It is the last day of the first decade of the new Millennium, as an HLTV.org tradition, we look back at what took place in the year that went past us.
A tough year for e-Sport
The year of 2009 might be remembered as one of the roughest years in e-Sport history, but that aside, looking back, we had a great outcome, taken the recession in mind. In the early days of January, mTw lost AMD as main sponsor, so did several other teams, including the Swedish team SK Gaming. AMD was reported to pull out of e-Sport entirely, but in the end decided sticking to World Cyber Games as their only e-Sport asset.
AMD dropped all team sponsorships in 2009
Another victim of the rough 2009 times in e-Sport came in mid-March, when ESNation announced that they had filed for bankruptcy. This meant that the Polish two times ESWC champions all of a sudden stood without a home. The Poles had no idea that this should be the beginning of a very rough year for the team. Early April saw another huge blow for e-Sport, as the mother company behind the ESWC brand; Games-Service went down the same road as ESNation and filed for bankruptcy. A lot of tournaments furthermore had to deduct quite a bit in the prize money for the 2009 season, comparing to the prizes paid (or not paid) out in 2008.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger
Regardless of a tough year for e-Sport, looking back it wasn't so bad after all. A team that kept their heads high in the recession was fnatic. On the 19th of January the team announced Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund would replace Oskar "ins" Holm, who retired from pro-gaming. The last piece to ignite the fnatic-dominance of 2009 came on the 24th of January, when Oscar "Archi" Torgersen also decided it was time to put an end to his pro-gaming career. It was Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl who was to fill the boots and short before Extreme Masters III Continental Finals Europe and Global Finals, the team was not given many chances. The critics were however wrong, as the team went to claim top spot at the Global Finals, winning against the Poles from (at the time) MYM.
fnatic - the team of 2009
This was the official kick-off for fnatic, who from this point and on, went to claim top spot at almost every tournament they attended. With the victory at World Esports Masters 2009, fnatic claimed their sixth major win this year, also beating the 2003 SK Gaming squad in terms of winning the most money. During the 2009 season, fnatic went to claim ten top four placings this season, with sixth of them being on top spot. An astonishing list of where the Swedes went and how much money they won, can be viewed below.
4th EM III European Finals - $4,000 1st EM III Global Finals - $50,000 2nd EPS Scandinavia - $6,622 1st ESWC Masters Cheonan - $20,000 1st KODE5 2009 - $25,000 1st e-Stars 2009 - $12,000 2nd Global Challenge Chengdu - $7,500 1st Global Challenge Dubai - $10,000 2nd WCG 2009 - $18,000 1st WEM 2009 - $22,500
Total - $175,622
With this, fnatic can without doubt crown themselves champions of 2009. fnatic also find themselves on the very top of G7 Teams Rankings, seeing SK Gaming taking second and mTw on third place.
A new kid on the block
With ESWC shutting down, one of the majors was missing. But a new tournament got the attention during the 2009 season, as Arbalet Cup continued to produce tournaments in East Europe, with big prizes. The organizers announced that they would be having an event in Stockholm, in the end of the year, with a prize purse of $32,000. In November Arbalet Cup revealed their plans for 2010, once again featuring events in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan but most interesting was that the 2010 Arbalet Cup Europe would feature a staggering $100,000 prize purse, really putting Arbalet Cup on the map and one to watch in 2010.
HLTV.org 2009 in numbers
We can happily report that 2009 broke all HLTV.org records. Last year we were proud to announce we had once again broken all our previous records. 2009 was no exception and we have enjoyed every single moment of the successes during the year. To sum up 2009 in numbers, you can find some interesting statistics below:
2,254,275 absolute unique visitors (1,310,161 in 2008) 13,599,235 visits (7,752,425 in 2008) 406,890 bookings (347,000 in 2008) 119,642,516 page views (70,094,156 in 2008)
2009 saw our Player and Team statistics go live, adding several new features during the year and introducing the POV demo section. Looking at how we did in 2009 and taking a look at what came in our way (ESL banning HLTV from ESL TV matches, KODE5 back-stabbing us shortly before the Global Finals), I can only say we consider our performance approved. Once again I look forward to please you, now in the year of 2010.
On behalf of the entire HLTV.org crew, I wish you a happy new year. Last but not least, I'd like to thank the users for their contribution in 2009, hope you will stick to us in 2010, also the sites/organizations/tournaments for their co-operation this year, without you, nothing this year would be possible.
Happy New Year! Wish all of you guys being more friendly and acceptable to guys from other country. Let HLTV be a peaceful place not a field of battle.
2009-12-31 18:57
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Happy new year. It has been a great year @ hltv.org. Looking forward to 2010. Good job nix0n, nomad and last but not least MIRA for lifting us all up at night-times
2009-12-31 19:08
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happy new year my friends :D
speaking of fnatic, GeT_RiGhT's incredible list of achievements in 2009:
Tournaments:
4th @ EM III Continental Finals ($4.000)
1st @ EM III Global Finals ($50.000)
2nd @ EPS Scandinavia
1st @ ESWC Masters Cheonan ($20.000)
1st @ KODE5 Global Finals ($25.000)
1st @ DreamHack Summer playing as a stand-in with GuX for Lemondogs (both wearing their fnatic shirts)
1st @ e-Stars Seoul ($8.500)
1st @ WCG Sweden
1st @ ENC with Team Sweden (4.000€)
2nd @ Global Challenge Chengdu ($7.500)
1st @ Global Challenge Chengdu ($10.000)
2nd @ WCG 2009 ($18.000)
1st @ WEM 2009 ($22.500)
Awards:
Counter-Strike Player of the Year
eSports Player of the Year
(yes, I did take this from his Facebook page but... I'm the owner of that page :D)
2009-12-31 19:46
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I wish you guys a happy new year and I hope that BEER will be more and more cheap in your countries!
And I hope that we all will be forgiving for all the trolls and fanboys around here.
Cheers!
2009-12-31 20:04
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Here are My Wishes for All
H ours of happy times with friends and family
A bundant time for relaxation
P rosperity
P lenty of love when you need it the most
Y outhful excitement at lifes simple pleasures
N ights of restful slumber (you know - dont' worry be happy)
E verything you need
W ishing you love and light
Y ears and years of good health
E njoyment and mirth
A angels to watch over you
R embrances of a happy years!
2009-12-31 20:35
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Happy New Year from the USA! My predictions for 2010 – the US will continue going deeper into debt (14 trillion here we come), the dollar will continue heading toward worthlessness, oil will go above $100 a barrel, gold will hit $2000 an ounce, EG will make a roster change before the year is out, Tyloo and the still unnamed Ukrainian team starix, Zeus, Esenin, Edward, and markeloff will be the teams to watch out for, And lastly I’ll start the new year with one nasty hangover.
Good luck in 2010 everyone
2009-12-31 23:22
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I'd like to say that the aditional of MIRAA was a great move :) and also we can se the HLTV.org 2009 in numbers, POVs, statistics, hltv live, and so on :)
Happy new year, HLTV.org crew :)
2010-01-01 22:56
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