Announcing a strategic delay.

Since the recent TIPGC 2013 Summer Update and our AllPlay venue going out of business earlier this year, Jet Set Studio has been actively considering realistic ways to squeeze in one more edition of TIPGC before the next generation consoles are released in November.

As Tournament Seeker highlighted in a “Next Generation Video Game Tournament” article, the eSports landscape may dramatically change in 2014.  With brand new (and expensive) consoles coupled with all-new games coming down the pipe, all available resources need to be committed to securing TIPGC for years to come.

If these industry-related issues weren’t challenging enough, a knock-out punch came in the form of lacking support by our host city.  In a heart-felt letter called Dear Des Moines, TIPGC Tournament Director, Ben McDougal attempted to rally local support as he shared the unique opportunities that TIPGC brings to Iowa.  Unfortunately, there has been no meaningful response from area businesses or community organizations.  TIPGC takes a substantial amount of time and money to produce and as committed as Jet Set Studio is to bringing the Midwest community together through great video game tournaments, we are not in business to lose money in our own backyard, when we are building other great events around North America.

Jet Set Studio will continue to work towards opening new doors (please contact us if you have ideas!), but with limited support at this time and FPS game titles that are coming towards the end of their competitive life cycles, the risk of hosting TIPGC this Fall is simply not worth the reward at this time.

This TIPGC website, Facebook page, and Twitter account will remain active and we do plan to attentively listen to the community’s response.  Keep an eye out for TIPGC updates in the coming months, but baring a true TIPGC miracle (see contest below!), at this time we are “pressing pause” on this video game event.

TIPGC is officially on hold.

People are asking for updates almost everyday and we’ve heard you.

After shifting TIPGC out of March early this year, we’ve been a bit quiet and wanted to share a quick update for the community to stay in tuned with this regional video game tournament held in Des Moines, Iowa.

In short, Jet Set Studio had full focus on launching Tournament Seeker and expanding UGC Niagara up through May this year.

Tournament Seeker (@TourneySeeker on Twitter) is an amazing new way to connect eSports enthusiasts worldwide and UGC Niagara turned to be Jet Set’s largest eSports event in company history, with 64 Black Ops 2 teams, 16 Halo 4 teams, and 32 NHL 13 teams competing for $30K in cash and prizes.  If you didn’t make it up to Canada, check out this UGC Niagara Venue Tour!

Since dominating that exciting second annual event in Canada, we’ve been working to find a new venue here in Des Moines (this has been harder and more expensive than you think!) and working hard to find meaningful partners to make TIPGC 2013 a reality.

If you are interested in getting involved with this fourth annual event (or know a innovative company that might be interested), we’d ask that you please contact us today.  As we tweeted last weekend, TIPGC sponsors make this event all possible, so wish us luck as we build support to put all the pieces together.

Stay tuned here, follow @TIPGC on Twitter, and like TIPGC on Facebook to be the very first to know official TIPGC updates as they become available.

We promise friends…we’re trying our best to make TIPGC 2013 a reality this Fall.  Spread the word throughout your network to show your support and stay tuned!

The Iowa Pro Gaming Challenge has been in March every year, until now.

If you’ve been following our event listing on the new search engine for video game tournaments, Tournament Seeker, you may have noticed Jet Set Studio was originally focused in on March 9-10 for our fourth annual event.

Unfortunately, the industry event calendar in March is absolutely packed this year and with MLG also announcing its season opener for March…Jet Set Studio has decided it is in the community’s best interest to shift this regional video game event.  With TIPGC 2013 postponed until later in the year, here are some awesome events to enjoy in March…

SXSW: March 8-17
MLG Dallas: March 15-17
PAX East: March 22-24
GDC: March 25-29
IPL: March 28-31
EGL: March 28-31

Another factor that played into this tough decision, was that our venue partners at AllPlay recently went out of business.  If you’ve ever attended TIPGC, you know that our venue has always made the event especially great, so we’re working hard to secure a new venue that can host all the TIPGC awesomeness.  Our hope is with more time for development, we’ll be able to make TIPGC 2013 better than ever!

