HCS Backtracks On Crowdfunding, Players “Embarrased”

Halo Infinite is set to begin its first World Championship tournament. But the excitement has dulled a little among the players after the HCS made it known that they’re going back on their promise to elevate the $1,000,000 base prize pool through crowdfunding.

The players who will be participating in the tournament did not hold back after the announcement was made, and let their feelings be known on social media. There is some justification for their displeasure as nearly $500,000 were added to other major Halo tournaments this season through crowdfunding alone, and the timing of the announcement could’ve been handled a lot better.

Image Credits | Halo Waypoint

Snakebite and Spartan have their say

The HCS has stated that they are going back on their promise because they’ll be using the funds for other initiatives going forward. Some Halo players like Snip3down were clearly upset, stating that he wouldn’t have made the switch from Apex Legends to Halo Infinite if it wasn’t for the greater prize pool.

Snakebite, the Sentinels captain, was also quite vocal. Snakebite stated that he could see it coming, but was mostly upset with how the announcement was handled. “What I’m embarrassed about is the way it has been delivered; a week before WC to fans, players and partners,” he said on his Twitter handle.

The outspoken Spartan, from FaZe Clan, also had his say, expressing that he was aware of how grateful he should be, but that the announcement was still a slap in the face.  Like many others, he criticized the manner in which the announcement was handled, saying that seven days before the tournament is no time to be making an announcement so big, especially since the tournament was being advertised as a $1m event.

HCS defends decision by stating that new plan will have wider impact

There was, of course, always going to be someone defending the actions of HCS, and 343 Industries’ esports lead Tashi said on his Twitter account that the bigger picture was more relevant at this point.

“It’s about taking a wider approach to have a bigger overall impact,” he tweeted. “The Worlds prize pool will stay at $1M which is huge, and the funds will continue to be invested in bolstering the scene more and adding more tournaments.”

There were also a few excerpts from the official announcement that were hoping to rationalize the decision:

“Supporting partnered teams in this way has proven to be a powerful route to take as we can elevate the work that they’re doing, and even fill in gaps in the roadmap with all new tournaments. Going forward, we’re going to continue this new philosophy in an effort to bolster the roadmap and add new events all together, rather than boosting what are already very large prize pools.”

Players won’t forget

HCS plan on revealing more about their new plan during the Worlds, and while the new plan might work for the better of the industry, a lot of players will have lost their trust in the HCS. The players remain the lifeblood of any esports, and many of them might switch to other esports or refuse to cooperate with the HCS going forward, which might have some ramifications that HCS hadn’t prepared for.

It remains to be seen what the long-term effects of this move will be on the Halo Infinite industry. For now, the show must go on, of course. There’s still an exciting tournament coming up, and it will begin on October 20, with $400,000 in prize money to be awarded to the eventual winner.

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