I want to make a tournament based website for Call of Duty Black Ops. In the end, the winner will get a lot of money and I would keep some myself. Is it illegal to profit off a game through tournaments, such as Black Ops???
No lol, it's not illegal. If the tournament was on something like hacked private servers of black ops or something in those lines, then it would probably be illegal
Winmau manufacture dart boards. Is it illegal for someone to organize a darts tournament? What MIGHT be illegal would be using the Winmau name on your promotional material.
You would need to check with your local law as the definition of "gambling" can very a lot and there is a low risk that it may come under these rules. It wouldn't make it illegal to do it even if it were considered gambling but generally would require you to have a license and a few other aspects. Obviously if you do need a license and decided to run it without one then it would be illegal. Traditionally if it was a game of pure chance then it was gambling and if it was a game of skill it wasnt but many would argue and agree that there is skill in poker but it is still classed as gambling. The other part that may make it gambling is the fact the winnings are linked to the fees, if the winning was set to £1000 irrespective of the numbers playing you've more chance of avoiding it being considered gambling. The only other issue as has already been highlighted is the copyright/ trademark aspect of using the games name. As a commercial venture your unlikely to be able to claim "fair use" and so will need to have permission from the owner. Given again its profit making then you can probably expect to pay for the right (if they allow you to do it at all) You should also read any xBox/ xBox Live T&Cs to see if there is anything in those (as I haven't)
As long as I know it's legal. I've host tournaments for CS:S with a prize money and never had any problems. I also emailed VALVE and they said that I wasn't infringing any rules made by them.
May fall under the provisions of state gaming laws. Take a look at: http://www.gambling-law-us.com/State-Law-Summary/
Does thissound like gambling? People pay $5 to enter into a game. If they are skilled enough and win they get paid. It is a game of skill, not chance........It's not like, "We have 5 players here, bet money on who wins and get paid!!!" You know?
There is chance in every computer game, do you respawn near the item you need or just behind your enemy thats been nearly killed by someone else etc. Others would argue exactly the same about other tournaments like poker - if it wasnt a game of skill too why do the same people do well 95% of the time? It is something that you should look into if you want to ensure that you are 100% above board. I know from previous experience one of the issues can be when the "prize" is simply a fund of those buying in rather than a preset amount. This pulls it closer to gambling and further form a normal tournament. Even if it does count as gaming it simply means you have more hoops to jump through, and who knows, perhaps then expanding into betting on other players would be a more lucrative income stream