A few weeks ago it broke that the Reason Gaming UK side would dissolve, seeing two members disappear from UK CS:GO and the remaining three joined forces with two of the former CeX/EZSkins/exceL eSports side. The roster raised a number of questions, one of which being why the change of organisation was necessary. Reason Gaming are a very reputable organisation, who since being re-launched under new management back in 2012 have grown to almost mirror the success of its former iteration. After success internationally across a number of titles, and with a solid board of sponsors behind them, the choice for Reason to return to investing into UK CS:GO was an important one. The game has seen a steady increase in growth in the UK and returning to its roots for a piece of that was a sensible decision.
CeX took it’s first step into not only CS:GO, but eSports, came with the acquisition of the former EZSkins side (not the dubbed super-team line-up.) After joining up with the high street second hand electronics retailer, the team failed to deliver on a number of occasions and barely managed to maintain the following they had earned themselves from the first season of the ESL UK Premiership. That, coupled with some changes in roster, saw the team grow quiet and eventually fizzle out into irrelevancy.
However, the latest changes have brought CeX into the limelight again, and a somewhat promising showing in an online cup last weeks shows they are well on to getting prepared. The latest news to come from that camp is an interesting one. Players are often known to be incentivised to perform by their organisations, usually in the form of a bit of a bonus when it comes to payday, or securing themselves the required funding to go to an event that may otherwise have been out of their reach. However, CeX have supposedly upped the incentive game to one that could mean big bucks for the players involved.
Conversations amongst the team with other notable UK figures suggests that the organisation backing the team are offering a 100% prize fund bonus if they were to win an event, meaning that should CeX come first place at any event they attend, they will take home the prize money plus the same figure again from their backers. For the iSeries, this means a win for CeX would see each player walk away with well over £1,000 each – much more than if any other organisation were to take the first prize. Does this mean that CeX are going to be stepping up their games to try and grab this offer whilst it is on the table? They would be fools not to give it their all if this truly is on the cards. The real question is, with all the effort in the world, do they have what it takes to bring home an iSeries win?
Update: The CeX team have confirm that they will in fact recieve a 100% bonus equal to the prize money for whatever position they finish, meaning they do not need to take home a win at the NEC to achieve to bonus money. This means the team may end up with a bonus from anywhere between £225 and £3,250, should they finish in the top eight as expected.
