As Complexity’s run at IEM Sydney continues, more questions than their Counter-Strike<\/em> team’s quality have arisen. Their parent company, GameSquare, has formally announced plans to acquire the FaZe Clan brand, putting the two storied North American organizations under one roof. The next challenge for GameSquare as a business is navigating the conflict of interest question. <\/p>
Both FaZe Clan and Complexity operate in the same “partnered,” or quasi-franchised leagues. The big overlap comes in both BLAST and ESL’s partnered Counter-Strike<\/em> leagues, Rocket League<\/em>, and 343 Industries’ Halo Infinite<\/em>. As a general rule in any serious sporting venture, conflicts of interest, like owning two teams that compete against each other, are disallowed. In both the distant and recent past, conflicts of interest have plagued esports competitions<\/a>, and have gone both punished<\/a> and unpunished<\/a> for varying reasons. <\/p>