Tournament.com was a competitive online gaming service which offered cash prizes. It operated in a limited 12hr beta prior to April 2007 then went to a full 24hr beta test between April 2007 and November 2007. It looked to go fully live during January 2008, before being suspended in November 2007.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online gaming |
| Founded | United Kingdom April 2007 |
| Founder | Marcus Pearcey, Richard Skelhorn, Alex Holt |
| Defunct | November 2007 |
| Fate | Service postponed |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Marcus Pearcey, Richard Skelhorn, Alex Holt |
History edit
Tournament.com was co-founded in May 2007 by Richard Skelhorn, Alex Holt and Marcus Pearcey and based in Norwich.[1] The site allowed players to bet on matches in a "skill-based environment" and had the exclusive rights from Valve for competitive use of Counter-Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch.[1][2][3]
In November 2007, Tournament.com ceased operating, with Pearcey announcing that the service was postponed but not officially shut down. A combination of costly infrastructure and players' unwillingness to deposit money forced the company to rethink its business model.[4]
Co founders Richard Skelhorn and Alex Holt have stayed in the online gaming arena having set up bgo.com.[5]
Gaming model edit
Players first had to download client software to participate.[1] They were then able to compete against friends, or against people of a similar skill level (through its own proprietary 'SmarkRank' calculation), in online games with a small prize pot on offer. Most games cost from 20c, (rising to maximum of $10) so the stakes were correspondingly low. The service had a cap on the amount of money a player may deposit each month, so potential losses were limited.[6] One advantage of this model was a reduced number of griefers, which Eurogamer considered to be worth the price of entry, and an over-18 age restriction limiting the amount of immature chatting.[6] Cheating was controlled by 24-hour human oversight and compulsory anti-cheat software called 'TAC' running alongside Steams VAC2 software.[7] Potential lag issues are dealt with by investing heavily in game server infrastructure.[6]
References edit
- ^ a b c Edge Staff (May 1, 2007). "Play Counter-Strike for Cash". Edge.
- ^ Alexander Sliwinski (Nov 21, 2007). "Tournament.com dies". Joystiq.com.
- ^ Brown, Kristopher. "Biggest-Ever Prize in online gaming". Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- ^ Edge Staff (November 21, 2007). "Tournament.com Boss Hopes to Revive Service". Edge.
- ^ Go-Game.com (December 12, 2012). "bgo.com launches". Go-Game.com.
- ^ a b c Rob Fahey (24 June 2007). "Tournament.com". Eurogamer.
- ^ Kevin VanOrd (Aug 2, 2007). "Interview: Marcus Pearcy, Tournament.com". GameSpot.