The anatomy of a bedroom org: Belfast Storm

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Belfast Storm’s return to Counter-Strike represents a relaunch in the scene for the organisation. A reignited love for competitive Counter-Strike quickly led to re-entry into the scene and investment in the former Halal5 roster. With renewed passion and purpose, Belfast Storm are looking to the future with fresh ambition.

I sat down with Belfast Storm Owner and Director Stuart McAllister to talk about Belfast Storm’s re-entry into Counter-Strike, and to explore the world of so-called “bedroom orgs” which are organisations with few resources, even fewer staff and typically no facilities. Such organisations often act as the first step of the ladder for players, as they begin to get recognition and business interest in competitive team-based Counter-Strike. So why would Stuart get into a business which is so commonly a money sink for owners and how do organisations like his help rosters progress?

A day in the life

Like most owners of small teams, running Belfast Storm is not McAllister’s full-time occupation. He has to balance esports with his own roofing business and being a father of three. When I met him, he had just returned from his kid’s football match. Yet, he handles the vast majority of the activity of the organisation. Whereas every small organisation is different, a typical “bedroom” team may have a dedicated content creator, social media manager and commercial manager. McAllister takes care of all of these roles. Naturally, my first question was “Not enough stress in your life? Had to add esports to the mix?”

[laughs]

McAllister said: “[laughs] Very good question. Esports, I suppose, is chaotic. I was speaking to a guy the other day who used to work at Fnatic. He was basically saying ‘To be fair you’re basically doing all they do but you don’t have the money.’ It is very full on.”

😍 It's good to be back! CS game on as well as LoL scrims! pic.twitter.com/mDWwiJEzpz

— Stuart McAllister (@BSG_Stuart) July 25, 2024

Motivation, facilitation, and representation

McAllister’s entry into esports started when he began competing in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Shortly after he moved to coaching and management as he found that his natural desire to assist people was more rewarding than competing. The word that became the theme of our interview was “help.” Whether McAllister was planning transportation, providing accommodation, or simply getting players a bottle of water, McAllister says he is most satisfied when facilitating the success of others.

The initial motivation for establishing the organisation came from a desire to enable and represent Irish esports players and to help the Irish scene believe that more was possible. “I kind of started it because I went to a few events down south [Republic of Ireland] and no one really had any support, as I’m sure you know it’s more mainland [Great Britain], more European – they get a lot – and the guys here said ‘We can’t afford this; we can’t afford that.’ So that’s why I tried to start what I wanted so I could lease it, and try to provide for the community here.”

Belfast Storm, previously known as Nuclear Storm Gaming, was rebranded in 2020 to allow for a more local feel, and to reiterate the support for Northern Irish/ Irish esports. McAllister wants to facilitate viewing parties, spread the word at Queen’s University freshers week, and even wants schools to visit and meet his teams – all to build a regional connection to the team.

I do think we [Irish] punch well above our weight, if you look at golfers, UFC and rugby we do very well here. I think it’s one of those things where I can build a brand we can punch above our weight again. Irish people are fanatical about their sport – they’ll shit on you when you’re doing bad, but they really support you when you’re doing well, and that’s why I want to build a community that is proud to be a really good esports team from here.

McAllister’s dream is to create pathways whereby young people in Ireland are encouraged to explore esports as a career, including actions to educate parents so they feel more comfortable with their kids getting into competitive gaming. He sees his bedroom org’s presence in esports as part of his mission to support and encourage his community.

I hope at least over the years I’ve made some kind of improvement to the Irish scene and given a wee bit of belief to people. That [support] will keep going.

Picking up a team

Following a trip to BLAST in London, McAllister and his business partner Conor Elliman felt it was the right time to re-enter Counter-Strike. Although his dream is to have a competitive Irish team, he sees that as a long-term goal for when more talent is available – with the objective of the current roster to re-establish Belfast Storm in CS.

Having been provided with a list of prospective orgless rosters, Stuart’s eyes were drawn by Halal5 who included his former Nuclear Storm Gaming player, and Irishman, Kuba “kas” Capala. McAllister recalls his thought process on reaching out to the rifler, “I had kas years ago under Nuclear Storm Gaming. I remember thinking kas was going to be incredible. I remember going up being like ‘That kid is unreal.’ So we sorta had a bit of a thing over the years and then I sorta messaged him again saying ‘Hey dude, how’s things? See you’re doing well. I’d be interested in speaking to you guys about coming onboard.’”

Shortly after, the UK-majority roster was in contact with Belfast Storm and agreed to represent the organisation going forward – debuting in ESEA Main and attending EPIC.LAN under the Belfast Storm umbrella shortly after.

Although McAllister’s long-term goals are lofty, the immediate goals for the Belfast Storm roster upon signing were simple progression: Getting on HLTV, playoffs in ESEA Main and UKIC Division 1, and top four at EPIC.LAN 43, but the organisation’s primary focus is the roster’s willingness to learn and improve. Speaking shortly after the signing, McAllister outlined his aims:

I talked to the coach [GrimyRannarr] last night and I said ‘Look, for me it’s just about work-rate and keeping a really high work-rate. As long as the guys stay motivated.’ I said ‘I would love to work with this team as long as possible and give them the sort of resources they need to develop.’

