The Chairman's Office - MLG Chairman and Co-Founder Mike Sepso Discusses EA SPORTS Partnership
By sepso | Published: July 21, 2009 7:04pm EST
 By now everyone’s read the big news that’s been coming for a while. I just wanted to write a new blog today to say how completely jump up and down friggin excited I am about our new partnership with EA Sports. First, let me set this up for you with some context. Since 2004 Sundance and I, along with the entire MLG team have been hoping to work with EA Sports.. We have always had a great deal of respect for the Madden Challenge, because in reality it was the first big competitive event tour for console gamers. It was also the first (and for a long time the only) effort any big publisher made to engage the competitive community directly. Well, for a lot of reasons, it took us a long time to get here, but today, with big thanks to our new friends at EA Sports, we get to officially announce that MLG is taking over the operation of the EA SPORTS Challenge Series. Say it out loud. It sounds sick. I know there’s a lot of questions and concerns being raised in the MLG community which is only natural when we make a big-ass announcement like this, but let me cut right to the chase – this is EA Sports and Sony PlayStation embracing MLG as the premier platform for competitive gaming in the world. That’s what everyone in the community should be talking about this week. Everything that we’ve done so far has led to top people in the videogame industry deciding they want to take their most successful franchise games and work with MLG to embrace the competitive gaming world in a new and bigger way. Don’t believe me? Check out this quote from our new partner Peter Moore, the president of EA Sports: “This is a way to build scale and build it quickly,” said Peter Moore, EA Sports president. “Competitive gaming is obviously becoming more and more important, and what MLG has been able to do, particularly with regard to the online-based competitions, is very impressive. We’re a big fans of theirs, and this presents a big opportunity to really expand our reach globally in this area.” (SBJ Credit) Ok, ok, so EA likes us and Sony’s on board too but what does all this really mean to you, MLG fan? Let me break it down. The EA SPORTS Challenge Series is NOT the Pro Circuit. They are two separate properties that will be linked in time and space (they’re happening at the same time in adjacent spaces) and they are obviously both being operated by MLG. However, the EA SPORTSChallenge Series will continue to be its own distinct event as will the MLG Pro Circuit. Sports games and shooters require different environments and rules and are just characteristically different as competitive games. What is not different is that both kinds of games deserve the highest level of competition – and the top players in these games deserve recognition and respect. If you are an MLG fan, then you know that’s what we do better than anyone else in the world. This partnership is about bringing to the sports gaming world what MLG has brought to the shooter world. MLG’s Pro Circuit is the premier competitive platform for the top pro gamers in the world to compete. We now plan to bring that same designation to the EA SPORTS Challenge Series by working with the competitive communities in each game, just like we did with the Halo community and more recently the Gears and COD communities. To members of the MLG community who are frightened or even put off by this announcement (and honestly if you have a problem with anything in the press release, either you’re a conspiracy theorist or you just woke up on the wrong side of your Xbox today) let me say a few things. First – in no way will this impact the Pro Circuit except to raise the profile of MLG in general and to add a lot of people to live event and online audiences. None of the sponsors of the EA SPORTS Challenge Series, and none of the decisions or rules we set for the Challenge will impact the Pro Circuit in any way. Again, these are separate properties, with separate rules, sponsors, players, etc. What we hope and plan is that they both help to build on each other in very positive ways. What I hope we see in Dallas are Madden players getting their first taste of cheering on top MLG Pro teams on the Mainstage and top MLG Pro teams cheering on Madden players at the EA Sports Challenge Arena. Let me also say that what we hope to accomplish in the longer term through this partnership with EA is to impact the culture of the sports gaming world in a similar way to what we’ve done in the shooter world. That is to say – to continue to try make competitive play a focus for the industry to bring the highest level of competitive gaming into the DNA of all games and to make sure competitive gaming communities are heard and embraced. Clearly EA is already listening and we have found them to be very insightful, open and thoughtful partners already. My hopes are very high. At the end of the day, here’s what today’s announcement should say to you: EA just embraced competitive gaming in a huge way and is entrusting MLG as the leader in competitive gaming, with its most prized game franchises. Break out your MLG shirts and hats today guys, this is a moment to be proud. And to my new friends in the EA Sports communities: welcome to MLG, I can’t wait to meet you in Dallas! |
