CGS, WCG, and American eSports

The news today that the CGS has folded was neither sad nor unexpected for some, but I for one am sorry to see it go.  There were good intentions behind that venture, and it had the potential to boost eSports into the mainstream in a big way, but there seem to have been too many hurdles and too many mistakes along the way.  Topping the list of faults from the gaming community's point of view was that CGS was changing too many of the rules, splitting up teams, and embracing a showbiz-type style in a way that turned many hardcore fans off.  In the farewell letter on their homepage, the "CGS team" did leave us a bit of hope for the future of gaming in broadcast media: "BSkyB, STAR, and DIRECTV continue to be committed to the video games sector, which is an important part of many of our customers' lives and a great source of entertainment."  It's still pretty obvious that parent company and media giant NewsCorp pulled the plug on that one, though.

On the other end of the spectrum is the World Cyber Games, which, at least in the USA, is both very disorganized at the tournament level and somehow still well-loved by at least some in the gaming community.  Recently, WCG USA Senior VP and General Manager Michael Arzt was fired, only a week or so after the USA Finals concluded.  WCG apparently has its own corporate demons to deal with in addition to less-than-stellar tournament administration.  The threads on TeamLiquid bashing WCG run (digital) miles long.  However, it does appear that WCG is open to input from the community, which hopefully means they'll be able to stick around for a while, if only to prove that you can't keep the earplugs in when the internet gets up in arms.  Especially if the prizes are nowhere near the amount of cash CGS was throwing around.

Both the CGS and WCG USA as it has been are/were imperfect models for large eSports organizations, which means there's a lot to learn from them moving forward.  Luckily WCG USA seems to be open to change.  If America can't develop something like the eSports culture in Korea or other parts of Asia, we'll have to find our own way to a fruitful eSports scene somehow.  It can't be done without failures and casualties along the way, but at least the community lives on.