Despite reaching UKIC Div 1 playoffs, therefore a HLTV match, Belfast Storm decided to part ways with Alex “Frosty” Foster and kas, with the latter citing on X a lack of motivation as a reason for his removal. When asked for comment, coach Freddie “GrimyRannarr” Pritchard commented, “Unfortunately, after not progressing like we would have wanted to across the last two seasons we felt like it was necessary to make a change.” 

Changes in this instance were driven by the roster, but reflect the competitive nature of CS at any level. While Belfast Storm may be only seeking progress and motivation, both can be hard to sustain at a level which demands dedication with little monetary reward.

The bedroom org honour system

Facing a scene that has its fair share of roster instability, bedroom orgs often work with players who are not under contract and are hence free to leave. In that context organisations have to carefully consider giving money out too easily, to avoid being taken advantage of by malicious actors.

It’s been one of the toughest things I’ve ever been involved with. I’ve had lots of money stolen from me. I’ve had lots of things people don’t see – constant. But I just try to focus on the path that we’re on.

Having been bitten in the past, McAllister works by an honour system where investment is earned through reciprocity and displays of dedication and professionalism.

Even player jerseys, seemingly the fundamental pieces of apparel for a Counter-Strike team, will be provided when the players have embedded into the team. The roster was quick to display their good intentions and start growing that trust by representing the organisation at EPIC.LAN 43. Having joined the organisation just before the LAN, they had already personally paid all associated costs. The choice to represent Belfast Storm was a rare show of good faith in what can be an increasingly cynical industry.

Why join a bedroom org?

The benefits of playing for a tier one organisation are clear –  you might get invites to events through the team, your travel and accommodation paid for, help with your visas, your food provided, a full-time coach and of course a salary. With all extraneous factors taken care of, a tier one player is free to focus on his crosshair. But for a “bedroom org”, the budget is naturally much more restricted.

With limited resources, all expenditure must be carefully considered in terms of its benefit per dollar. On the other hand, the players have to give up a certain level of freedom and control to be part of an organisation. So the question is raised, why does a roster give over control of their team to a bedroom org that typically won’t pay them a wage? It is a large sacrifice simply to have “rifler for x or y team” on your twitter bio.

Former K10 manager Ethan “fl0wZ” Rogerson had some thoughts on the allure of bedroom orgs in the UK and Irish scene, stating: “It’s a very interesting dynamic when you actually think about it. At the bottom [ESEA] Main to Inters level, what are the benefits of joining an org? You might be better by yourself. 

“Especially in the UK, we have a very big football culture, and I think people love to represent their clubs. People want to represent something which is not just themselves, and that’s the draw of bedroom orgs at the lowest level.” 

As teams rise the ranks, they incur more costs and the financial incentives of joining an organisation become more obvious, but there is no blueprint for what a bedroom org can or will offer teams. The offer may depend on factors like the potential of the roster to compete and garner investment, or the financial means of the owner(s).

Rogerson continued, “We’ve had a wide array of different teams with varying deals… When we had the AdamJC team last year, the deal was LAN funding if it was available and all online stuff covered, and when we moved on to dox’s team it was obviously salary, bootcamp, LANs covered, external tools covered. So it very much depends on what you’re trying to achieve with the roster and what value they’re going to provide for you.”

Belfast Storm had an initial discussion with the players where it was decided that the best avenue for supporting their new roster was by covering ESEA Main fees, paying for a practice server, and providing a subscription to a tactical teaching tool ‘StratBox’, which is used for learning utility and reviewing demos. LAN support and bootcamps are an aspiration for the organisation, but would be predicated on revenue growth. McAllister wants to provide the support he can but recognises that his rosters may benefit from further support and would not hold them back if they pursued another organisation that could provide more funding.

“For me, at the end of the day I’m just a normal working guy,” said McAllister. “Any of the money is coming from my own pocket so if a team comes to me and said ‘We need to go to this LAN now and we need flights, accommodation, everything’, I just couldn’t afford that. It would have to come through sponsorship.” 

Belfast Storm’s roster also benefits from indirect support. McAllister hires casters to commentate their matches on Belfast Storm’s Twitch, regularly posts on social media, and creates graphics related to Belfast Storm’s upcoming matches and results. Belfast Storm also plans to hire an editor to create frag movies made from the roster’s highlights to raise the profile of the organisation and its players. However, for CS players, content creation can often be viewed as a poisoned chalice.

The long-awaited return has arrived!

Please give a huge welcome to our new CS2 team! ☄️@Frosty10cs @NemCsgo @dexieCS @kascsgo @Finuii

Get behind the team in any way you can! Games should be starting on the 16th of July! pic.twitter.com/eGOibSbfKR

— Belfast Storm (@Belfaststorm) June 30, 2024

Clashing priorities

Upon considering joining their first organisation, players will have to balance the offer made to them with the corresponding loss of autonomy and increased responsibility that comes with being part of even a small team. High-level CS players are, justifiably, obsessed with winning above all, and therefore are resistant to putting time and effort into work that does not contribute to that end. That laser-focused competitive mentality contributes to the players reaching a high level within their scene, however, it becomes a hindrance when it comes to getting eyes on the roster – eyes which would take both the roster and the organisation’s brand to the next level.

