4Kings or Four Kings was a professional

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

organization established in 1997 and based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The organisation has been recognised as a British flagship clan since its founding. It was operated by 4K UK Ltd and managed by Toby Aldridge. 4K is particularly known for its ''

Warcraft III ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after '' Warcraft II: Ti ...

'' team, which won the ESL WC3L Series on four occasions. In late 2007, the section that signed players such as ''

'' player, Grubby Schenkhuizen and Yoan "ToD" Merlo was dissolved due to financial problems.

History

Established in 1997, 4Kings was formed as Quake 1 clan playing in the QuakeWorld client. Under the management of "Zommy" the clan grew expanding into new games such as '' Quake III'', ''

'', ''

Return to Castle Wolfenstein ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' is a 2001 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by Gray Matter Studios and published by Activision. It was initially released for Microsoft Windows and subsequently for the PlayStation 2 (as '' ...

and

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games, in which opposing teams attempt to complete various objectives. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counte ...

'' be one of the most recognised esports teams in the world at the time. After being sponsored by processor manufacturer Intel for six years, 4Kings gained a new main sponsor in 2008 with Packard Bell. This marked a shift in focus to Britain. In July 2008, the signing of a Finnish Counter-Strike team signalled the clan's return to the global market, and was later followed by a successful Dutch Counter-Strike:Source team joining 4Kings. However, setbacks followed, with Packard Bell withdrawing their sponsorship. Increasing numbers of teams fell apart or left the clan, leading to management being completely replaced in 2009. After this the Swede Andreas "Fisk" Johansson took responsibility for the former tranditional clan. A new start was planned by Fisk, with the aim of building on previous successes, though the clan has been inactive since the end of 2013, and the website four-kings.com no longer in operation. The team had players competing in ''

'', '' Enemy Territory: Quake Wars'', '' Quake III'', ''

'', '' Unreal Tournament'', ''

,'' ''

Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...

and Shootmania''. Across its history 4Kings was managed by members including Philip Wride, as well as Jason Potter.

References

External links

4 Kings
1997 establishments in England 2013 disestablishments in England Esports teams based in England Defunct and inactive Call of Duty teams Defunct and inactive Counter-Strike teams Defunct and inactive FIFA (video game series) teams Defunct and inactive League of Legends teams Quake (series) teams Warcraft III teams World of Warcraft teams Esports teams established in 1997 Esports teams disestablished in 2013 {{UK-sport-stub