Complexity

Complexity was started by Jason Lake in 2003 after Lake paid two gamers from his own pocket to form a team. Lake voluntarily removed himself from the roster in 2004 and shifted into an administrative and coaching role. The team was formed during the early days of esports in North America and Lake, then a real estate lawyer based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, paid his players' salaries and travel expenses out of his own pocket, totaling more than $400,000 by 2007. Following wins at the 2006 Intel Summer Championships and the DirecTV Championship Gaming Invitational, Lake sold the team to DirecTV for $100,000. Complexity was rebranded as Los Angeles Complexity and joined the Championship Gaming Series as part of the deal. Throughout the history of coL, numerous staff members worked to raise the organization above esports standards in the 2000s. Notable members include Kyle "kuniva" Shellhouse (frag movies, content), Jordan "p4t" Taylor(mIRC admin, recruitment), Rick "digx" Martinez(Graphics, Animation), Shane "exica" Bailey(Graphics, Animation)

In 2007, Complexity's CS:Source team was crowned the champion of the CEVO Professional Division Season 4.^[]

Complexity continued to operate after the CGS folded in 2008, fielding teams in CS:GO, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Dota 2, among others.

Complexity was a member of the G7 Teams, a group that promoted esports in the late 2000s. They were removed from the group and re-added in 2009. In 2009, Complexity placed 3rd at Dreamhack Winter 2009 and 2nd at the IEM IV American Championship.^[]

They delved back into Quake with Quake Live where they picked up Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager and Brian "dkt" Flanders. They played Madden NFL 2010, Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, and FIFA 10.^[]

On April 11, 2013, Complexity was the winner of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II championship at ESWC 2013.

On April 6, 2014, they sold their Call of Duty team to Evil Geniuses.

On March 22, 2015, Complexity announced that they had acquired the Heroes of the Storm team Barrel Boys, with a roster of Stafford "McIntyre" McIntyre, Alexei "Blinks" Bazhenov, Drew "Trummel" Trummel, Aaron "Erho" Kappes, and Edward "TigerJK" Hong.

Complexity's Dota 2 team was not invited to The International 2015 but qualified in the regional qualifying tournament. Complexity's Dota team is based in a gaming house near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In 2017, the team was purchased by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and real estate investor John Goff and relocated to Frisco, Texas. Lake remained CEO of the team as part of the deal, while fellow cofounder Jason Bass sold his stake in the team. In 2019, GameStop sponsored a new headquarters and training facility in The Star, a complex that also acts as the training center for the Dallas Cowboys NFL team.

On March 1, 2018, Complexity added the Rocket League team of Metsanauris, Mognus, and al0t (formerly members of the esports team Method).

In October 2019, they collaborated with Luke Millanta to create a collection of Complexity-branded Counter-Strike: Global Offensive weapon skins.

On March 1, 2024, GameSquare Holdings announced the sale of Complexity Gaming to Global Esports Properties, an investor group led by Complexity's founder and CEO Jason Lake, for $10.36 million, pending TSXV approval. The sale followed GameSquare's approval of its merger with FaZe Clan just days prior. The deal included an initial payment of $75,000 and a seller-financed note of approximately $9.61 million, with GameSquare entitled to 50% of proceeds from any equity raised by Global Esports in excess of $500,000.