Ako discussed in depth on the podcast why his team received an exception from Valve to the new region change rules.
BC.Game CEO Ako has experienced a rollercoaster few days — after Valve adjusted the Major rulebook, his team was briefly excluded from Major contention, but had its eligibility restored a day later through an exception.
Ako appeared on the All About Counter-Strike podcast with BanKs and Devilwalk, sharing his experiences over the past few days and revealing what information he provided to Valve when seeking an exception.
Ako first detailed the process of appealing Valve's decision to disqualify all teams that had switched regions, and gave special thanks to HLTV's Striker for helping him get in contact with Valve. "This isn't like an appeal where you get a document and then need to submit materials," he said. "I would say Striker from HLTV did a very good job explaining the situation, and I have to thank him for that. I also have to say they... they were neutral in everything, not favoring either side. They were just like saying 'This is what we know, this is what you have to do to get in touch with them (Valve).'"
Ako went on to explain that he believes the BC.Game situation does not align with the reasons Valve intervenes in region-switching issues. “We understand this is more about abusing the system, dealing with dual citizenship, terminating players' contracts without giving them a fair chance, abusing it in that way,” he said.
"We made our situation very clear, we showed what our plan was. We contacted them (Valve) , emailed them, just told them the truth and showed them some things. All of our players have signed long-term contracts, our Asian players actually have the longest contracts, so we are prepared to compete in the Asian region for the long term."
BanKs then asked Ako whether his open letter on Twitter boldly proposing to start from scratch in the Asian region had helped the team's situation. According to Ako, it showed Valve the mindset behind BC.Game's actions. "I think they definitely understood that we are not in it for the money, or trying to screw over players to qualify for the Major. The whole point of us taking this risk was to show that we are ready to compete in the Asian region long-term. Whether or not we can make it to the Major doesn't matter, that's the reality. We just want to be treated equally and fairly."
I'm sure they (Valve) understand we're not in it for the money, Ako also revealed why he proposed restarting in the Asian VRS instead of asking to switch back to Europe, and it's all about asap. "If we return to the European division, it means asap would be removed," he said.
"I vetoed that proposal directly on the phone, I said that won't happen, that was my promise to him... I gave him a promise, and we will honor it. We are lucky, we don't need to rely on the Major to survive, that's the reality, and I would rather keep my promise than remove him just because we have a chance to qualify for the Major."