In the wake of the esportal bankruptcy, I’d like to share my experience running a Counterstrike platform (PopFlash) and why it’s so important to pay for platforms if we want to see them survive
In the wake of the esportal bankruptcy, I’d like to share my experience running a Counterstrike platform (PopFlash) and why it’s so important to pay for platforms if we want to see them survive
2 Comments
> It is sad to see that esportal had to declare bankruptcy. This is what happens when platforms are largely free – by paying for platforms (like PopFlash) you are ensuring they can continue to survive and align their incentives with yours.
> I spoke about the asymmetry of this in a recent podcast.
>
> ––
>
> lately we’ve had a huge influx of new players coming to popflash who just expect it to be free.
> we need to adjust our psychology if we want beautiful experiences to exist.
> free means YOU are the product, it means the platforms WILL NOT survive.
> at popflash we charge a nominal fee and that keeps us afloat. it means we get to keep doing this for as long as you keep supporting it.
> we don’t sell your data, we don’t invade your privacy, and we don’t show you advertisements.
> we charge you a fee and you get the platform. that’s it. end of transaction.
> https://x.com/popflashsite/status/1816148604655980603
If you are interested in hearing the full podcast episode, the recording can be found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCoYgcQwMyg)
Considering 8/month is higher than your server costs it’s a bit mid – you can say that you dont collect or sell data but at the end of the day it’s closed source so nobody can check