“To survive is to endure and prosper. And we have most certainlysurvived”
Funny how those words spoken by Myrrah, the antagonist fromGears 3 turned out to perfectly mirror the narrative of theGears competitive scene. Just a few short years ago, we wereplaying in hotel ballrooms, local LAN centers, and even a venuesimilar to “Dave and Busters.” All of these for prize pools thatrarely, if ever, covered the cost of travel for the majority ofplayers.
Nowadays, for larger games, professional teams are flown out bytheir respective leagues or tournament organizers, but for Gears,you have always gotten there by your own means. There’s a lot offunny stories of how players made their way to events, ranging fromloaded minivans -soccer mom style- all the way to sellingplasma to cover the cost. Yes, you read that correctly,plasma. Gears fans are nothing if not passionate.
It is passion alone that pushed the Gearsesports scene thus far, crossing many bumps and hurdles alongthe way. We’ve had pay-to-enter online tournaments, of which, noprize was ever paid to the winning teams, the promise of LANsthat never came to fruition and even tournaments that played allthe way from morning until 6 a.m. the following morning. Itwas not an easy road, but through sheer passion and an intense loveof the game, Gears has weathered a storm that would havewiped most scenes off the map, never to be heard fromagain.
Black Tusk Studios, now known as The Coalition, caught wind ofthis passion and has since taken the reins of Gears esports.Through their care and guidance, Gears of War is now in a place wenever thought possible, well, unless your name is Newnez ofcourse. The upcoming Gears esports season brings with it a startingprize pool of $1 million dollars that willcertainly increase through crowdfunding, which was alsoannounced for the ensuing season.
Major esports organizations such as OpTic Gamingand TeamEnVyUs have joined the ranks and more will be sure tofollow. Gears offers an amazing ROI not seen in many esports titleswith a relatively low cost barrier, large talent pool andprize money that rivals some of the larger esports titles. Thispast MLG Columbus event saw many new faces move into the covetedtop-eight positions and we can be sure this is a trend we willcontinue to see in a new title.
TheCoalition has made it extremely clear, the feeling-out phase iscomplete and they are now 100 percent committed to the success ofcompetitive Gears. They have brought in pro players to playtest thenew competitive gametype, reworked spectator functions, and madetheir own efforts in pitching to reputable esportsorganizations on why they should enter into the Gearsesports scene.
Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded and noother community has had their faith repeatedly tested as much asthe Gears community. Gears has seen the glory of being on theMLG circuit and the relegation to crowded ballrooms, full of loosecables criss-crossing the floor, where one misstep could (and did)take out entire streams. Now it’s back with a circuit that willcircle the globe in an attempt to bring the scene to internationalcrowds.
The stage is set, the actors are in place and with TC directing,the show is on. See you in October.
Are you excited for the futureof Gears esports? Let us know by commenting below or tweetingus @GAMURScom.
Photo credits: esportsGears
