Complexity Gaming

Logo used from 2003-2016

Complexity was founded in Buckhead, Georgia in 2003 by Jason "1" Lake, a Le Mars, Iowa native who had previously come to Georgia to attend Emory Law School.[5] Lake got into Counter-Strike through his roommate, and soon founded his own team to compete in online CS leagues. Complexity Gaming was first formed in 2003 by Jason "1" Lake, Paolo Bergantino, Michael Poddo and Ariel Perez from Team FBI. They hired Jordan "p4t" Taylor as a mIRC administrator, recruiter, talent recruiter. Founded complexity DJ with online radio, shoutcasting and esports coverage, also recruited coL.rosebrook for many cs 1.6 skill movies.[6]

In 2007 it became the official Los Angeles franchise for the Championship Gaming Series until 2009 when the league folded. It fielded teams in Project Gotham Racing 3, Counter-Strike 1.6, Call of Duty, Defense of the Ancients, Quake 4, Day of Defeat, and Day of Defeat: Source. The team was one of the subjects of Michael Kane's 2009 book Game Boys, which chronicled their Counter-Strike rivalry with Team 3D.

The team was a member of the G7 Teams. They were removed after joining the Championship Gaming Series, and were re-added after its demise. They have become a member of the North American eSports scene. They have new CS 1.6 roster which placed first and second in major tournaments, including ESEA CEVO and most recently IEM. They placed third in DreamHack Winter. They delved back into Quake with Quake Live where they picked up Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager and Brian "dkt" Flanders. They played Madden NFL 2010, Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, and FIFA 10.

On April 11, 2013, Complexity was the winner of Call of Duty: Black Ops II at ESWC 2013.[7]

On April 6, 2014 coL sold their Call of Duty team to Evil Geniuses.[8]

On March 22, 2015 compLexity announced that they had acquired the Heroes of the Storm team Barrel Boys with a roster of Stafford "McIntyre" McIntyre, Alexei "Blinks" Bazhenov, Drew "Trummel" Trummel, Aaron "Erho" Kappes, Edward "TigerJK" Hong.[9]

compLexity's Dota 2 team was not invited to The International 2015 but qualified in the regional qualifying tournament. compLexity's Dota team is based in a gaming house near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[10]

On March 1, 2018, compLexity added the Rocket League team of Metsanauris, Mognus, and al0t (formerly members of Method).[11]

In October 2019, Complexity collaborated with Luke Millanta to create a collection of Complexity-branded Counter-Strike: Global Offensive weapon skins.[12]

On February 17, 2012 compLexity signed North-American squad Team Fire.[33] Under the compLexity Gaming banner, the team quickly solidified itself as the second best team in North-America, earning themselves a direct invite to Valve's second iteration of The International.[34] Despite a solid performance and a 9th-12th-place finish, compLexity soon fell apart as star player Jio "Jeyo" Madayag was rumored to leave the team to play for regional rival Evil Geniuses. The saga dragged on with initial parties declining the roster change,[35] but Evil Geniuses eventually confirmed the addition of Jeyo in October 2012.[36] While compLexity attempted to salvage the situation, they eventually sold their squad to Team Liquid in December of the same year.[37]

On August 27, 2014 compLexity returned to the Dota 2 scene with the former Heroes of Newerth roster stayGreen.[38] Led by Kyle "swindlemelonzz" Freedman, the squad struggled to get off the ground and went through multiple roster changes in the first few months. It wasn't until they added Tal "Fly" Aizik that the team became competitive, eventually qualifying for The International 2015.[39] At the event, compLexity surprised critics by placing third in their group, securing an upper bracket playoff spot. In the playoffs however, coL lost to both Evil Geniuses and Virtus.pro, ending the team's run at the event. Following the tournament's conclusion, compLexity had to yet again rebuild their roster as both MoonMeander and Fly left to build monkey Business, which would later become OG.[40] The two were replaced by North-American players Peter "wayto" Nguyen and Michael "mjw" Nguyen.[41] It was a short-lived unity as they bid farewell to both players just a month later.[42]

