News

Hello LANcouver community,

Unfortunately I am announcing today that we are canceling the BYOC portion of LANcouver 2015 at SFU.

This decision was made after assessing the sponsorship we have been able to attract for this year, as well as several other factors including ticket sales and event overhead.

Organizing a LAN is a bigger and more expensive undertaking than most people realize. Myself and everyone involved are very dedicated to the cause but without a few assurances we can’t risk hosting an event that may not break even, or worse – be bland, boring, and without the excitement that gamers expect from us.

In previous years we have had massive support from sponsors. Without them LANcouver would not have been possible. Unfortunately for us in 2015, sponsor support is almost non-existent. This is an extremely unusual situation that we have never faced before.

I realize that many of you come to LAN events to have fun, but the majority of players are here to compete and win. We don’t want to ask for $60 and then offer very little in return.

Instead of a BYOC LAN we are going to offer an online tournament for CS:GO. That community has been extremely supportive of us this year so we would like to continue with that momentum.

There will be a minimum cash prize pool of $2500 based on a buy-in at $60 per player, and the prize pool will increase based on the number of teams that register. The existing rules will apply and tickets will be sold at the same Eventbrite page soon. Any existing pass holders do not need to take action. Any VIP CSGO players will have the difference in ticket price refunded via PayPal. Please allow a few weeks for us to process this.

Everyone is entitled to a full refund of their weekend pass, including CSGO players who don’t wish to participate in the online event. To request a refund, please follow these instructions. Refund requests will be taken until 11:59PM on September 30, 2015.

Link:
http://help.eventbrite.ca/customer/portal/articles/428712-can-i-get-a-refund-

Myself and all the other LANcouver volunteers thank you for your support over the last 11+ years. LAN parties are not possible without dedicated fans.

Is this the end of LANcouver? Absolutely not. When we are ready and have the sponsor support that we need, LANcouver will happen again.

Thank you,

Spencer Whitney
Founder & Event Coordinator
LANcouver

Please forward any questions to info @ LANcouver.com

*** UPDATES ***

Please note that refunds will be processed in a timely manner and that it can take up to 4 business days for the refund to appear in your PayPal account. We will only issue refunds requested by the original purchaser and the refund will only be issued to the original PayPal account. For passes purchased more than 60 days before the refund request, Eventbrite fees may not be refundable.

We’re happy to announce that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been confirmed as a major tournament for LANcouver 2013. Due to the feedback received and the success of the CS:GO tournament at LANcouver 2012, we are very excited to have this popular FPS on board again for 2013.

The official sign-up page is live as of today, and sponsorship of prizing will be announced soon. As a major tournament, CS:GO will be favoured with some pretty awesome prizes, and possibly a cash prize pool (based on turnout). Even if you have a casual team, come out and try to win some new gear! You could even be featured on our live broadcasts throughout the weekend.

Don’t have a team? No problem! ESEA members can find a team by visiting this thread. You can also try leaving a message on the LANcouver Faceboook page, or find a team by checking out this Google Document.

We’ll leave you with this awesome highlight reel from LANcouver 2012 produced by Mahone!

** LANcouver 2013 tickets are on sale NOW! Click here to purchase your 3-day BYOC pass! **

After many months we’ve finally announced the date and location for LANcouver. This year’s event will be held at the NCIX Warehouse in Richmond, BC! It’s very rare that NCIX has an empty warehouse – after all, they stock thousands and thousands of items that we need as gamers and techies. But lucky for us NCIX is moving to a bigger home, meaning that LANcouver gets a once in a lifetime chance to hold an event in a very unique venue!

But just because the gear has moved doesn’t mean you won’t find lots and lots of awesome deals at the NCIX Warehouse Sale – happening at the same time as LANcouver! Specials will be announced by NCIX a little closer to the event, and if past Warehouse Sales are any indication, you won’t want to miss this one!

