syKotic was founded in 1999, and was from the start a multinational team, with players from around the globe playing under the syKotic name. syKotic’s first game was Jedi Knight, boasting several different sections specialising in different game types, all managed by their own section leader. In this game syKotic was considered in the top 3 teams playing the game. As the gaming scene evolved so did the team, moving from Jedi Knight to more main stream games such as Quake 3, Counter-Strike and Return to Castle Wolfenstein. At this point syKotic had to be split in regard to nationality because it was not feasible to have teams consisting of multinational players where they couldn’t perform at their best.

syKotic was split into three sections:

• Australian
• European
• North American

The Australian section was run by Ean Mackey (Animus) & Grant (YubYub), they concentrated their efforts on Quake 3, becoming one of the most well known teams in Australia in the years that the game was at its peak. From Quake 3 they moved on to Counter-Strike source, where again they shined. Being at the top of online ladders, as well as being involved in LAN competitions around the country. The biggest being the World Cyber Games (WCG) Australian qualifiers where they played at several of the WCG tour stops to win qualifying points and cash prizes. The team got the amount of points needed to get to the final qualifying round, which if they won they would represent Australia in Counter-Strike Source. Unfortunately they didn’t win, losing out to teams with more backing. This was still a success as the team went away with over $3000.

The European section was run by Michael Wood and Steve Price. The Europeans main game was Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RtCW). syKotic was one of the first teams on the scene with the likes of 4Kings, iNfensus and mTw. syKotic were known throughout the European RtCW community as a friendly and well liked team, interacting with not only the bigger teams but with the lesser known teams as well. The team’s first LAN competition was the invite only Intel Masters in 2002, hosted at the National Science Museum in London. Although syKotic was classed as the under-dog in this competition they came third, taking away a slice of the £25,000 winnings.

From RtCW the European section branched out into other games including Soldier of Fortune 2 and Counter-Strike, having success in Clanbase and the Jolt leagues. The next era of the syKotic European section included new management and newer games such as Counter-Strike Source, Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2...this is where we are now