01/07/2024
A message from Andy- founder of CRIT
Hi all,
As you will probably already be aware, an incident a few weeks ago brought to light the damning views and actions of someone I once trusted to be a partner of CRIT. I want to explain my whereabouts prior to this and why this slipped under my radar.
I brought on someone to run the business with me in 2022. Long story short, I was slowly being pushed out of CRIT, and it became very “unwelcoming”, but I trusted the business to be ran in my absence. It became exhausting trying to fight to have a say in the business I created. Although it pained me to not be there, If it wasn’t hurting CRIT, in my eyes it wasn’t hurting the community- and the community was what had always mattered most to me.
After 10 years, I figured I could’ve done with the break anyway and eventually stopped fighting to have a visible part in my business and managing things hands on. I stepped away, I got a day job, I left the business in his hands. He got what he wanted. I should’ve never given up on you all, I had a duty to protect you and for that I am so sorry.
The damage that has been done by said partner- now thankfully EX-partner, I’ve realised can’t be undone. I need to take ownership of this and I have come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to let CRIT die. I can’t live with the guilt knowing that this kind of behaviour happened in my absence. The best thing to do is to close the business all together to nip this awful rhetoric and attitude in the bud.
After deliberation and trying to figure out how to still support the community but kill the monster that CRIT became, a plan has been formed to provide you all with a safe place to play.
I have met with a member of the community, a regular customer of CRIT, who will soon be starting his own new venture to provide a gaming space- but for the time being he has graciously agreed to keep the store once known as CRIT open for the community. The idea behind this is that you all still have a familiar place to play, while you await the unveiling of this new space and company.
I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything, for the memories, laughs, stories and frankly amazing tournaments and games I’ve been able to host over the last 10 years. I am so grateful that so many of you called CRIT home, and I am so proud of the beautiful thing we created. It’s genuinely painful to see what it became.
I can’t apologise enough for my absence, I’d like to think that had I not been pushed out, this would never have happened. It was my responsibility to support the community and ensure you were all happy and safe, I take full accountability.
I’m truly sorry to see CRIT go, and I hope you can all still carry on to make new, better memories in the new store to come.
Thank you all.
Love
Andy