Because of this great venue we are able to offer an even better LAN experience in 2013. LANcouver will again have a capacity of 200 BYOC participants, and we expect every seat to sell out. In lieu of discount codes we are offering great benefits for early ticket purchasers. The price of a full weekend pass is now $5 less than 2012 and includes an official event t-shirt if you are one of the first 100 people to buy a pass. And the advantage to having an entire warehouse to ourselves is the ability to make it completely dark – no more bright lights keeping you distracted from gaming or unable to get some sleep.

Group Seating is available via a new feature on our ticket check-out page. When you buy your ticket, you can either create or join a group. Get together with your friends or team and create a group that you can all join, and you will be guaranteed to sit together. If you buy a ticket and then want to join or switch your group, no worries! You can edit your registration profile.

New this year is a VIP BYOC section. This special seating area will have extra room for your gear, more power for your computer and accessories, exclusive sponsor swag, complementary refreshments, security and curtains to keep screen-lookers away! A very limited number of VIP tickets are available, though we may add more VIP seats if demand is strong enough. Due to the limited amount of VIP seats, group seating is on a first come first served basis.

Finally, we will be bringing back food trucks! They were a hit at LANcouver 2011 and many people were not satisfied with the lack of choices at the Oval cafeteria. Being in a different venue also means we are able to run a concession with competitively priced snacks and drinks.

If you think you have a great idea for LANcouver, we’d like to hear it! Email us at info@lancouver.com and tell us what you think should be at LANcouver 2013.

As if our survey contest wasn’t enough motivation for you to keep checking up on LANcouver during the post-event months! Starting immediately, you can enter to win a Gigabyte G1.Killer Assassin 2 motherboard, thanks to Futurelooks, MegaTechNews, and eSports Collective Network! Our friends are always generous, but this is just crazy!

Read more →

It’s been just under a month since the doors closed at LANcouver 2012. We’ve had a lot of feedback from our sponsors and attendees, and today we’re proud to launch the LANcouver 2012 Post-Event Survey. This survey will help us shape future LANs in the region and also gives you the chance to directly influence how LANcouver events are run. We’re also excited to offer up prizes to every eligible person who completes the survey! Gigabyte and Futurelooks have teamed up with an awesome motherboard that will be awarded to one random surveyed person!

Read more →

Our friends at Futurelooks have cooked up some amazing things for you to do at LANcouver outside of gaming. For the first time ever, a LAN event in BC will host panels, gameplay analysis, and seminars!

But before we go in to details, check out the Futurelooks preview of everything that LANcouver has to offer.

You can only participate if you come to LANcouver – buy your 3-Day BYOC or Spectator pass now!

Read on to find out more about LANcouver University!

Read more →

We are very excited to announce something big today – in fact, this is the biggest announcement in Vancouver eSports history! Thanks to last minute participation from CyberActiv, the national coordinator for the Blizzard World Championship Series, LANcouver’s StarCraft II tournament will result in the top eligible player moving on to the Canadian Finals of the WCS! Read on for more information… Read more →

We are happy to announce that LANcouver 2012 will be the site of one of the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments to be held at a LAN event with open entry! This tournament was made possible by prize support from Thermaltake’s Ttesports division. The winning team will get a Ttesports prize pack valued at almost $200 each! Other prizes for CS:GO will be announced in the coming days. For Source, we’ve got a whole new range of prizes. Read on to find out!

Read more →

Edit: To comply with Blizzard WCS format we have changed the map pool slightly – see below

Today we’re revealing the official map pool for SC2 at LANcouver 2012! We are also releasing information about which rounds will play which map, meaning that you can start training right away. Both brackets (Champions and Consolation) will play the same maps during each level of the bracket (R32, R16, etc).

We’ve already sold 50 LANcouver passes, and we expect a lot more to be sold before the event hits this Canada Day long weekend. To guarantee entry and a spot in the SC2 tournament, you can pre-pay online now and register for the tournament in advance. Pre-paying not only guarantees you entry, but also enters you in to awesome prizes draws sponsored by NCIX and some of our other sponsors!

Remember that you can get $10 off your pass when you use the code “NCIX” at checkout on our registration page.

Here’s the official map pool: Read more →