weren't aware of some of the terms that have now been introduced. the two main concerns being no official team wear to be worn, no team names to include conflicting sponsors (to those of UKeSa) and lastly the issue of who can enter - who qualifies as a UK team. COD4 alliance - I really thought this was a good idea, especially at a time when the COD community was heavily split between 4 and 5. The only thing that concerns me is the small circles these type of groups extend to. In my opinion increase the range and include a vast number of representatives from many teams around the world, not just the usual suspects and those that are "mates" or deem themselves as "top EU teams/players". Give a voice to all. I say this even though Fnatic sit as part of this, just think it would be nice for many others to have a voice. Nations Cup - Yes, it's that time again *sigh* that Nations Cup by ClanBase is returning for another season. I have always very frustrated at this, especially the club-versus-country row, which to me is a complete load of twaddle. There really is no country to have a row about. I personally wish they would drop this until the format is treated the same as in Football as a good example. Why not start to have seasons for clubs (formerly) and in line with that a true team per country, managed and scheduled to not interfere. Anyway, that's it from me. Good luck to everyone involved in UKeSa, the COD4 alliance, ProMod and the Nations Cup. Thanks for reading (and staying awake!), whilst not taking my blog to seriously - I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time - kboy.
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sorry for the formatting it was originally taken from fnatic.com
Great read Mr K.
I agree what you say about Esports and sponsorship. Most large blue chip comapanies have infact increased their marketing budget due to the crisis. And not just in places that you see like retail, but other sectors too.
But there are only a select few Esport related companies that have a large enough turnover to supply a budget to really stand out.
I've had to suffer because of the Econmic crisis. I was offered a job with another company which I accepted then made redundant before i'd even started. Then I was offered another job and then they changed their mind as the owners of the company wanted to sell!
It's tough times, although I can't remember it (I bet you can :P) the last recession in the 80's cost my parents a serious serious amount of money. And they never really fully recovered.
I agree with what you say about the UKeSA! I understand that they're not a charity and not just here for the good of Esports. But their rules around sponsorship do leave you questioning their motives. Nobody looks at the FA (football association) and thinks of them as a money making company. They look at them as a governing body. And the FA get their sponsors announced nicely (Barclays) but don't stop the other teams having their own sponsors. Only 1 I can think of was Northern Rock who sponsored Newcastle - they had a conflict of interests.
I totally agree about the COD4 alliance. I never wished to say my thoughts as it was clear nothing would be changed. But i'd say easily 80% of the people in it don't actually play COD4 as their primary game at the moment. (time wise). And by restricting it to the very elite then that's all you're going to get. Look back to early 2007 and who would have been in the 'Alliance' how many of those people still care about COD4?
I don't really know much about the CB thing other than their partners with the moronic GV who've banned 1 of my players for a so called hack which PBBans, Evenbalance, and Punkbusted all laughed at saying it could have been caused by a firewall, Anti virus, or plain old connection problems.
Get some formatting skills please Neil :P
@ ReKo - I believe with the recession in the 80's everyone was given a certain amount of money to start all over again, or something like that.. Could of been a different recession too though.
In my opinion the recession is getting over-rated. The media is hyping it and people and companies are starting to spend less, which is always a bad thing. Though, here in the Netherlands, people spent more than ever with a Dutch celebration called "Sinterklaas" and no-one cut their budgets for Christmas either.
I couldn't disagree more Roychez.
Infact I think the complete opposite. I believe we're further into a recession than the government (here anyway) is letting on. We're closer to a depression.
The pound is worth sweet FA! my house has literally plumented in value (over £45k) and unemployment is at its highest in decades.
In the UK the Xmas period suffered the worst month in retail it has since records begun.
The only point is that the pound is on the increase again in terms of it's value, e.g. against the USD or Canadian Dollar. 1.76... getting there.