Gaming.rs issues statement

Gaming Paradise has been a train wreck from day one as a whole range of incidents, from missing computers to player passports being withheld, have caused severe delays to a tournament that was supposed to be reaching its end by now.

After the match between Natus Vincere and mousesports, Petar Markovic, CEO of Gaming.rs, the company hired to run the CS:GO tournament, threw some light into the issues surrounding the event.

Markovic started off by saying that, as the organisers of the event, The Gaming Resorts were responsible for providing all the conditions for the tournament to be held, including the computers that were meant to be used by teams but never made it to the venue.

"We, from Gaming.rs, were hired by a company called The Gaming Resorts to make a show for the Gaming Paradise," Markovic said.

"Our job was to provide stream, production and to bring players and teams to compete in this tournament. The Gaming Resorts had to do everything else and provide everything for the event to be successful.

"We're talking about the venue, the tickets, the prize pool, the hotel and, of course, the whole equipment, such as computers and monitors. 

"The information we got from the owners of this event and the Gaming Resorts was that the computers were coming, but they never did. They changed their minds and got some other PCs that were not meant for gaming. They did not have graphic cards, which only arrived late. That is the reason everything is delayed."

Further issues arose at the start of day three as Gaming.rs staff members' and players' passports were withheld as the company responsible for Marina Portorož, where the event is taking place, claimed it was owed money by The Gaming Resorts.

"One of our staff members told me he could not get his passport from the reception. I did not know what was happening, so when we went there to see what was going on we were told that the Marina had not been paid," Markovic explained.

"We called the embassies and the police, and after that everything was solved. The players have their passports back. Then, we got information from the production crew that the venue was going to be locked and that we would not be allowed to leave the venue or the hotel until everything was paid."

With the threat of the event being cancelled looming, Gaming.rs called an emergency meeting with all teams to inform them about the situation.

"The CEO of The Gaming Resorts talked to the players and the final decision was that the tournament will continue and the players will sign a contract with The Gaming Resorts.

"Teams will fly to Dubai, and all the costs that were not covered by the Gaming Resorts will be covered by Gaming.rs. We have purchased a few plane tickets for the casters, for Mikail "⁠Maikelele⁠" Bill and for our second host. We are giving our best just to make sure everyone is satisfied. We do not care about money."

As it stands now, three matches need to be completed before the start of the best-of-five grand final, which was originally scheduled to kick off at 20:00 .

The Counter-Strike community is not the only one to be appalled by the events at Gaming Paradise as the Dota2 tournament was cancelled to ensure that the CS:GO competition can go through. It is still unclear whether the costs incurred by the teams will be covered by the Gaming Resorts.