Dallas, Texas - It has been three months since compLexity shocked the community by adding Swedish native Marcus "zet" Sundström to the team. During that time, team owner Jason Lake, along with a team of Texas based immigration attourneys, have been working to procure the documentation necessary for Sundström to live and work in the United States. Earlier this week, compLexity announced that their efforts had been rewarded, and the visa petition for zet had been approved.

While this was certainly great news for compLexity and their fans, the approval also helped to solidify gaming not only as a profession, but as a sport.

"Initially, I had hoped we could secure the visa through some contacts at the State Department. However, the process turned out to be more complicated than I had anticipated, so we retained the services of an immigration law firm in Dallas.

The only visa Marcus could possibly qualify for was the O-1 Work Visa. This visa is designed for extraordinarily talented and nationally or internationally known scientists, educators, artists, athletes or business people. The lawyers immediately brought to my attention the challenge we were facing: not only did we need to prove Marcus is a superstar in gaming, but first we needed to prove professional gaming is a sport." - Jason Lake

With plenty of nay sayers even within the competitive gaming community, proving that gaming is a sport to the US government seemed like a very tall task.

"We put together a very comprehensive package that detailed why professional gaming is a sport. To be honest, I felt a great sense of responsibility to everyone in e-sports because if we had failed, this would have set a precedent in the United States that pro gaming is not a real sport. It was a bit stressful, but I'm thrilled to say our efforts paid off for all gamers" said Lake.

To finalize the visa, Sundström has returned to Sweden today for an interview at the US Consolate. Assuming the final stage is completed, Sundström will be permitted to live and work in the United States until 2010. Since this visa is requested not by zet, but by the compLexity organization, he is required to work solely for the team while he is in the US.

"An individual seeking an O-1 Visa (beneficiary) must have a sponsor (petitioner). This means that the visa is employer specific and a job offer is needed. (For example, a professional baseball player wants to come to the U.S. to play baseball.) In other words, this visa is for compLexity work. If we part ways before 2010, then it will become a document for the history books."

This decision will no doubt have a positive affect on competetive gaming's legitimacy in the United States. When I asked Lake if he felt that he and compLexity were "blazing a trail" for the rest of the community, he remarked:

"I don't know if we're blazing a trail, but we are passionate about what we do. It's always been our goal to redefine gaming and take things to the next level. Gaming in its previous state is going nowhere, and our leaders must step up and push it forward. We're doing our best to be one of those leaders."