The Corporate Esports Association (CEA) is how companies can use esports for team-building and charity. Tournaments are friendly but competitive, and we take care of all the details so you can focus on having a great time. CEA leadership brings over two decades of combined experience organizing corporate esports.
All official CEA updates will be posted in our Discord server. If you have any questions, post in #help-and-feedback.
The CEA community strives to be a fun environment for everyone inside and outside of the league. Please follow these simple guidelines:
Help anytime you can.
Have fun.
Be nice.
Respect all players and teams (both publicly and privately).
Keep interactions safe for work.
Do not disparage companies, their employees, or products.
Contact organizers privately if you have a complaint about other players or teams.
A good team captain can make or break a team’s experience in the CEA. In the past, successful captains report that their responsibilities can take a few hours per week. Make sure you’re up for the commitment or find help!
Your team should always have a captain. If you need to sit out for a week, or take a step back for the rest of the season let your game lead know and please help us find a suitable substitute during that time. It is not uncommon for captainless teams to be needlessly penalized due to an inability to communicate.
Select a team name. Do not use your company logo or other trademarks without obtaining written permission if your company requires that you have it.
Select a 501(c)(3) charity which will receive a donation on your behalf if your team does well enough. Check if your company has preferred charities.
Pay the registration fee through the http://cea.gg site for your specific game and season. Once paid, you will receive additional information as well as next steps for joining the tournament on our tournament management platform.
The team captain is not required to play but must be on the roster.
There are no caps on the number of teams per company.
Setting up practice times and scrimmages as desired.
Ensuring all the players show up on time for their matches.
Ensuring matches are properly recorded (if required in game rules).
Handling disputes between players and bringing disputes to the attention of the CEA organizers when necessary.
Organizing and submitting the player lineups (as required in game rules).
Ensuring all players are still full time employees. Players may not continue playing after termination and teams caught using ineligible players will be removed from competition with further penalties likely to be applied.
The following rules apply to all games sanctioned by the CEA. Anytime you have a question about rules, or what you should do in a situation first make sure you’re following Wheaton’s Law – “Don’t be a dick.” The CEA reserves the right to optionally issue verbal or written warnings that may lead to penalties, including game or match losses at the sole discretion of the organizer.
In general, any player may play on any single team at that player’s company, in a single tournament. Playing on more than one team of the same game is forbidden, except under the following conditions:
Half-Team / Joint-Team Policy
Players may stream their matches or have others stream for them. Stream cheating is not allowed and using a stream delay is HIGHLY encouraged to avoid the temptation. Observers able to see both teams’ perspectives are discouraged and require the explicit approval of both captains and teams must notify their Game Lead. Observers who are limited by the game settings to view only one team’s perspective only need the approval of the team that they observe. In the case of limited observing slots, slots must be shared equally between teams.
Regardless of the observer’s perspective, teams are not allowed to communicate with observers in-game (via text chat, voice chat, or anything else) with the exception of CEA staff, or CEA designated referees, or oberservers that are filling an explicitly functional coach slot.
CEA official updates are conducted primarily through Discord, but can happen via email if needed. Team captains and their designated alternates must be available on the CEA Discord server, and match-related communication between teams should also occur on that platform. Players are strongly encouraged to be in the Discord server as well.
Discord should also be the primary method of contacting CEA administrators, using #help-and-feedback and tagging the appropriate administrator or player.
If a team is unable to play within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, that team automatically forfeits the match. The time period for no-shows may be extended by the captain of the opposing team in writing.
If a team partially fails to show up by fifteen (15) minutes after the scheduled time, captains should ensure that the situation is documented with screenshots and chat logs. Teams must choose between:
Team Games
Playing without the absent members if the game allows.
Forfeiting the first game (regardless of Bo1, Bo3, or Bo5). In a Bo3 or Bo5 this will provide the partially-present team an additional 30 minutes for the rest of their team to arrive. If players don’t show up within this time, the team may again choose to play with the currently present members or forfeit the rest of the match.
1v1 Games
Matches default to being played in series (one after another) and in the order of lineup submission. If the missing player is scheduled to play first, they forfeit their game and the next players have a 15 minute grace period before their match begins. Two or more forfeits in this way result in an automatic match loss.