Rogerson has seen this problem multiple times during his career in UK CS. “Sometimes they [players] fail to understand that their value to an organisation is that we’re essentially using them to market other people’s brands. 

“There have been a few times where I’ve had to really encourage people to get involved in terms of making content. I won’t name names but at our CS bootcamp there were two people in particular who didn’t even want to get involved in the photoshoot, or in the vlogs, or even the announcement videos.”

For players, the priority is the next match; for organisations, the priority is long-term growth. As the profile of the players goes hand in hand with that of the org, there is a natural incentive for a team to invest in raising that profile. Therefore, players get more attention and increase their market potential through the org doing work that the players largely don’t want to do, with the downside that they will occasionally be “encouraged” to engage in creating content which does not help them in the server.

hi pls follow insta so I can keep my job thanks 🙌https://t.co/zDyYkAjyEr

— cai✨ (@cyphercsgo_) July 29, 2024

“There is no sustainability”

Rosters joining a bedroom org will have to also judge their own belief in the longevity of the project they are joining. To follow UK CS is to follow a system which is always in flux. 2024 has been a particularly turbulent year. As of the time of publication, only four of the eight organisations present at UKIC Season 1 Division 1 – a tournament which took place only five months ago – still operate an active UK/Irish roster. 

For bedroom orgs, the business model has too frequently been boom and bust. Initial investment, then inflated wages for players followed by an inability to meet unrealistic expectations of in-game success and out-of-game growth, then sudden collapse.

Stuart McAllister believes he can achieve that by keeping his business modest, and his expectations grounded.

I don’t like to push out too far. I try to look at it like a proper business where you have a budget per team. Right now, I’m happy with what I’ve got.

For Belfast Storm, sustainability is relative. Upon entering CS again, there is little expectation of sudden profit and expansion. McAllister’s goal is not to make money in the short-term, quite the opposite. He’s in it for the love of it, so accepts personal financial loss so long as it contributes to the long-term goals of establishing the roster, the brand and supporting his vision of helping Irish esports.

“It’s a long-term process in esports. So there is no sustainability [at this level]. You would have to progress further on then – whether it’s a case of, you contract players, and then build them up as a profile and you work with the players… it’s not sustainable at all, you do have to put money into it to get nothing back really.” McAllister commented.

Having gone through tough times McAllister finds himself in a positive mental and financial space, growing his business and deriving joy from his kids and his new partner. He believes that he can continue to support his Counter-Strike and League of Legends teams well into the future.

I think as an org we’re in a good place. I think when I’m in a good place then the org’s in a good place, and my life has changed a lot over the last few years in a really good way.

Distilled within that positive statement, however, is the intrinsic vulnerability of organisations of this size. What happens when an organisation depends on one of two individuals who may naturally lose focus or interest amongst the challenges of life? In Stuart’s case, he was happy to be open with UKCSGO about his struggles with mental health, his divorce and his experience of personal tragedy – all of which contributed to his lack of ability to fully and enthusiastically engage with his organisation at times during its existence.

“I used to come home from work, and I’d be sitting on the call exhausted. I just couldn’t focus, and I used to say to Brendan ‘I’m really not enjoying this.” I let it run on and I was like “Guys, I’m really exhausted. I need to take a step back from this.’”

In such cases, rosters can find themselves suddenly without support or resources that are being depended upon. There is therefore an inbuilt instability within the UK and Irish scene, which is so often supported by individual enthusiasts – however well-meaning. In other cases organisations may be deliberately misleading, or have their leadership fall foul of community standards, jeopardising their business and roster. By keeping his promises modest, McAllister is hoping to avoid such pitfalls.

7AM co-owner steps down

Bedroom orgs form a foundational element of the global pathway for players, bridging the gap between amateur and salaried rosters, growing players’ profiles and allowing them to reach new heights. Barely any player, from AZUWU to Zywoo, has progressed through the CS ranks without being a part of one.

Likewise, the enthusiasm of owners like Stuart McAllister form a key aspect of any scene, especially the UK and Irish sphere where the scene is not the strongest, so growing and representing it becomes the primary goal of the owner. However, that enthusiasm is a double-edged sword, with many organisations setting unrealistic goals and expectations which end up backfiring, compromising the organisation and introducing instability in the scene they are trying to thrive in.

For now, much is possible for Belfast Storm, but nothing is guaranteed. Although they now must reforge their roster, it will be a roster benefitting from its attachment to a bedroom org. The roster has already benefited from tangible benefits such as coverage for ESEA fees and a  StratBox subscription to learn new utility. Additionally, the team’s social media is abuzz with activity as they attempt to grow the team and roster’s profile. Whether McAllister’s organisation achieves its ambitious long-term strategic goals remains to be seen, but for now he is sticking to what he has always done – trying to help his team in any way he can, even if it’s just getting a player a bottle of water.