The decision to make Team EG an equal among “the most professional, respectable and accomplished eSport organisations in the world”, highlights a radical shift in membership policy for the G7. But, one which shows the group still haven't got a long term goal and they aren't interested in power sharing.

EG is popular – that's good news for the G7. The move is looked upon favourably by both professional and amateur communities. The good will diffuses a lot of negativity which comes up when the G7 is discussed. Stuart Saw, director of Crossfire.nu and QuadV, said “EG certainly deserve it [the G7 invite] but the G7 still don't serve much of a purpose.”

EG is widely seen as the only major North American organisation still supporting Counter Strike 1.6 (CS 1.6), while the majority moved to Counter Strike: Source (CSS) and the Championship Gaming Series (CGS). The amateur scene saw EG support a number of emerging titles including Defense of the Ancients (DotA) and Call of Duty 4. While also single handedly supporting the entire North American death match scene in Quake 4 and Unreal Tournament 3.

The G7, despite this, do not see EG as an equal though. The Canadian organisation "will have the chance to prove themselves within the group" over a three month trial period, before being allowed to join as a full member. On the one hand it shows that the G7 is being flexible with its membership policy and allowing for potential mistakes, especially important with a recovering market like North America. On the other, it shows European organisations asserting their influence over a member who has only been recruited out of necessity.
The real American teams, compLexity and Team 3D, departure to the CGS triggered their eventual removal from the group. The official response was the teams “no longer had the autonomy and independence that's required of G7 membership”. Though, the move was ultimately phony as both Jason Lake, manager of compLexity, and Craig Levine, the former 3D manager, remained within the group as individual representatives.

The same rule is completely overlooked for Paulo Velloso, the representative for Made in Brazil (MiBr), who also manages the Brazilian CGS franchise, Rio Sinistro.

The move for EG is to reintroduce a legitimate North American organisation into the group, after seven months without a team. The group can also directly influence the development of the CSPromod project. Alexander Mueller, spokesman of the G7 Teams and managing director of SK Gaming, said "...we had the feeling he [Alexander Garfield, executive director of EG and CSPromod leader] could be an asset to our group and we started talking to him more...”.

The G7 works because of prestige. The teams who are not in the group are just as important as those who are accepted. And since membership policy, even now, still revolves around the strength of your CS 1.6 team, the group often looks a little lop sided and outdated.

Flexible membership policies, while effective in the short term, work against the principle of prestige. If the G7 uses weak recruitment policies like they have, then it should be no surprise when they're left with weak organisations. And, the more organisations who're associated with the G7, the weaker the group and brand becomes.

PGS Gaming were recruited less than a month after their Polish CS 1.6 team won the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) in 2007. Their omission from the group, based on the fact the group is made up of the strongest CS 1.6 teams in the world, looked strange. The G7 was forced to let them join.

When the squad went onto join Meet Your Makers (MYM) in early 2008, the G7 was left with PGS who don't have any competitive squads in any professional game. The same criticism can be levelled against 4Kings, and to a certain extent, MiBr and wNv Gaming.

Bas Peeperkorn, general manager of Serious Gaming, in a 2007 interview said, “I don't know what the G7 is, I do not know how they have influenced the industry”. While the group has made a much more significant impact in its second year, the fact it is still so one-dimensional in recruitment policy shows how nothing has changed.

With the announcement of the International eSport Federation (IeSF) last month (pictured), the G7's role in 2008 is even more unclear than it was in 2006. After two and a half years of twists, turns, ups and downs, the G7 roller coaster is back where it began.

The Zechs Files will be back next Tuesday

Photo appears courtesy of eSport Danmark