PRESS RELEASE
KEE Action Sports and HATER Paintball Enter into Strategic Alliance

Sewell, NJ, December 1, 2008. KEE Action Sports LLC. KEE Action Sports LLC and HATER Paintball LLC, announce an agreement whereby KEE has become the exclusive, world-wide distributor of all HATER electronic products. The license agreement gives KEE access to the most advanced electronic technology in the paintball industry and provides HATER access to the broadest sales network in the marketplace though KEE.

All HATRED marker boards and SYMBIO wireless loader boards will now be obtained directly through KEE Action Sports. Non-electronic HATER products will continue to be distributed directly through HATER.

Under the new arrangement the combined engineering efforts of KEE and HATER will result in the creation of next generation technologies for paintball electronics. Included in this new product line up will be the new VICI Electronic Platform™, scheduled to release in the coming months, which will bring the most advance electronics to the market.

KEE Action Sports LLC is the worldwide leader in the distribution of paintball sporting goods and the manufacturer and exclusive source for RPS®, Empire®, Invert™, Invert™ MINI™, BT Paintball™, HALO®, EVIL®, and Pure Energy® brand products.

HATER Paintball LLC, based in Kissimmee, Florida, is the industry leader in high-end paintball electronics. HATER similarly is the manufacturer of various other paintball products including the Hater Sauce and Marmalade paintball lubricants, Gun Graffiti barrel bands, and various paintball lifestyle products.

Basically, all of Pacific’s assets will be auctioned off, with all the capital being given to the creditors that Pacific couldn’t pay. Some person or group could get some good deals, assuming they can actually do something with them in the end.

There will also be a meeting for all the “big wigs” in Vegas. Mostly, I assume, about this and how to keep their own asses from failing. There is also supposed to be talks about the possibility one single league (for the entire world, no, the universe) with one set of rules

John Amodea, the editor of PB2X, has sent out an email about PB2X and his future intentions. He has a blog that he will keep updated.

Here’s their press release:

Pacific Paintball and its subsidiaries will be filing proceedings under the United States Bankruptcy Code to effect a liquidation of their respective assets and business operations. The affairs and assets of Pacific Paintball LLC, NPPL LLC, XPSL LLC, PB2X LLC, Xtreme Paintball Fields LLC and Camp Pendleton Paintball LLC will be administered by a court appointed trustee in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court will provide you with written instructions regarding how and where to file any claims in this matter.

Despite doing all we could do, we were unable to make the business a viable concern. Further, in this severe economic climate, we were unable to secure new funding. It is a truly regrettable outcome, though one which is unfortunately occurring more and more frequently in this environment. We thank all those who have supported us.

Here’s Amodea’s email:

Hello friends,

By now you probably have heard that Pacific Paintball and its subsidiaries will be filing proceedings under the United States Bankruptcy Code to effect a liquidation of their respective assets and business operations. This includes our magazine, the NPPL, and all of Pacific Paintball’s other companies. Since many have speculated as to what this means as far as the magazine and my future in paintball goes, I thought I’d try to clear that up.

First, the liquidation of Pacific Paintball means that all of the company’s assets—from their computers, airball bunkers, netting and other physical property as well as their trademarked names—will all be sold. This is assuming there are interested buyers. At least that’s how I understand this. That leaves open the possibility for someone to buy any of the Pacific Paintball brand names to continue running the operation(s) as they see fit.

As for me—I’ve been in paintball for 23 years, with 18 years of running paintball magazines. This is what I am and this is what I’ll continue to be. I will pass on more about what I will be working on next at my new blog site, http://john-amodea.blogspot.com/, which will be up and running this Friday, December 5th.

Finally, I wanted to express my gratitude for all of the relationships I’ve developed and for all of the support you’ve given to Paintball 2Xtremes Magazine. Please keep in touch and feel free to e-mail me at [omg, no spam]. I look forward to working for and with you all again soon.

