Red’s Corner is a weekly column by Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner.

A lot has been written since the demise of the CGS, some of it vitriolic, some of it true and a lot of it some way off the mark. A lot of people have suddenly become experts, people who never said a word about CGS before, but now seem to come forward as some kind of messiah who predicted its death before it even began. Many more seem to think they totally understand why it failed and what made the CGS bad, but few really understand what went on inside the CGS or what ultimately lead to its downfall.

It was never going to be something they enjoyed, regardless of the money poured in, the games chosen or even the players involved.

I think you have to separate the hate of the games used or the system employed or the fact you may not have liked the way the TV show was put on from the real root causes of failure. These are assuredly opinions and peoples likes and dislikes. Plenty of people did enjoy the games picked and plenty of others enjoyed the atmosphere during a live TV shoot, but I know (as I did when I got involved in the project) that for many people inside the clique of eSports it was never going to be something they enjoyed, regardless of the money poured in, the games chosen or even the players involved. It was just so far off the beaten track of what we have come to know and accept about every day eSports that it was never going to appeal, on a massive scale, to anyone who loved eSports in the traditional sense. It was different, but that doesn’t make it bad either.

Many people harped on about what they would like it to be instead of accepting what it was and that it was different to other tournaments and leagues. It had its place in eSports just like any other league; it just occupied its own bit.

Having said all of that, again, that isn’t what made it fail or what made it bad. It was just different and in some ways awkwardly so. There is plenty of speculation about what made it fail and you probably have your own ideas too, but there are two basic flaws which I think we all agree on: Money wasted and too much too soon. There was an awful lot of politics involved in the CGS too and whilst again this wasn’t the sole reason for its demise it played a much greater part than you may imagine.

I won’t be putting anyone to the sword, but those involved know there were many mistakes made, particularly early on in its life and they were either left uncorrected or altered in such a way that didn’t recover lost ground or make up for the early failings in any way shape or form. I had a very close relationship to many of those who made decisions for and on behalf of CGS and yet despite my advice and the advice of other more experienced in eSports than I, we were ignored for the most part when it came to changing things we could see were wrong.

I was offered two full time roles with CGS at various points in time, one of which was as European Commissioner, which, had Andy Reif stayed would have almost certainly been a job I would have accepted. It would have afforded me the opportunity to correct some of the flaws I saw in an organisation I loved being part of. I drew up plans for including existing eSports franchises such as fnatic, mouz and SK and my ideas on how to grow Europe, give the teams a regular season, save money and yet make the league more open to those outside were being listened to if not fully accepted at a high level. Whatever went wrong in between these conversations and Andy leaving, also left me on the side lines, once again.

"Hands off the Preciouss!!"

With a new CEO comes new ideas and I had a glimpse at some of those ideas early on. What I saw I didn’t like, I have to admit and for the first time began to distance myself from the organisation. Not because I thought it would die as quickly as it did, but because I didn’t like where it was heading. My biggest issue fighting from the inside was that I wanted it to be more like a sport, less like wrestling, more like traditional eSports, less glitz. I knew it was going to be a battle and more than once I had heated debates and arguments with the powers that be about it all. Never once did they remove me or talk about doing so, but instead accepted that I was passionate about eSports and was defending the faith so to speak. I may not have openly spoken about this in public, but trust me it was going on and I wasn’t the only one fighting for eSports inside the company.

Like it or not, we weren’t the target audience.

My main problem was that it was 50% eSports and 50% entertainment and I totally understood what the audience objective was which the people behind CGS wanted us to entertain and get hooked. The audience was never the existing hardcore eSports fans and whilst that is sad for all of those people (i.e. you dear reader), let’s be realistic, we make up a tiny proportion of people in a niche “sport” in an industry still derided by many of the major corps. Like it or not, we weren’t the target audience. That said, I found myself battling to hold the line at 50/50 and in some cases it clearly was more entertainment than sport.

With the new CEO on board the plans appeared to be making it 90% entertainment and 10% about the eSports. A plan I could understand, considering the lack of investment in the league, the lack of profit making ability and the lack of viewers in the key areas, but not a plan I could support in any life. It was this that made me less than upset when I heard news that the CGS had closed. I couldn’t stand the thought of CGS becoming more entertainment when it was clear to me and many others that it needed to become more eSports focused.

Either way, it didn’t make money and it never was going to make money, at least in the short to medium term (5 to 10 years). The original fathers of the idea told me it was a 5 year financial plan with a 10 year plan for success, yet after less than 2 years, it has closed. I find that disturbing in the least, but it reminds me that we can’t rely on anything or take it for granted whether we like something or not. Some day someone comes along that doesn’t like eSports or video gaming and thinks the money would be better spent elsewhere; CGS was just one of those days.

Despite being messed around I remain grateful for the opportunities afforded me to work with some brilliant people both in TV and in the background at CGS. I am all the better for the experiences I gained in my lengthy stays in LA and in the friends I found from players, GMs and staff alike and whilst many will be saying good riddance to the CGS, there are still many people (mainly I admit those involved) who genuinely enjoyed being part of it.

I won’t pretend for a moment that I have all of the answers or the reasons behind its eventual closure but the main reason I still believe is that too much too soon was tried and despite getting it all off the ground and working, it spent way too much money. Without a direct source of income from the outside, it was doomed from then on, although it could have been saved it would have meant going back on all of the things the league held close to it in year one and that just wouldn’t do. When you think about the incredible achievement of year one and what the tiny amount of staff achieved at CGS, it was still remarkable, but I just wish it had started off slower, perhaps just in the USA and then without salaried players but instead having a huge prize pot, which in the eSports traditional sense is all the players and teams ever wanted anyway.

If it had started off like this, it may not have ended so soon, but then again, it may not have made it past year one either, we will never know.

I enjoyed my time with CGS, but it’s time to move on for everyone involved, learn the lessons and employ them whole heartedly in the next challenge or project that we work on in eSports. Valuable and expensive lessons admittedly, but they are usually the hardest ones.

Personally I can’t wait for 2009 and the start of a new eSports year, because there still seems like so much optimism around with new leagues starting up, new tournaments to look forward too, new organisations with real hope of success and old tournaments looking to make a comeback. Whilst we may have lost something that could potentially set eSports back in time, it may not be a bad thing looking forward.