Complexity shuts down after 23 years in esports

Complexity has ceased operations after 23 years. The North American esports organisation, founded in 2003, won more than 140 championships across nearly 30 games, and its founder, Jason Lake, confirmed the closure in a message to fans.

An orderly ending, not a crash

Lake said the decision to close the organisation was taken at the end of last year. He had reacquired Complexity a couple of years earlier and admitted he knew it would be an uphill battle. The decisive problem was a seller-held note, a financing arrangement in which the previous owner of a company allows the buyer to pay part of the purchase price over time.

"We surveyed the landscape, surveyed where the business was at and prospects for raising capital to pay off the seller-held note, and decided the best thing to do was to shut it down in an orderly and professional way rather than crashing it into the sun, as sometimes we see with other organisations," Lake said.

The Complexity name is back with GameSquare

Complexity's intellectual property, which covers its name and branding, has transferred back to GameSquare. The gaming and esports company, which also acquired FaZe Clan in October 2023, held the seller-held note from when Lake bought Complexity back.

"So the IP is still out there, but me and my core team are no longer associated or have any say or ownership whatsoever," Lake said. He added that the corporate, legal and mergers and acquisitions work needed to complete the transfer took six months, and did not say whether GameSquare has plans for the brand.

Lake and his team move on

Lake and his core team are no longer part of the organisation, and some had worked alongside him for more than 15 years. He said most of his former colleagues have already found new roles and asked other esports leaders to reach out to Katie, Complexity's former social media lead, who is still looking for work. He also revealed that people were still contacting him about buying Complexity jerseys, which are no longer available.

Lake took a sabbatical this year to rest and spend time with his family after running the organisation, as he put it, at a high stress load, but he was clear that he is not retiring. "In terms of myself, I'm not done. No way," he said, adding that he loves to build and to lead and hopes his next project is in esports.

Our opinion

Complexity's ending is unusual for esports in that it was, in Lake's word, orderly, and the mechanism is worth understanding. A seller-held note meant the organisation's most durable property, its name, sat against a debt owed to the company that had sold it. When the capital to clear that note did not materialise, the brand went back rather than the business simply disappearing. That is tidier than the abrupt collapses the scene has grown used to, and it may be the template more organisations end up following.

The harder question is what it says about a scene valued on championships and goodwill rather than revenue. Twenty-three years, more than 140 titles and a fanbase that still emails about jerseys did not add up to a business able to raise the money to stay independent, and the buyer who stepped in to save it in 2024 was the one who had sold it. Lake says he is not done and wants to build again, which is good news for whoever hires him next and a more awkward signal for everyone still arguing that longevity alone keeps a team alive.