Games Services Liquidated, ESWC Faces Uncertain Future

April 8, 2009 by Chapree

The sad truth.

We just learned that the French company behind Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) - Games Services, has ceased operations just couple of days ago. It was announced in a short statement at its corporate website, which is separated from ESWC global site.

Paris, April 5, 2009

Games-Services SA ceases all activities. Its liquidation has been pronounced by the Commercial Court of Paris March 30, 2009. In consequence, all the employees and managers have been relieved from their duties and laid off April 2nd, by the adjudication. The process of liquidation, which is starting this week, will notably organize the potential trade-in or resale of the company’s assets including the Electronic Sports World Cup and Overgame.

ESWC is one of the most highly rated global tournament in the world, especially to those who were fortunate enough to attend the tournament’s grand finals for the past six years. The ESWC brand most probably will end up in the hand of a new owner (as per Cyberathlete Professional League last year) judging from the good reputation that they have. But then, one can expect that this year’s event have a very small chance to see the daylight, at the very least as a direct effect of Games Services liquidation.

Meanwhile, this news wouldn’t affect the upcoming ESWC Asia Masters of Cheonan, which is to be held in May at South Korea. This is due to the fact that ESWC Asia Masters is locally funded, rather than Games Services themselves.

We are sure that ESWC Malaysia will be seriously affected by this shocking development, but until we get the proper news from the local National Organizer themselves, we shall remain hopeful that the Malaysian edition of this tourney would still go on, even if it is to be held under a different banner. We’ll keep you guys posted as soon as we get the info.

WSVG, CPL and now, Game Services of ESWC. While the ESWC brand might be snatched up by capable parties, as what happened to CPL, will the tournament be able to survive from this? Or will it just die off? Comments away!

[sauce: via Lowyat.NET Forums - credit to Auricom]

Games Services Official Website
Electronic Sports World Cup - Global Official Site | ESWC Malaysia Official Blog | Lowyat.NET Forums

Posted in Commercial, Electronic Sports World Cup, International eSports