ZoneRank Features

Interview with Marketing Director of UGAME (24th April 2008)

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The past year socializing on Internet has become more and more famous through websites like MySpace and Facebook. A group of people have therefore been developing a social network website called UGAME for gamers on all platforms. We have contacted Niek Mass, the PR and Marketing Director of the company who lives in the Netherlands and took a year off his medical studies at University to work for this project.

Niek Maas has been involved in this gaming and the Internet industry for the past few years and was approached by Sam Mathews and one of the shareholders to work for UGAME for a year. Maas works on getting as many people as possible to know about the project, upholding good relations with people they meet at events and conferences and keep up with the latest trends in gaming.

Let's say you meet a potential investor at the next event, how do you pitch ugame to him?
UGAME is a social network aimed at all gamers, playing all games on all platforms. This means that we do not just focus on the hardcore (eSports) gamers, but also on the casual gamers. This makes our potential user base much larger than the other websites that also offer services for gamers but that have only recently decided to add social networking aspects to their services. Social networking is the core aspect of our website; everything we implement on UGAME is interactive and is designed for the social aspect of gaming instead of the "just an extra function" mentality adopted by others that is implemented just to keep their users online.

What about the organisation behind ugame, who runs the company?
UGAME has multiple shareholders, all of whom have either invested with money or with time, energy and knowledge. There is a strong management structure within the company as well as an established development team; all of whom have experience within the gaming industry. I would also like to say, that there are opportunities for investment available as the board are negotiating for Series A funding.

Why do you believe your members will separate their regular friends from friends they have gained through their gaming careers considering that they can simply use a social network site where they can keep track of all their friends, both gamers and non-gamers?
This is essentially one of the reasons why UGAME has been developed. While carrying out market research and talking to many gamers it became clear that this is something gamers really want. There are a few reasons why they want to keep friends from school, university, work etc. separate from their gaming friends.

First of all gaming friends are usually a group of different people coming from different countries. Not all gamers are members of international social networking websites. Most people from the country I am from, The Netherlands, for example use Hyves as their social networking website whereas in the UK it is predominately MySpace and Facebook. Hyves is aimed at the Dutch market, not the UK market, and therefore you won't find your gaming friends from the UK or other countries on there.

Secondly, gaming is still seen as "geeky" and "nerdy" by some people and it is because of this that some gamers would rather separate their everyday friends from the life they live online.

We also give gamers the chance to show their gaming life on UGAME. Galleries of LAN trips or a night out with (gaming) friends, achievements, blogs and even team pages can be created and added to UGAME. All these services are designed for gaming purposes; other sites simply don't offer them all under one roof.

What competitors/rivals does ugame have on the social network platform?
There are a few other social networking websites designed for gamers. Raptr.com, curse.com, the steam community and rupture.com could be considered as rivals. However, as I said earlier we try to create a website on which ALL gamers feel comfortable whereas these sites tend to aim at a niche within the gaming market (e.g. MMO's, Steam based games, Hardcore gamers).

In long time terms, how do you believe your project will benefit the growth and development of the gaming market?
We believe UGAME can and will function as a cornerstone for gaming experience. UGAME will be a gamer's source of information on games, other gamers, gaming events, entertainment, games purchases and game play. It will game them the chance to keep up to date with what their friends are playing or allow them to make new friends to play with.

UGAME will also focus as a main source of information for game developers, publishers, hardware manufacturers and other people interested in the gaming market.

It would also be important to note that UGAME will help promote the eSports scene (as well as the casual scene) thanks in part to the teams section. It will allow all teams of all abilities to promote themselves easily and effectively, allowing them to get the kind of exposure all teams deserve.

How will ugame become the main source of information? Will you introduce a news reporting section?
Currently, we have no plans developing a news reporting section for UGAME as we don't want to compete with existing news sites. What I meant was this: UGAME can be an indication to developers what kind of games people like. Secondly, it gives them the chance to interact with gamers that play their games easily. As an example this will give them the chance to find useful beta-testers or find gamers that use certain hardware to help them fix bugs in a product. All this information is, of course, only available to the developers if the gamer agrees to share this.

You may remember late last year a site called tehwire.com, which was a news aggregator for gaming news. It was a user driven news aggregator that promoted gaming news site's articles and drove traffic to their popular articles. This is a product that we will be incorporating into UGAME and we hope that it will help our users find the best news from around the web as well as help promote sites like Zonerank and increase their monthly page impressions.

Exploring the World - Belgium (27th March 2008)

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Today we are heading out to Belgium for our “Exploring the World” series; which takes a look at countries that are not as known for their eSports community as South-Korea or Germany. The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe bordering with France, German, Netherlands and Luxembourg. For this reason Belgium has 3 official languages, French, Dutch and German. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilomters and has a population of 10.5 million. Although those numbers are quite small compared to the countries it borders, Belgium is an important political place, as both the European Union's and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters are based in the Belgian Capital, Brussels.

When it comes to eSports, Belgium is, as we will discover, far from giants such as Germany or North-Korea. The only successful and well known Belgian team is Tek9. The team had fairly good results in quite a few games, including Quake 4 with the Dutch player forever as well as in the Call of Duty serie.

