World Series of Video Games closes doors!
The World Series of Video Games is closing its doors. The WSVG tournaments in Los Angeles, London and Jonkoping have been canceled, much to the shock of the competitive gaming community.
The board of Games Media Properties, the organizer of the WSVG, has come to the conclusion that holding live tournaments is not profitable enough. Instead, GMP will focus on the online media component, Gameriot in particular, as it delivers better results.
The WSVG not meeting the expectations of the board can be put down to the fragmentation of the market, among other reasons. Manifold companies with different strategies and approaches fight for the same share of the sponsorship pie. Firstly, there is not enough of it for everyone. Secondly, the variety confuses advertisers.
The WSVG is not the only organization with problems. This year’s Electronic Sports World Cup has about halved its prize purse compared to the 2006 event and prize purses in the Cyberathlete Professional League’s competitions have also decreased significantly compared to previous years.
This news is particularly painful for the Quake 4 community, since there are very few tournaments outside the WSVG with good prize money. A dozen Q4 players can start looking for day jobs. The other games supported by the WSVG were World of Warcraft, Fight Night Round 3, Guitar Hero 2 and Warcraft 3 and Call of Duty 2 as additional titles. The cancellation of the WSVG is also a major setback for them.
WSVG tournaments took place in Wuhan, China, Louisville, KY, Dallas, TX and Toronto, Canada with a combined prize purse of $282,500. The cancellation of the remaining tournaments means that another $355,000 will not go to the hands of gamers.
The official statement of GMP is below:
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.
12. September 2007 at 6:25 pm :
:<
12. September 2007 at 6:40 pm :
Peace.
Maybe all the wannabe “Pro WoW players” will simmer down now.
12. September 2007 at 6:41 pm :
shocking …
12. September 2007 at 6:44 pm :
Oh dear. At this rate even you will be out of a job if the CGS is the only thing you’ve to cover carmac xD
12. September 2007 at 6:48 pm :
R.I.P.
12. September 2007 at 6:55 pm :
sucks for Quake.. best ever game to watch =[
12. September 2007 at 6:56 pm :
hah!
This is EXACTLY the reason i <3 the CGS, because the company behind the CGS is FAR more legit than the company behind the WSVG. WSVG fans, I TOLD YOU SO.
12. September 2007 at 6:59 pm :
Where did you tell them so? :D I bet they will want proof!
12. September 2007 at 7:08 pm :
What’s this mean - “GMP will focus on the online media component”? Tournaments online? Does this mean I’ll be able to compete online from my home? I’d support that!
12. September 2007 at 7:09 pm :
No, this means GameRiot.com and such.
12. September 2007 at 7:26 pm :
Not really that suprising, but shocking that they just kill it with little warning and such.
Lets face it the WSVG was basically devoted to making (or trying as it seems) the quick money. With newer games like GH and WoW that were popular.
It really sucks..but maybe this will be good for CPL and maybe CPL can make a big comeback..who knows.
I think this just goes to show that there are only two real types of gaming tournaments that can make it: 1) The guys who are dedicated to trying something new and inovative and are willing to throw alot of money at it and stay with it (CGS). And 2) The companies that value the players over all else and even if they arnt raking in huge profits they stick with it for the players (ESWC,WGC).
Lets be honest, the WSVG was neither.
12. September 2007 at 7:41 pm :
WCG didn’t really ’stick with it’ with Q3, they threw it aside even when the community was still going really good (pre-Q4 release)
Just to note, ESWC switched from Q3 to Q4 when the Q3 really WAS completely down and out and most of the players were also playing Q4.
12. September 2007 at 7:41 pm :
RoME not that I disagree, but I’m pretty sure not all that many people viewed WSVG to be legit as a whole. You know…WoW 5v5, Guitar Hero and all…
13. September 2007 at 2:31 am :
Djrome that’s pretty fucked up to be exhibiting such glee over the death of one of the few competitive outlets left for gamers. At least the WSVG offered unbiased, open competition to ANYONE and not just whoever the owner/manager’s were down with.
Just because Djwheat is affiliated with the CGS doesn’t mean you have to be a homer to the nth degree for them. Anyone with half a fucking brain can look at the CGS and see their flaws.
The CGS hasn’t been legit since the day they ran the rigged draft and fucked over dozens of gamers who were clearly more talented than their drafted counterparts.
Rant over.
13. September 2007 at 10:54 am :
[...] Continued at Source: GGL Wire [...]
13. September 2007 at 3:16 pm :
[...] how the World Series of Video Games was actually being televised on CBS? Yeah, apparently that’s not in danger of happening again. • • [...]
13. September 2007 at 5:09 pm :
[...] from the community in attending festivals, watching competitions online and on TV. According to GGL those progamers who were going to attend (mainly from the Quake 4 community) are now missing out on [...]
14. September 2007 at 8:45 am :
[...] events. Games Media Properties will refocus its business ventures to online community content.read more | digg story Share: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]
14. September 2007 at 11:00 am :
[...] [source] Related StoriesGod of War Rumors10 Most Important Video Games EverWorld Cyber Games in Las Vegas [...]
19. September 2007 at 5:59 pm :
[...] the World Series of Video Games ceased to exist, E for All found itself in quite a pickle; WSVG had bought out approximately 35% of the floor space [...]
3. October 2007 at 5:31 am :
[...] read more | digg story [...]
11. October 2007 at 11:13 am :
[...] WORLD SERIES OF VIDEO GAMES CANCELLED [via the GGL Wire] [...]
23. February 2009 at 2:23 am :
[...] US’s biggest professional gaming organization was shutting down, following the demise of both the WSVG in September, and The CPL in March. One could easily get the impression that there may be some [...]