Time for Antwerp!

[img|left]http://i39.tinypic.com/2qmi1jk.jpg[/img][img|left]http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2343/transv.png[/img]I've been in contact with Steven Leunens, CEO of Gamevibes BVBA regarding the upcoming Antwerp eSports Festival.

First off, what's Gamevibes? Gamevibes describe themselves as an innovative new media and entertainment company specialized in connecting companies with the industry of video games. Their main objective is to become the number 1 in their field of the Benelux. You might already have been in contact with this company as they started TEK9 in 2004 as a competitive gaming team which has now become one of the largest eSport websites in the world. Nowadays they focus on running events connected to eSports. In the past we've seen two different types of events: More community-based events (the Outpost on Fire series) and bigger scaled events with a huge international appeal (the Antwerp eSport Festival).

The first type is much like the Crossfire LAN's, held in the Outpost Gamecentra, focussing on the community while still having world class competitions in the meanwhile. As the organizers like to put it: Outpost on Fire is all about the community coming together for a couple of days of high standard competition, world class action and a couple of good Belgian beers to round of the evening. The event is set for its fourth iteration, which will be held next year. More info can be found here.

[img|left]http://i39.tinypic.com/ir8g2v.png[/img][img|left]http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2343/transv.png[/img]Just to give you a small introduction to what Antwerp eSports Festival exactly is, you can visit the official website. Basically the 2008 edition came down to this: the first iteration of the Antwerp eSports Festival was one of the most prestigious LAN's in Europe, hosted in the amazing Hilton hotel right in the centre of Antwerp (Belgium), boasting a prize purse of € 50,000 for just two games, CoD4 and FIFA08. Teams had the possibility to rent rooms inside the Hilton at a discount rate, and various side tournaments were present, such as the ability to play vs. the top CS 1.6 players of the Benelux in bootcamp sessions. Booth babes didn't stay away, and if I recall correctly, there even was a body-paint stand for babes who felt like going a bit wild.

At least that was for the last instalment during 2008.
This year AEF will make its return, albeit with some changes. To quote Gamevibes:

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The previous Antwerp eSports Festival was quite sponsor dependant and thus high risk, though at the time we were able to cope due to the increased commitment of some high tier sponsors. That had to change a little bit so the prize money has taken a small bite, though we are still aiming to provide you with an extremely healthy prize purse for both Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike Source, working with a similar trigger system as CIC7. Ranging from the guaranteed minimum of €4,000 this could easily go up to €10,000 per game or possibly even more if we can get some extra sponsors behind it. The minimum amount of teams I can see Call of Duty 4 getting for instance is 32 which by our calculations would yield them at minimum an €8,000 prize purse. Besides doing a Call of Duty 4 event and a Counter-Strike Source event, we are also looking into doing more games this time around, with the possible additions of Enemy Territory (upon community request) and Quake Live.

What this means is that Enemy Territory will possibly be featured in Antwerp, if the community proves that ET is worth the bet. Also, the Quake Live tournament will be a pro-tourny (if it actually happens), which means it's likely we'll see some of the big guns of Europe featured at this event. This is however not a community tournament such as on CIC7, and you're only allowed to play in one game.

The new event location will be Stuurboord, a renovated old harbour hangar that has been converted to a multifunctional event room with a stunning bar as the centrepiece and a wonderful view over the city of Antwerp and the river flowing through it, the Schelde. Access to this venue is even easier then reaching the Hilton and the centre of Antwerp is within walking distance. You will be all set to stay in a hotel nearby and not only enjoy the gaming event itself but the famous Antwerp shopping street “De Meir”, the numerous bars and world class clubs Antwerp has to offer or take a visit to the Zoo, diamond district or historical city centre.

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The new location also gives us some options to play around with as event organizers and we will try to guarantee the best possible experience for gamers attending as we separate them from the noise with soundproof walls between the spectator/sponsor booth area and the competition area yet offer those gamers who have nothing to do a chance to watch all the games on a big screen with live commentary. For those of you who cannot make it, livestreaming and high quality coverage will be a big priority for us throughout the event.

