Looking back to the golden age

Today teams in the competitive gaming world spark up, establish their flame really fast, and eventually extinguish due to the meta changing for all top gaming titles constantly.

We all remember the glory days of Counter-Strike 1.6, Call of Duty 2, Battlefield 2, and so on. Where all you needed was a Ventrilo server, a good squad of 5 people, and long nights to burn in gaming, raging, and laughter. Things are a bit different as we’re slowly closing 2020 and 2021 is emerging.

Standards & struggles for an esports team in 2020

The criteria for a good esports team or organization are high. Tournaments, leagues, or any form of competitive gaming have entry fees for teams to participate in, this leads that the team needs appropriate funding to be able to rise up through the amateur league and hope they can one day find a seat between the top-ranking teams such as Cloud 9, Fnatic, Team SoloMid, FaZe, and Virtus.pro – all teams that have prevailed throughout the years of changes that esports forced upon them. It’s not easy that’s for sure!

The item list you need to obtain is quite tricky. You need an investor or in other words, a sponsor that connects well with your team in order to supply you with the appropriate funds needed. Those funds are then used to acquire a brand, website, to pay entry fees, travel accommodations (for the offline/LAN tournaments – however with the newly found Corona situation this is something that people have been relieved of), jerseys, and player salaries. Yes, most amateur teams are now introducing salaries for their players since most of them have to put in over 12 hours a day to be able to learn/advance as a team or individual.

Besides the real-life issues that come with having an esports team, there are always the gaming factors that actually rise up more issues or where others find their silver lining. As stated in the introduction, the meta which is changed quite frequently in big gaming titles is the challenge each esports player needs to face personally and later on as a team. You will find yourself in a bad situation when your prime trick has been nerfed, reduced on impact, or sometimes even removed from the game itself. It’s never good to be a one-trick pony, those players have a short career. Wide knowledge and understanding of the game, character, or mechanics are always better than forcing only one thing. Don’t get me wrong, you need to focus and utilize what you’re good at, but keep in mind that the future isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.

On the other hand, there are a few benefits when your dreams come to life and the effort you’ve placed has paid off. A professional career in esports takes many shapes and embraces many challenges. Most players don’t play for fame, money, and recognition. They play the game as they enjoy it deeply and they like the fact they’re able to compete on such high levels, where new challenges never stop coming. This is what should drive you yet again as an individual or team.

To recap, the struggle is real and you shouldn’t be demotivated by this. It is only placed where like any career or dream, you need to work hard and keep bringing something new to the table. Good luck to all teams that are trying their best to find a spot amongst the top-tier teams.

Our contribution to esports teams – PixieFreak

PixieFreak is a solution for new teams/organizations that don’t want to place thousands of dollars into a unique website. We at PixieSquad have a great WordPress theme that’s suited just for your needs and covers most gaming titles. To quote our theme:

PixieFreak is an ultimate solution for esports teams, tournament organizators and all gaming enthusiasts. The theme is designed with a goal to provide multiple options, to allow a wide range of different capabilities. You can use the theme to setup your esports team website, gaming clan, news portal or to host a tournament. If you’re dedicated and really into esports, you’re free to use all of these options at once.

PixieFreak is available for $69 USD and it comes with 6 months of free support, where we at PixieSquad will help you!