🛠️ Pilot Progress Update – What We’re Learning Together

Hey {{first_name | there}},

We’re just past the halfway mark of the Office Showdown 2025 Pilot Series, and we want to say a big thank you for being part of it. Whether you’ve been scoring goals in Rocket League, fragging out in CS2, gapping enemies in League or dropping aces in Valorant — you’re part of something brand new that we’re building together.

As a pilot series, the goal has always been to test, learn, and iterate. And thanks to your participation (and patience), we’ve already gathered some really valuable insights. Here’s a quick look at what’s working, where we’ve had bumps, and what we’re doing about it:

We’ve learned that Discord isn’t second nature for everyone — especially in a workplace setting. That’s on us. Going forward, we’ll be supporting more channels (like Slack, email, WhatsApp) to make sure updates land where you’ll see them.

Swapping game days (like Valorant and LoL) last-minute created some unnecessary confusion. It was with the best of intentions. We’ve heard you — and from now on, matchdays are locked down. The only change will be for any catchup games which will be played on a date agreed with the two team captains.

We’ve had a few no-shows. Some of that’s due to unclear scheduling, but we also overestimated how much internal comms was happening inside teams. We’ve set up a calendar so you’re able to add the schedule into your work diaries (and any other calendars you have!).

You can find that here for Google Calendar and here for Outlook/Apple ical.

In some titles like Rocket League, gaps haven’t been a major issue. But in more complex games like League, they’ve made matches harder to enjoy. A lot of these skill gaps have come as a result of Mixed Alumni teams stepping in with strong competitive esports experience from the likes of our Ireland Collegiate tournaments.

From a growth perspective, these Alumni teams will play a big part in our early success by filling titles and helping to unlock registrations from new companies. With this being said, we’re actively exploring ways to better balance teams or group similar levels together in the future.

We’ve had some growing pains on the broadcast side — from late stream starts to simulcasting issues. These are things we’ve already solved in our Collegiate Series, and we’re now applying that same rigor here.

Life happens — and it’s no surprise that players sometimes have to drop out last-minute. Whether it’s childcare falling through, a work emergency, or an unexpected schedule clash, we’ve seen a few teams left scrambling to field full rosters.

Having a pool of available substitutes — players not tied to a specific team but ready to step in — has already proven helpful, and it’s something we’ll look to formalise as part of our tournament infrastructure.

✅ Clearer onboarding process — take a look at the early version here

✅ Captain Comms Kits — templates for Slack, email, and group chats

✅ Improved broadcast workflows — including YouTube simulcast checks

✅ Skill tiering ideas — to ensure better matchmaking in future events

✅ Sub pool system — easy for teams to access when real life gets in the way

We know this is a work-in-progress — and that’s the point. This pilot is already helping us shape what a full Winter or Spring season could look like, and your involvement is what makes that possible.

If you’ve got feedback, we’re all ears — reply to this email or drop us a DM in Discord.

Thanks again for helping us shape the future of competitive workplace gaming in Ireland.

You’re literally building it with us.

Kurt & The Office Showdown Team
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