The official dates are the 30th and 31st of July and the 1st of August as well.
Steven has put me to work on a formal proposal outlining the benefits of ET as a LAN competition together with a concrete plan on how we're going to put this in motion.

For this project and further opportunities, I've written my last column concerning Vita Nova for ET. We need a team to focus on these projects, to make the best of it. Opportunities like these can't be ignored, surely not for an old game such as ET. This is the first project in a long time coming our way (except for that mysterious Danish LAN), so we need to give it all we've got. We've got until the end of the month to finish this proposal, and to get a decent overview of what should really be in there, I once again talked to Vita Nova member Vanner.
Krosan: I've been in contact with the head manager of AEF (Antwerp eSports Festival), with the question whether ET could have a compo on his LAN. He was open to the idea, and has put me to work on a formal proposal. What would in your opinion be crucial to have the best chance at success?

Vanner: The crucial part is ensuring the community backs the project by putting their money into the LAN. You can have the best proposal in the world and the best team behind it but if you don't have people willing to put their own money into things then you have no chance.

Krosan: We already did a survey amongst the top teams, and at least 10 teams of the very top were very interested (while we didn't ask many more either). We haven't got many MGC's, but players are willing to chip in themselves as it seems.
If this indeed is the case, what do you think should certainly be in the proposal?

Vanner: Proof that the community exists (you can't imagine what CIC7's numbers did for our project!) You also need to have complete assurances that the community can back up it's words. We had 85 teams "interested" in CIC7 and only had 46 attending. Putting actions to words is a rarity.

Krosan: Ye but how can you proof that they will attend if the LAN isn't even officially announced yet?

Vanner: You can't prove it but you can show the excellent attendances at the crossfire events. I know any organiser would love those numbers! You know yourself how serious the teams would be about attending.

Krosan: Sounds like a plan!
Well thanks a lot for your time Vanner, we'll get to work!

Vanner: Haha okay dude
Anytime, and good luck with it all, really hope it works out.

We're probably going to be holding a 32-teams or more tournament, allowing everyone to apply. Dignitas player Reload already picked up on the idea and started querying the top teams for their motivation and willingness to attend this LAN. This is what he came up with:

• Team Rockit
  
• Team Dignitas
  
• Impact Gaming
  
• Plug & Pown
  
• Jungle Brothers
  
• reVeal
  
• dESIRE (uncertain)
  
• FamaS
  
• tMoe
  more...
• FiF
  
• EDiT
  
• VAE (uncertain)
  
• Team Infused
  
• Sleeperz
  
• Saiko
  
• colt45
  
• KKC
  
• Highbot
  
• 1stCav
  
• nkNn - angelDust
  
• vital Gaming
  
• [EU]
  
• Eesti Verii
  
• TAG
  
• Team Validus
  
• dev1ous.net
  
• nI
  
• Splendid gaming
  
• miAmi
  
• CbZ (uncertain)
  
• sereNity
  
• ewave (uncertain)
  
• AmZ
  
• normality[/hide]

This is only a preliminary list and will grow bigger when other teams make up their minds. We're aiming for a € 5000 prize purse when 32 teams do turn up. The income fee will be around € 300 per team, so not much more than CC LAN's. It's certainly non-BYOC, which means you don't have to bring your own computer. For the address click here
Our address:
Stuurboord / Hangar 26
Rijnkaai 96
2000 Antwerp
Belgium
Tel: 03/202.84.00
Fax: 03/226.86.41
E-mail: [email protected]

, and for more info and pictures of the venue, click here.

So what this all comes down to is that we've got until the end of the month if we want to make the summer edition of AEF, so it'll need to happen fast. But remember, this is only a possibility, nothing is certain yet. Although if AEF doesn't happen for ET, we can still work towards OOF4 for next year, or potentially other LAN's.



And to finish this column I'd like to quote Gamevibes:

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Regardless of the outcome for this Antwerp eSports Festival, Gamevibes has a strong interest to support the Enemy Territory community in any way they can should the opportunity arise. Whether that will be during this Antwerp eSports Festival, future gaming events or a standalone ET tournament remains to be seen but we are open to all ideas.

More info can be read right here. When we've got more news, you'll be the first to know!