Hi everyone,
Wow, what an event. BaseLAN 34 was a massive success; no network issues, delays, or power outages!? Thanks to everyone who attended, all the staff, and everyone who put in the time and effort to make this last event the best.
Wait! WHAT? Last event!?
You may have heard this was the last BaseLAN… which, in a sense, is true, but I figure I should explain what is going on and squash any rumors.
BaseLAN in its current format is ending and AYBOnline is moving away from eSports. This is happening for quite a few reasons, but mainly because the industry has changed and eSports sponsorship is drying up. We’ve gone from our average of 25 sponsors to 5 for this past event. This isn’t because of something AYBOnline is doing, but because companies are moving into the eSports realm of world wide events and arenas. Many of our sponsors have actually been sending us stuff simply because of how long we’ve been partnered, but even that has now ended for the most part.
So what does this mean?
We’ve decided to keep going with casual LANs and – after discussing this with many of you – it was well received. We’ve actually lost attendees over the years due to eSports tournaments taking up most of BaseLAN’s space and time. We’re hoping this change to casual LANing brings back many of those waiting for so long.
The plan is to continue doing BaseLAN in May, but as a two-day (one night) event. We will not be doing two events a year; there are other ‘events’ coming up that will cover the fall period. We will announce details once we confirm a few things.
So, in short, BaseLAN is NOT over, but the eSports tournaments are. With the feedback we received – including some amazing ideas like Dum0re’s League of Legends ARAM-style Counter-Strike events or Overwatch buy-in events – we’ve decided to keep the ball rolling.
If you have any feedback on the concept or want to throw your two cents in, please reach out to us on Facebook and Twitter or email us at info@aybonline.com. We’ll see you next May for our first casual LAN in about 15 years.
-REACTOR303-