In November 2015, compLexity picked up the Swedish trio of Linus "Limmp" Blomdin, Rasmus "Chessie" Blomdin and Simon "Handsken" Haag. Together with swindlemelonzz and his brother Zakari "Zfreek" Freedman, compLexity looked rejuvenated and qualified for a variety of events in early 2016, most notably the Shanghai Major 2016.[43] At the event itself, coL started out poorly, placing last in their group. An impressive lower bracket run secured them a top 6 finish[44] though and with it a direct invite to the Manila Major 2016.[45] Following the Shanghai Major, compLexity continued to impress at Epicenter 2016, taking down NA rivals Evil Geniuses to secure a top 4 finish.[46] Unfortunately for the team, they could not continue at this level of play, losing multiple qualifiers and eventually placing 9th-12th at the Manila Major 2016. The squad went on to compete in the regional qualifiers for The International 2016, but a third-place finish meant that they would have to play for a Wild Card spot in Seattle. Losses to both Escape Gaming and Execration meant that the team's season was over.[47]

The 16-17 season began with yet another roster shuffle. Limmp, Chessie and Handsken parted ways with the team to return to Sweden.[48] On September 15, 2016 coL added Mihai "canceL^^" Antonio, David "Moo" Hull and Justin "jk" Rosselle.[49] Before the team attended their first LAN event however, jk decided to step down from the roster and coL were left to look for a replacement on short notice.[50] Former Archon player and Moo teammate Jaron "monkeys-forever" Clinton stepped in to play with the team both at the Northern Arena BEAT Invitational as well as the Boston Major 2016.[51] While the team performed admirably given the circumstances, they still finished last at both events. As they looked to reset for the new year, COL and cancel^^ parted ways in February 2017.[52] To fill the gap, another former Archon player joined the team in form of Eric "747" Dong.[53] The team continued to be plagued by lacking performances and made a final roster change going into the last stretch of the season. On May 23, COL acquired the assistance of European pubstar Feras "Feero" Hroob and North American veteran Jimmy "Demon" Ho.[54] Together with the core of Swindlemelonzz, Moo and Zfreek, the team continued to struggle however and after a failed attempt to qualify for The International 2017, compLexity's season had yet again met an early end.

On September 6, 2017, Swedish brothers Limmp and Chessie returned to Complexity to replace Feero and Demon.[55] The new Dota team would qualify for a variety of DPC events, but couldn't go farther than a fifth-place finish at the StarLadder i-League Invitational 4. On March 16, 2018, internal conflicts within the team led to the removal of captain Kyle, aka swindlemelonzz.[56] Once again, the organization was on the lookout for a new roster heading into The International's qualifiers. Complexity wound up removing Chessie and adding former COL player MoonMeander, as well as South-East Asian veteran Adam "343" Shah.[57] The team yet again failed to qualify for The International, leading to a big roster shuffle for the 18-19 season.

On April 11, 2013, Complexity was the winner of Call of Duty: Black Ops II at ESWC 2013.[7]

On April 6, 2014 COL sold their Call of Duty team to Evil Geniuses.[8]

On January 12, 2018 Complexity announced their return to the Call of Duty scene with the pickup of Christopher "Parasite" Duarte, Tyler "FeLo" Johnson, Jared "Nagafen" Harrell, and Jeremy "StuDyy" Astacio.[58] Following their return, coL replaced Nagafen on January 20 with former Enigma6 player Brandon "Dashy" Otell.[59] After a string of disappointing performances, Complexity parted ways with their roster and announced the acquisition of fan favorite Doug "Censor" Martin, youngster Rasim "Blazt" Ogresevic and former COL player Ricky "Ricky" Stacy. Together with Dashy, the roster had secured a spot at CWL Pro League due to Blazt & Ricky.[60]

On June 15, 2018, Complexity announced a new partnership with apparel brand H4X.[61]

On November 13, 2018, WinStar World Casino was announced as Complexity's third partner.[62]

On January 14, 2019, Complexity partnered with Panini America. Merging traditional sports and Esports to bring original content, on-site activations, and collectible memorabilia to fans.[63]

On January 16, 2019, HyperX is the official peripheral partner for Complexity Gaming.[64]

On April 29, 2019, MSI was announced as the new hardware partner of Complexity Gaming.[65]

On March 27, 2019, it was announced that GameStop would be the official partner of Complexity Gaming's new HQ in Frisco, Texas.[66] The GameStop Performance Center was unveiled to the press on May 20,[67] with an official, public opening on September 16.[68]

On May 15, 2019, Miller Lite sponsored its first esports brand in Complexity Gaming. Part of the sponsorship includes the naming rights to the MillerLite Player Lounge inside the GameStop Performance Center.[69]

On October 7, 2019, Complexity added Extra Life as a partner to support Children's Hospital around the country.[70]