Nameless_sc2

I want to add some personal context around the cancellation of @BGEStaraZagora 2026, beyond the official announcement. For the past several years, organizing Bellum Gens has not been a side project or a hobby. It has been a second full‑time job, done after working hours, nights, weekends, and holidays - while being fully employed elsewhere. To be very clear about what “organizing an event like this” actually means: BGE costs €150,000-250,000 per year to operate when you include year‑round activities. The total annual revenue we have managed to attract - tickets, sponsorships, donations, Twitch payouts, etc. - has been below €50,000. Our partners from BulStream worked with us at break‑even or at a loss, because they believed in this event as much as we did and wanted to help make it real. @BellumGens is not in debt - but only because the difference was covered entirely out of my personal savings. Alongside this, both @exaltedsc2 and I invested countless unpaid hours after work into everything required to make BGE happen: project management, sales, marketing, player relations, IT administration, website development, procurement - everything. For years. It’s also important to say this explicitly: Neither of us has ever taken money from Bellum Gens. No salaries. No compensation. No personal expenses. On the contrary - we funded it. We kept going because we genuinely believed that if we proved - over two consecutive years - that we could deliver a high‑quality international event despite severe constraints, broader support would follow. Unfortunately, that did not happen. At this point, continuing is simply no longer sustainable - financially, professionally, or personally. This decision wasn’t made lightly. It’s painful. But it’s honest. Thank you to everyone who supported us, worked with us, competed, watched, volunteered, or believed that something like this could exist here.