EPTIPL 6 is Cancelled - Official Statement - Page 20
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Torpedo.Vegas
United States1890 Posts
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coolcor
520 Posts
When we launched IPL two years ago, the eSports landscape was very different with far fewer events than we have now. Today, game publishers are holding their own tournaments, which is why we are not ready to commit the resources at this time to run another major independent event. On inside the game incontrol pointed out that this is probably bullshit, and encouraged us to be more skeptical of official statements so investors don't think we are all dumb or easily fooled and future announcements will be more truthful. It makes sense that the actual reason for being cancelled has more to do with the transition of being sold off and not a sudden realization that things were different two years ago at the last minute so cancel everything. Also that part about game publishers is not on the ign page for the announcement so it is very suspicious why there are two different versions. This is why we need an unbiased esports reporter to get the scoop and clear this up! | ||
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muzzy
United States640 Posts
On March 06 2013 11:21 coolcor wrote: On inside the game incontrol pointed our that this is probably bullshit, and encouraged us to be more skeptical of official statements so investors don't think we are all dumb or easily fooled and future announcements will be more truthful. It makes sense that the actual reason for being cancelled has more to do with the transition of being sold off and not a sudden realization that things were different two years ago at the last minute so cancel everything. Also that part about game publishers is not on the ign page for the announcement so it is very suspicious why there are two different versions. This is why we need an unbiased esports reporter to get the scoop and clear this up! Exactly. This is obviously related to the Ziff Dafis buyout. I mean, look at all the other cuts they have made since they took over IGN. IPL is just one of the many things they've cut. When these business analyst guys come in, axing millions of dollars in projects, they don't sit down and go "hmm, we think the eSports landscape is different than it was two years ago". They look at a spreadsheet that says IPL made/lost X amount of dollars over the last 4 quarters. It didn't meet the threshold to keep it alive, so they killed it. | ||
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aLt_F4tw
Canada47 Posts
Shows the the E-sports Business is a Fickle beast. I guess I'm stuck with MLG as the premier NA tip | ||
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c3ns0rd
United States1 Post
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Tommylew
Wales2717 Posts
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JimmyJRaynor
Canada17690 Posts
On March 06 2013 12:05 muzzy wrote: Exactly. This is obviously related to the Ziff Dafis buyout. I mean, look at all the other cuts they have made since they took over IGN. IPL is just one of the many things they've cut. When these business analyst guys come in, axing millions of dollars in projects, they don't sit down and go "hmm, we think the eSports landscape is different than it was two years ago". They look at a spreadsheet that says IPL made/lost X amount of dollars over the last 4 quarters. It didn't meet the threshold to keep it alive, so they killed it. early in 2012 David Ting claimed IPL was well on its way to profitability in 2012 and that he looked forward to paying back the "debt" he had built up with the "mothership" IGN/Newscorp. He stated he is not legally obligated to "pay back the losses", but he wanted to do this as a show of good faith. Then, in early 2013 he acknowledged that making a profit would be part of a "5 year plan".. it would take 5 years to make IPL profitable. I think it was the "spreadsheet" thing you are talking about here... combined with the changing profit projections of David Ting. It is ironic that early in IPL's life Ting stated many times "its all about monetization" and now we can't get the PR guys to admit what every one knows. This is a money decision pure and simple. | ||
Darkhorse
United States23455 Posts
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Defacer
Canada5052 Posts
On March 06 2013 23:44 JimmyJRaynor wrote: early in 2012 David Ting claimed IPL was well on its way to profitability in 2012 and that he looked forward to paying back the "debt" he had built up with the "mothership" IGN/Newscorp. He stated he is not legally obligated to "pay back the losses", but he wanted to do this as a show of good faith. Then, in early 2013 he acknowledged that making a profit would be part of a "5 year plan".. it would take 5 years to make IPL profitable. I think it was the "spreadsheet" thing you are talking about here... combined with the changing profit projections of David Ting. It is ironic that early in IPL's life Ting stated many times "its all about monetization" and now we can't get the PR guys to admit what every one knows. This is a money decision pure and simple. I'll probably will get shit on for this ... but I don't begrudge Ziff Davis OR IGN for not being more candid about the cancellation of the tournament. What difference does it make? There are many reasons why IPL is unprofitable — the bottom line is that it is. Might as well go with the least depressing reason. It's pretty odd to hear Geoff tear into IGN for be 'dishonest' or spinning the truth. As a member or EG, he knows the value and importance of communicating with an agenda and with discretion. Inside the Game is essentially a corporate sponsored PR delivery system. Communicating diplomatically about your business decisions to the public is the whole point of PR. For example, when EG decided to 'part ways' with StrifeCro and Axslav I don't remember reading the 'real, no-fluff' reason why they were let go. What good does honesty do for anyone in this situation? Really, the only people that are entitled to it are paying customers. This is business. No business owner or operator in their right mind is going to spoon feed you truth-bombs if it's going to hurt their reputation or image. If you care enough as a consumer, it's easy enough to read between the lines. By the sounds of things David Ting was: 1) running a poorly planned and unviable business 2) with massive overhead 