Focus on the Horizon

Change does not always have to be for the worst. Change can equal growth, prosperity and progress. This is exactly the kind of change that is happening to Pownz. We are changing so that we are able to serve our customers better.

Pownz Gaming Centre has recently gone through a series of management, ownership, and brand changes, all for the unified goal of raising the profile and professionalism of e-Sports in Canada.
During the next couple of weeks Pownz will begin renovations on its high performance centre. The end result will be a new centre, now slated to be named the Pownz e-Sports Centre.

Transparency is paramount to ensure that our greatest treasure; our customers, understand that we are not leaving, or abandoning anyone but unifying our actions and goals into a single outcome.
Some the changes will include:

• New e-Sports dedicated cabinets
• Introduction of an all day ‘Venue Fee’
• Phased out hourly rates
• Remodeled centre
• High focus on competitive gaming events
• Larger release parties

In the future the hours of operations will reflect the modifications, and will be set to provide the optimum service to our patrons.
We believe that these changes will be of benefit to everyone due to the level of service we will be able to provide.

We are proud to continue to serve our community unprecedented tournaments and high profile events.

Christopher Connell
Chief Executive Officer

While I also believe the overall motive here could be for the better, I do agree with Blades. On top of that, in regards to this hourly rate news; I just bought about 9 hours probably a week ago. Am I to lose these?

My questions about the changes are: What are the new hours of operation going to be? I have personally been done to Pownz since this started and have already seen that you have completely cut out certain hours of certain days.

Another is about the centre becoming a e-sports centre. Does this mean that your going to be changing the selection of games you have from casual play to all competitive type games? I ask this question because myself and my friend patriots4ever only go down there to play the casual games you guys have. Don't get me wrong in saying we don't play the competitive games.

For now those are the only questions that come to mind. If i have more i will post them here in the future.

I am happy for you Drekken because this is your creation so its only natural that you would want it to grow and expand but i hope that this "expansion" doesn't cost you the customers of the casual gaming nature.

Ok guys, I know there is a lot going on right now and many of you are noticeably upset about the changes at the Centre. Let me start by thanking you all for your heart felt concerns. I know you all love what we have tried to build, other wise you would not care so much about our changes. We have all had some great times here over the last 2 years and we will never forget that. But what must be understood is the difficulty in providing the services we have in the past. In order to facilitate a game centre that caters to the casual crowd, we need to have a wide number of hours of operation and this means we also need to keep the store staffed during this time. To be open that much and to also need to pay two staff members, while also paying all other costs, is simply beyond our capabilities. While there are some die hard fans of Pownz Gaming Centre, who have devoted their free time to using our services, there are insufficient numbers to keep the Centre running properly.

Since we opened in 2007, we have become very apt at running competitive events. These events are very popular and organized. Competitive Communities are in need of a place to meet and gather, we wish to be this location. To do this we must alter the way the Centre operates and this means changing the nature of our services, layout and operation systems. What this will do, is open Pownz up to new possibilities and resources, which will ultimately lead to our success, something we should all want. This new direction does not exclude you the casual gaming crowd, but it asks that the way in which you play at the Centre does change. It means you will have access to a large community of fellow gamers that come together in common cause. It means we can open our doors to distributors whose resources will help provide better services. It means we can evolve and become better at what we do and accelerate the gaming industry in Canada.

Yes, the Centre you knew is changing, but the important thing is that we are not closing. We have all been on this journey together and we have all learned some important lessons and met some important people. Many of you came to our Centre over the years not knowing the other. You were just Jon's or Zack's. But under our walls, you met other kindered spirits, and joined together as Blades and Inferno, as Dante and Some Guy, as Ravenswarm and Beast, as Dig Dug and Heffer and so you still are those people, still are those friends, still are those gamers. You have all met each other and now forge great friendships that will endure through the ages. Pownz was merely the nexus that brought you together, and even if our signs change, or our walls morph or games shift, the key thing is that our doors remain open. So that many more gamers can come together as you have, so that more friendships are formed and more fond memories created. That is why we are here and as long as we keep our doors open, we will provide a roof from which to meet.

The future is unwritten my friends. The community we have formed is far from dead, if anything it is about to get a new breath of life. Even if you look upon the new Pownz with disdain, I truly hope that you will all still care for one another, still use your chosen names and still remember that places do not form communities, love does.

I love Pownz and I will do everything in my power to ensure we are able to keep the spirit alive. I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for your continued support over the years. And I promise you, that if you keep an open mind and trust in our abilities, this will not be the end.

So says the META CLOUD...

I'm looking forward to the new changes, though I do empathize with the casual gamers who don't necessarily want to seek the competitive strain of gaming.

Hopefully there will still be opportunities for casual gamers to still take part in gaming at Pownz, even if on a more scaled down level.

If you truly cared about the centre, you'd want this to happen. You cannot expect them to be open a all hours paying staff with no customers in the centre at all. Catering to competitive players will cover the costs of running the centre, among other things, enabling them to remain open for recreational players. Personally I didn't think Pownz would survive being open just to be a place to go play video games. You can do that at home. Now they have a good place for tournaments among other events, which you cannot easily do at home.

Good luck to Pownz and I look forward to seeing the changes.

Good luck, Drek and the team...

Also, if you need network help, let me know.

John aka nybble