In the meantime, Jet Set Studio is excited about a variety of gaming events we’re managing around North America.  Specifically, UGC Niagara, which is May 4-5 in Niagara Falls, Canada.  In fact, we invite you to secure your passport and join us for what will be our company’s largest event to date, with over $30,000 in cash and prizes.

Last but not least, we have established a dedicated TIPGC Twitter profile and TIPGC Facebook page to keep you posted as plans for TIPGC 2013 come together.  Naturally, this website will also be home for all TIPGC 2013 updates and our event listing on Tournament Seeker will remain updated as well.

The Iowa Pro Gaming Challenge went BIG in 2012.

Gamers from over 15 different states converged in Des Moines, to compete for over $10,000 and during this two day video game tournament, TIPGC showcased tons of exciting Call of Duty, Gears of War, and Halo action.

In fact, Event Highlights from Iowa’s largest video game tournament are now online!

With over 60 gaming station, a beautiful Main Stage, amazing staff, big prizes, free green beer, and the professionally-produced live stream – TIPGC 2012 treated attendees to a unique experience while including online viewers all weekend long.

In each of the three 4v4 game divisions, we had some intense competition.  With over 50 total teams, it was fun watching the tournament brackets drive teams forward towards the championship, while leaving other teams surely wanting more.  Everyone had a blast, but in the end, each game division announced 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, who all received some exciting prizes and a great payday.

Spectators at the venue and what would top out at over 550,000 online viewers, were treated to some amazing commentary and a unique live stream experience.  Our commentating team, lead by GoldenBoyFTW and Marksman, was supported by the amazing Focus Fire production staff all weekend long and provided a wonderful and interactive experience for thousands.  In fact, highlights from the live stream broadcast can still be enjoyed on our sponsoring live stream website, Twitch.TV.

It is very important to thank everyone behind this unique video game event event.  Partners like Twitch.TV, Astro Gaming, Gunnar Optiks, Nyko, Game Helmet, Gaming Generations, Envy Controllers, Lime Lounge, Davis Brown Law Firm, and our awesome venue, AllPlay, are all a part of the TIPGC winning formula.  With the ongoing support from these partners, the event management team from Jet Set Studio and Focus Fire are able bring everything together.  THANKS TO ALL OUR SPONSORS!

Last, but not least.  This year we appreciated the increased amount of media coverage before, during, and after TIPGC 2012.  We thought it would be neat to include a list of just a few of our favorite articles…

TOP NEWS – Des Moines Register

Gunnar Recap Blog

Iowa Sports Connection Recap

ESFI Event Coverage

Musing on Gaming Blog Recap

Des Moines Register Showcases Jet Set Studio

Des Moines Juice Magazine Preview

Des Moines Register – Five Things You Can’t Miss This Weekend

CityView Preview Article

Des Moines is NOT boring Preview Article

RTV Interviews Ben McDougal

Kona’s Korner Preview Article

ENJOY TIPGC 2012 HIGHLIGHTS!

4v4 Call of Duty: MW3

4v4 Gears of War 3

4v4 Halo: Reach

 With over $10,000 is cash and prizes, congratulations to all our winning teams!

- MORE HIGHLIGHTS COMING SOON -

WHAT AN AMAZING EVENT!

We’re excited to share post-TIPGC highlights, but with 50GB+ of media to organize, it may take us another few days to get everything online.  We appreciate your patience though, so we thought it would be good to at least get the official tournament results online.  Click the images below to see each division’s full-sized bracket.

TIPGC 2011 CHAMPIONS – UoR Invictus

2nd Place – Walk of Shame

3rd Place – Extreme Rainbow Hunter

TIPGC 2011 CHAMPIONS – JuKeD

2nd Place – Resistance

3rd Place – Pheasant Pluckers

Also, we’re planning to weave in so many of the neat testimonials from the community, into the official highlight video.  If you’d like to share your feedback, drop it over onto the Jet Set Studio Facebook Page and maybe we’ll include it!

With this video game tournament being “Fueled By www.GatheringofGamers.com”, we’ve utilized this powerful video game community connection and established a dedicated area for everyone to discuss this upcoming event!

Whether it’s talking about a specific game division, travel arrangements, general questions, or even finding teammates for your own team, this is a good place to be as March approaches.  Anyone can browse the conversation, but you must be a verified GoG member to jump into the fun.

TIPGC DISCUSSION