In the event both teams have arrived to play, but one team fails to join the match lobby within the later of twenty (20) minutes after the scheduled match time and five (5) minutes after both teams communicated being ready to play, the opposing captain may submit documentation (screenshots and chat logs) to claim a victory by forfeit as follows:
In the event of a team game, the opposing captain should provide notice they will be submitting documentation for a victory by forfeit. At this time, the team may still elect to play short-handed.
In the event of a 1v1 game, the opposing captain should provide notice to their opponent’s captain that they are submitting documentation for a victory by forfeit.
Teams may opt to forfeit a match at any time with the consent of their team’s members. In this case please notify the organizers and opposing captain in Discord using #forfeit-reporting.
Teams which forfeit multiple consecutive weeks and do not respond to messages from the organizers may be removed from the season without a refund.
During Swiss, teams will be ranked by W/L record. For games with a best of 2 format, teams will instead be ranked and paired by points as explained in tiebreakers below.
Ties are broken by these factors (in order):
1. Points: 3 per Win, 0 Per Loss, 1 Per Tie
2. Game Score Differential
3. Bucholz Tiebreakers
Teams which achieve the number of wins listed for their individual game will automatically qualify for playoffs in the order in which they achieved this win count. They will be removed from regular Swiss pairings for the following weeks. If multiple teams achieve this final win in the same week, seeds will be determined by additional matches in the following weeks. If there are not enough weeks to play these matches, ties will be broken by Swiss tiebreakers at the end of the regular season.
We strongly encourage players to take videos or screenshots of gameplay, score screens, and chat logs with timestamps enabled as well as save replays (where applicable) to use in the event of a conflict.
Mention the game lead and/or admins with an @ on Discord in #help-and-feedback channel if you require assistance during the season.
To minimize post-game conflict, if there is an event that either team suspects to be disputed, pause the game if possible and reach out to your Game Lead immediately. DO NOT CONTINUE PLAY. While Game Leads reserve the right to overturn results, it is in everybody’s best interest to resolve issues during the game rather than post-game.
A team may submit a dispute within 12 hours in the event that they believe their opponents broke any of the game rules, the referee unfairly awarded a win to their opponents upon an in-game disconnect, referee or opponents did anything that violates the spirit of the rules, or that the incorrect match result was submitted. CEA organizers will review any disputes.
All participants must adhere to the decisions and rules of the tournament organizers, admins, and referees. All decisions are final, except in cases where the option to appeal is clearly stated. Conversations, either verbal or written, between organizers, admins, or referees, and participants are confidential. Publicly posting or sharing these conversations with outside parties is strictly forbidden, unless permission is obtained.
If an agreement to change a rule is made between captains, ensure the agreement is saved in writing in case a disagreement arises. Such agreements between captains should remain consistent for the duration of the match.
The CEA reserves the right to change these rules and to make additional decisions outside the defined rule set as necessary. Rule changes will be posted on the CEA Discord and all relevant parties notified.
If you, as a Player, sincerely believe that your opponent:
– cheated,
– exhibited behaviour that was hostile, toxic, vulgar or otherwise unacceptable,
– or infringed on either these rules
Please follow this step by step process:
– Take screenshots or make a desktop recording the behaviour in question. Either through use of screenshot tools like Gyazo, or video encoders, such as OBS (both of which are free to use).
– Contact your Team Captain and present your evidence to them.
– Your Team Captain should then contact the Game Lead and make the case clear to them.
– The Game Lead and the CEA team will then decide what action needs to be taken, if any.
Finally, take a deep breath and take a step back. Many players in the CEA are filled with good will and a desire to have fun. Often an incident of cheating is an accident or an honest misunderstanding of the rules.
The CEA investigates thoroughly all claims of cheating. If the CEA determines that a player deliberately and knowingly violated rules set out by the CEA, the game publisher, or game platform in order to achieve an in-game advantage, that player will be removed from all CEA events for the remainder of the season. In addition:
Recognizing the value companies place on their logo and brand, the CEA strives to make only very light use of either.
The CEA will not use your logo without your written consent. Teams who post their company’s logo in public-facing spaces owned by the CEA may be subject to removal from the tournament.
A company’s name is used strictly to identify the teams playing for that company, and is never used to imply the views or opinions of a company. During broadcasts, we discourage discussion of specific products or services offered by companies except in a neutral, introductory, and informative manner where necessary.
The CEA is very understanding and flexible regarding IP. For more information, or to request an exception to the rules above, please let us know through the Contact form above. We typically respond within 24 hours.
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All rights reserved.