Last week the HCG Masters was due to round into its grand finals, but a series of problems have left the tournament postponed mid-way through its run.
The complications look to be worse than originally thought though. The tournament being postponed has left a lot of CSGO players and other staff unpaid, revealing the extent of problems with organization of the HCG Masters. This is why everything went so wrong at the tournament.
The HCG Masters was a competitive Counter-Strike tournament in its inaugural season. It was originally due to run from February 9th through April. 28 teams were competing for a share of the full €180,000 price pool. This was a new tournament, so some teething issues can be expected. However, what happened at the HCG Masters went beyond that.
The event got off to an okay early start, but the finals are really where things got complicated. These were supposed to be LAN finals taking place at an event in Portugal. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be happening anymore. After problems with organizers, the HCG Masters Finals have been, postponed. They’ll now be played out online at some point in the future.
However, the delay has already caused some real issues.
The HCG Masters organizers have been forced to delay the finals after complications. The issue seems to be with funding, with Hardcore Gaming pointing the finger at ‘those outside of the organization.’. There have been attempts to raise more money from investors to replace revenue lost when a sponsor pulled out of the event. The investor asked for more equity in return for their investment, which HCG refused to provide.
caused by people outside the company, that have led to this issue.
— Hardcore Gaming | #HCGesports (@hcg_esports) March 31, 2022
The issue with funding has seemingly led to most people involved with the tournament not receiving pay for their work. HCG have said they’ve taken out loans to pay as much of the staff as they can while they attempt to raise more funding. This is a pretty major issue with the event.
About 49 people were working on the project as casters and other production staff. It seems only one caster has so far been paid, and one member of the production team. This is a considerable amount of money for a tournament to owe.
The HCG Masters is currently just waiting for the organizers to get the funds together to complete the event. However, it doesn’t seem clear when that is going to be. It could be a long wait for teams hoping to play out the finals.
The organization behind the event has been a bit of a mess. It’s likely going to be a bit of a mark against the organizer and the tournament, potentially putting others off working with them in the future. Hopefully, things can be sorted so the staff can be played, and the tournament potentially finished. For now though, it seems everyone is simply stuck waiting.
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