BLAST won the CS:GO exclusivity war by staying out of it

IN September last year, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive developer Valve gave a very clear statement on its stance towards event exclusivity. Wanting to keep the ecosystem as open as can be, presumably to allow any player or team to rise up through the ranks, it affirmed that exclusivity is an aspect of the game’s competitive ecosystem that could cause “long-term damage.”

What followed, however, seemingly disregarded that ruling in some ways. With ESL and the newly-formed, team-owned Flashpoint butting heads, the two tournament organisers worked with organisations to sign them up exclusively. ESL formed the Louvre Agreement with 13 of the world’s best teams, whereas Flashpoint (with support from FACEIT) signed up nine partners teams with $2,000,000 buy-ins.

If you compete in Flashpoint, you could indeed compete in ESL Pro League also. It was, however, incredibly difficult to find the time to do both and to maneuver around the conflicting schedules. Add in the growing problem of COVID-19 and its devastating effects on the global economy and the possibility of competing across the leagues became miniscule. Effectively, teams have had to draw lines in the sand with respect to which league they will participate in.

ESL and Flashpoint have two very different viewpoints on the CS:GO ecosystem. The former believes it’s executing a strategy that stands to benefit the scene as is, whereas the latter thinks the ecosystem is in a near-catastrophic place and it was formed in an effort to “save” what was left. Another tournament organiser, BLAST, seemingly stood by and watched the two tournament organisers duke it out.

BLAST, the company that was formerly under the RFRSH Entertainment banner alongside Danish brand Astralis, didn’t try to compete with ESL and Flashpoint – instead, it opted to let everything play out and complement them both. Think of the Champions League in football, for example. Football is massively divided by regional leagues, they’re exclusive in that a German team can’t compete in the Premier League, but all of the best teams from each major league vye for a spot in the prestigious Champions League on an annual basis.

If you reach this competition, you’re seen as successful. You’ve made it to the upper echelon of football and have had an incredible season in your domestic league. BLAST Premier, the Danish tournament organiser’s CS:GO product, draws similarities in this way. While teams don’t have to perform exceptionally well to reach the competition, it’s the only place to watch the best teams – no matter the league they’re signed with – battle each other. If you want to see stars from Team Vitality, Astralis, and MIBR, BLAST Premier is the only chance you’ll have.

While ESL Pro League and Flashpoint have concluded the first seasons following the exclusivity war, there’s no plain winner in sight. ESL has the majority of the viewership and most of the best teams, so that can be seen as success, but Flashpoint never expected instant success. It’s aiming to disrupt the ecosystem with what it has built, attracting the major organisations further down the line and, slowly but surely, taking over.

THAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL! ⛔

We have watched this clip 374 times now, and still have no idea how @acoRCS pulled this off #BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/fd82NFJ6Ej

— BLAST Premier (@BLASTPremier) June 8, 2020

It’s also worth noting that it is only the teams in both ESL Pro League and Flashpoint that are fixed in place. Nothing is stopping players from making transfer to teams in either league. Theoretically the top 10 players in ESL Pro League (in terms of popularity and skill) could well end up transferring over to rosters in Flashpoint based orgs. This again highlights the maneuverability the Danish organiser has over its counterparts, and it’s ability to provide a consistent structure of top level Counter Strike, which the other organizers potentially lack control over.

BLAST, however, will continue to enjoy being able to combine the best of both worlds. It has the cream of the crop in terms of teams, casting and analytical talent all love working with the company, and it’s not explicitly participating in the battle. This, in turn, could lead to extended success in terms of the perception of their events. As mentioned, in the Champions League we see the star players, teams, and commentators. With BLAST being the only organiser that can pull off such a spectacle, it’s fair to reason that they are set to consistently entertain fans with content the other two leagues can’t provide.

After absorbing much abuse in its first couple of years due to unagreeable formats and more trivial points of criticism, the Danish tournament organiser is in prime position to reap the rewards of not taking part – a result hardly anybody had seen coming.