John Amodea

Virtue Full Time Customer Service / Shipping Rep.
In this position, you will help with all day to day customer service and shipping activities, and help our customers with any issues/problems they may have. Requirements will include:

1. Excellent communication, interpersonal and problem-solving skills
2. Customer Service support skills
3. Customer driven attitude
4. Proven ability to plan, organize, manage time, and prioritize tasks
5. Advanced skills in Microsoft Office products, email and internet
6. College degree preferred
7. Must be able to work Mon – Fri, 9am -6pm in our Hauppauge, New York office.
8. Must be 18 years of age or older.
9. Send an email to mike (at) virtuepaintball (dot) com with the subject “Virtue CSR” with your resume.

Virtue Graphic/Web Designer Part/Full Time
1. Not necessary to live in NY.
2. Not necessarily a full time position (but could be). Can be part time, but you have to be able to get the job done in a timely manner.
3. Knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator a must. Other creative tools a big plus as it obviously helps.
4. Be able to shoot/edit/produce short video clips that look professional.
5. Strong design background who can think outside the box and come up with their own creative concepts & art, as well as follow through on art direction provided by Virtue.
6. Eat, sleep, drink, live paintball. Designers that don’t love the sport aren’t very good at communicating the type of imagery we look for at Virtue.
7. Pay is negotiable and naturally depends on your experience and abilities.
8. Send an email to chris (at) virtuepaintball (dot) com with the subject “Virtue Graphic Designer” with your resume and some of your work and capabilities.

Virtue Design Engineer
1. Not necessary to live in NY.
2. Not necessarily a full time position (but could be). Can be part time, but you have to be able to get the job done in a timely manner.
3. Be able to design a product (machined or injection molded) using your own insight and direction from Virtue Paintball. Proficiency with Solidworks or other CAD programs a must.
4. Be able to follow through on sampling and production of the products you design.
5. Be able to find new sources of production.
6. Eat, sleep, drink, live paintball. Designers that don’t love the sport aren’t very good at designing the products we look for at Virtue.
7. Pay is negotiable and naturally depends on your experience and abilities.
8. Send an email to mike (at) virtuepaintball (dot) com with the subject “Virtue Engineer” with your resume and some of your previous work and capabilities.

Virtue Traveling Tech
1. Not necessary to live in NY. Existing relationship or employment with a paintball store is a plus.
2. Be at least 18 years old and willing to travel to tournaments. This means you need to be able to drop everything for 5-7 weeks out of the year and go to an event. Typically you’ll fly out on a Tues or Wed and return home the next Monday.
3. Assist with setup & take down at events.
4. Be willing to work strenuous and long hours, but get paid and have a good time at events (No Drugs or Illegal Activity).
5. Knowledgeable about all the commonly used guns, how to troubleshoot them, take them carefully apart, etc. Knowledgeable about Virtue products.
6. Eat, sleep, drink, live paintball and have the attitude of wanting to help out and educate those players around you. Know it all, holier than thou techs need not apply.
7. Virtue will pay your daily wage (the amount is negotiable), flight costs, hotel costs, food and transport costs at the event.
8. Be willing to room with the rest of the crew. No bed sharing obviously. Usually we try to find a rental house at the tournaments so we can live in comfort at the event, but if we have to get a hotel you have to share a room.
9. Friendly, outgoing, helpful. Be welling to sell to people and help people when you’re not teching guns.
10.Send an email to tom (at) virtuepaintball (dot) com with the subject “Virtue Event Tech” with some of your resume and background in paintball.

Semi-Pro
1.) Arsenal Evolution
2.) DSSP8NTBALL.COM
3.) Impact
4.) Phoenix United

Div 1
1.) Hollywood HK
2.) L.A. Hitmen
3.) Synergy
4.) Rockstar Factory

Div 2
1.) Go 4 Broke
2.) Miami Rage
3.) Tombstone
4.) Asylum

Div 3
1.) SCP Epic and Friends
2.) Top Gun Factory
3.) Effects
4.) Dark Riders

Overall NPPL Series Champs

PRO
1.) San Diego Dynasty
2.) Golden State Ironmen
3.) San Antonio X-Factor

Semi-Pro
1.) Arsenal Evolution
2.) Impact
3.) Method of Destruction

Div 1
1.) Aftermath II
2.) Hollywood HK
3.) Splat Kids

Div 2
1.) Miami Rage
2.) Go 4 Broke
3.) Tombstone

Div 3
1.) CS Union
2.) Envy
3.) Top Gun Factory