Firstly, I would like to say that the LAN even will continue, none of the teams will lose any money or anything like that so don't panic. Secondly, yes it's true (sadly), TLR has closed its doors for now and by coincidence, the site has gone offline as well so there will be a lot of unanswered questions. I have a copy of the news post that was due to go live yesterday on the site before it went offline, I've written in the full version but only displayed the ET version and the thanks to all of you who've shown your support to us over the last few months. If you would like to read the full news post to find out about our other teams and staff members, then you can unhide the rest of the post.
Nothing changes for the LAN apart from the name. I'm still running it, TLR's sponsors weren't involved in it (apart from YCN and they're still involved). Same goes for the mapping contest, that will still go on as TLR, the prize WILL be given.
We're sure it will come as a shock to a lot of you, some of you may even be saddened by the news or maybe you saw it coming. Regardless of your reaction, the news is true; TLR will officially be closing its doors.
Throughout the short 4 months since our re-launch in December, our online campaign has been fantastic. We've seen our Facebook group grow from 86 people to 553, our Twitter followers go from 126 to 411, our website traffic going from 200+ unique hits in a week to 300+ unique hits a day. We would like to dedicate the last 4 months to our teams, our staff and of course all of you who have continuously supported our teams and projects. As cliché as it sounds, we couldn't have achieved what we achieved without all the aforementioned.
What will happen next? Read on to find out about our teams, their time in TLR and what their future holds...
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
We made a return into Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory by bringing in an all-star team who have displayed their skill and talent throughout their time here at TLR and will continue to do so. Their first contribution to TLR was the ClanBase EuroCup championship mere days after they joined. Since then, they collectively achieved Team of The Year in the Crossfire awards and several players received personal awards such as best aimer, player of the year and most underrated player. This team have been fantastic to work with and we wish them the absolute best in their future together. We're sure you'll be hearing about their new venture very, very soon.
Read the rest of the post Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
We've always been a supporter of the Call of Duty series, and the fourth episode in the game's history has been no different. This particular team, give or take a few names and faces, has been with us since July 2010 and has come a very long way. Placing poorly at Antwerp eSports Festival in 2010 to winning numerous Benelux LANs and most recently finishing at third place at Outpost on Fire 4 a few weeks ago. This is a team who are continuously improving and will become a serious contender for top spot with the right support. The team will continue to play together and will be attending E-Series on May the 14th, we do not yet know which flag they will fly.
Day of Defeat: Source
We re-entered the Day of Defeat: Source scene shortly after the arrival of our Call of Duty 4 team. This particular team have the greatest players from Europe snowballing their way through every opponent they meet at online and offline events, most notably absolutely destroying their only real contender at Anjougame a few weeks ago. With exam periods and international team opportunities arising, the future of this team is yet unknown. If they decide to stick together, they will continue their dominance among all things DoDs.
Michael "chefinal" Robinson
Mike is TLR's founder, owner, father and carer. He is the man who started it all back in 2003 as a Grand Theft Auto PC community to what you see now. Many of you will have met him at an i-Series event or even one of the many Crossfire events. As his nickname may suggest, Mike works full time as a Chef and will look to focus on his career for now. This is the man who holds the key to TLR's doors, who knows, he may re-open those doors again some day.
Sean "Seanza" McDougall
Along with the Call of Duty 4 team joining in July 2010, the then manager of Team Rockit joined us in our journey forward. Since then, Sean has become a massive part in TLR's road to success and has increased his own experience and skills whilst being part of the team here. He is best known for his no-nonsense dealings and honesty and most know him as one of the most reliable people in eSports today. He has been the creator of most of the recent initiatives by TLR and has been the driving force behind our social media and community campaigns. Sean will still be hosting his LAN event in July and we're sure it will be an amazing event! Aside from that, Sean's future in eSports is unknown, apart from the fact that he will be heavily involved in some way or another.
Josh "pesteh" Clarke
It all started for Josh in TLR when his company, pixaweb.co.uk, were drafted in to code and design a new website for TLR. Before long, Josh found himself being more involved with TLR than he initially expected and continued to pour his efforts into the organisation by constantly updating the website graphics and eventually re-designing the whole website to what you see it as now. Josh will continue to run his company, and has yet to decide if he will continue being actively involved in a managerial role in the eSports industry. If you're looking for a fantastic website that looks highly professional and is easy to use, then pixaweb.co.uk is where you need to be!
Of course, aside from the teams and management mentioned above, there have been some other key people involved in our recent success, namely Roelof "pZy" Prins and Matt "rellie" Squires who have shown utter dedication and passion via their journalist work here on our website, on our Facebook and on Twitter. We would like to send out a personal thankyou to them for all their efforts and their time at TLR. Their futures are yet unknown, but rest assured they won't be hiding away! Other notable thanks go to those who helped us run our online cups and other competitions.
Finally, and certainly by no means least, a MASSIVE thankyou to all companies and organisations who have shared their efforts with us as an organisation and provided us with funding, products and moral support over the years. You have all been fantastic and wish you all the best in your future and hope the market continues to boom for each and every one of you!
It's goodbye from TLR... for now at least.
www.tlr-esports.com