3) that was manufacturing a wonderful product 4) with a small, unprofitable market 5) split by four major competitors. No parent company invests millions and millions of dollars into a business with a five year plan that doesn't break even. Most greedy investors expect a return of 200 to 400% in five years! They rarely get it, but its fair to expect at least a steady and reliable source of revenue. Obviously, David and IGN were banking on SC2 being the next Poker, not the next ... SC Broodwar. David Ting may have been good at broadcast production, making pretty graphics and pampering players, but that's all really easy to do when you're hemorrhaging money and operating as a loss leader for a couple of years. I don't feel bad for IPL, or players, or IGN, or their critics. I only feel bad for people that booked non-refundable airline tickets and got screwed over. Edit: If David and IGN were banking on the market for SC2 to grow significantly in five years to validate their business model, it's hard to fault any investor for balking at that assumption. | ||
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Rowrin
United States280 Posts
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Defacer
Canada5052 Posts
On March 07 2013 03:08 Rowrin wrote: Interesting to see IGN/IPL active again. $100,000 shootmania launch tourny. Hmm. Not sure what to think now. They apparently arent getting completely shut down (unless shootmania, ubisoft and their sponsors are fronting most of the costs). At the same time it looks kinda bad imo to be flaunting a huge prize pool tourny immediately after cancelling a (though much bigger) large event. Certainly this is much cheaper than hosting IPL (it in IPL's home city, theatre as opposed to casino, one game not 3 etc). Granted, I also feel that it is good that they are going to just try and rebound after losing IPL6. Shootmania is production paid for and sponsored by the game developer. They're doing work-for-hire, I think. | ||
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JimmyJRaynor
Canada17690 Posts
On March 07 2013 03:00 Defacer wrote: By the sounds of things David Ting was: 1) running a poorly planned and unviable business 2) with massive overhead 3) that was manufacturing a wonderful product 4) with a small, unprofitable market 5) split by four major competitors. David Ting is probably far better at solving abstract math problems than Sundance Digiovanni, Don King, Vince Mcmahon and Dana White. We all know he is the worst live event promoter out of that group though. He is an engineer by profession and was and still is a fish out of water in his current position. If there were real money in esports then real promoters would be in charge of creating its biggest events. Not engineers with hopes and dreams. | ||
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Rowrin
United States280 Posts
On March 07 2013 03:12 Defacer wrote: Shootmania is production paid for and sponsored by the game developer. They're doing work-for-hire, I think. That is likely the case since that was how they just did the sxsw. I want to feel good about this but at the same time... I mean it really rubs salt in the wound for people that are stuck in vegas now that there is an event to go to not 4 hours drive away, one week later. | ||
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Erik.TheRed
United States1655 Posts
On March 07 2013 03:12 Defacer wrote: Shootmania is production paid for and sponsored by the game developer. They're doing work-for-hire, I think. Yeah from what I remember Incontrol alluded to this on ITG-- apparently something similar happened with HoN on NASL. Most people don't realize it but the developer is actually a "sponsor" for the league using it as a marketing platform for their new game. So this is likely just Ubisoft's marketing $$ going towards another event after IPL6 got cancelled. | ||
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Nerski
United States1095 Posts
On March 07 2013 03:08 Rowrin wrote: Interesting to see IGN/IPL active again. $100,000 shootmania launch tourny. Hmm. Not sure what to think now. They apparently arent getting completely shut down (unless shootmania, ubisoft and their sponsors are fronting most of the costs). At the same time it looks kinda bad imo to be flaunting a huge prize pool tourny immediately after cancelling a (though much bigger) large event. Certainly this is much cheaper than hosting IPL (it in IPL's home city, theatre as opposed to casino, one game not 3 etc). Granted, I also feel that it is good that they are going to just try and rebound after losing IPL6. It's hardly about rebounding, it's all about this event will largely be cheaper to host, and likely more so paid for by the developers etc. The IPL staff is stuck doing whatever they are allowed/given to do. That doesn't mean anyone should support a company that would cancel a large scale event so close to it, with no real reason other then, we decided not to spend the money. At least until IPL can separate or find new ownership, I find it hard to support anything they do under IGN/ZD/J2G. | ||
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nenji
Germany48 Posts
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Zenbrez
Canada5973 Posts
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MarkCJ
Canada239 Posts
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Defacer
Canada5052 Posts
On March 07 2013 03:18 JimmyJRaynor wrote: If there were real money in esports then real promoters would be in charge of creating its biggest events. Not engineers with hopes and dreams. Wow, that's a "no-fluff" and sober way of putting it. Sundance has been working on legitimizing and making e-sports profitable for what ... ten years now? Putting on a travelling roadshow/convention is one thing, but I'm not sure if he's cracked the right formula for broadcasting SC2. | ||
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Crownlol
United States3726 Posts
On March 07 2013 06:02 Defacer wrote: Wow, that's a "no-fluff" and sober way of putting it. Sundance has been working on legitimizing and making e-sports profitable for what ... ten years now? Putting on a travelling roadshow/convention is one thing, but I'm not sure if he's cracked the right formula for broadcasting SC2. The community always wants free entertainment, and events weren't getting enough for ticket fees. Streaming ads is only so much revenue. | ||
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