In order to discover more facts about the relation between esports and Belgium, we have decided to contact Mats "Sorcerer" Adams. Mats is 20 and actually works for the online league ClanBase as the manager of the Human Resources department. Mats has also worked for Qpad as Benelux and Germany Community Manager and was the manager of Rize Gaming and Czar.

Could you describe the Belgian esport scene?

The Belgian e-sport scene is quite big if you look at the size of Belgium. A lot of young (and older) people play games in Belgium although not that much on a competitive level I think.

What are the most important LAN events in Belgium?

Definitely Frag-O-Matic (FoM) and Ordened Computer Chaos (OCC)

Is there anything that makes Belgian esports unique?

Well, for a small country there is quite a lot of interest in it, but it’s not promoted as well as it should be. We are lacking of interest from the Television networks, companies that can provide sponsorships, etc

Are there any hotspots for eSports in Belgium, cities/regions with significantly more players than other parts of the country?

I don’t think so. I think it’s quite spread out over Belgium but the tournaments are mostly held in a city; for example in Ghent or Antwerp.

What changes are necessary for a positive development of the Belgian community?

More interest from the media and companies. At the moment it’s almost impossible to get a Belgian company to support an organisation with pro teams. At the moment we only have one pro team, the well known Tek-9. If we need to find financial backing, it won’t be coming from a Belgian company, so most teams look abroad.

We don't see many Belgian teams and players at an international level, what do you think is the reason for this absence?

As said above on the previous question, there is a lack of interest from companies. There are several competent “managers” in Belgium but to get the companies’ vision on your side, that’s a totally different story. There are people that are fully capable of getting companies to promote their brand in a sports world that’s exploding at the moment, but it’s hard to convince those companies involved.

What does the Belgian population thinks of esports?

Opinions are divided. Some call it nerdy and others call it a sport like any other sport, however in the last few years it has become less of a taboo and interest in E-sports is definitely growing.

Have Belgian mainstream medias shown any interest in the Belgian or international eSport?

A while ago the program Koppen went to Enschede in the Netherlands to make a documentary on Tek-9 being the only Belgian pro-gaming team but for the rest not much no.

What is the best way to reach players in Belgium?

To hold competitions on LAN and promote the brand you are trying to promote on supporting community sites and/or Belgian pro-teams. If the companies would be more open-minded, there would be more Belgian pro-teams on an international level and the companies would see what potential Belgium really has.

Do you believe that finding companies/investors interested in esports is difficult in Belgium? If yes, what do you think is the reason behind that?

Yes I do think companies are way too narrow-minded. E-Sports are growing so rapidly that if I was a company like for example Coca-Cola or a fashion brand I would get my foot into it.
The thing that makes companies doubt the most is that it is a world they don’t know most likely. Of course, their kids play games but what is really going on in this world. That’s why in my opinion if any teams want to get money out of a non-IT company to put it into e-sports it’s really important to give a general idea of what e-sports is about because most of the companies don’t have the slightest idea.

Finally, how do you think eSports will evolve in the next few years in Belgium?

Well, if companies starts opening up discussion, and get more trust and interest in supporting upcoming teams, Belgium has a very high potential when it comes to players. Given that potential plus the financial backing from companies, I am quite sure that Belgium can become a big name in E-sports. There is enough talent.

But if there won’t be a lot of money input into it as it is now, then I am afraid a lot of talented players will be held back and that’s the last thing I want to see, wasting a talent.

Interview with CEO of FGLeague (14th March 2008)

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A new league called FutureTech Gaming League was recently launched. Based in Portugal and focusing on six eSports games; its goal is to create an online platform that will allow both professional and amateur players in Europe and North America to compete in tournaments and leagues. They will also host LAN events with prize money and try to go up against other scene media sites with up-to-date scene news about games, teams and players.

The league is launched by Cyberiberia, Lda based in Portugal, a company with focus on videogames and eSports. The company has in the past hosted large events but will now try to take another step towards eSports by launching this league.

ZoneRank has contacted Luis Prata, the Chief Executive Officer of the company that owns the league. Luis lives in Algarve, Portugal and has been involved in eSports for the past 10 years and has worked for Team Excello as a manager and as financial vice president for k1ck. He is today not associated with any team but likes to compete in online and offline poker.

The Interview

There are several platforms similar to yours so what does FGL differentiate itself with and what do you think will be the key to success?
We want to provide teams, whatever skill level there are, time of existence or scene recognition, with a platform where they can compete and keep a track of how good they are performing. Not only FGLeague provides a competition platform, but also provides content and community empowering. There are other organizations with the same goal, but we want to provide an integrated solution, something they were unable to do so far. But bottom line the ideology behind it is equivalent to other projects. However, we choose another path to achieve that goal.

At CeBIT WCG launched ELC which is on some levels similar to your platform. Do you see them as a threat and how will you be able to compete with ELC considering their high prize money and elite teams participating?
ELC does not have the same goal as we do. As I understood, their first and main goal is to provide quality HD-TV e-Sports broadcasting, for the best teams there are very big prize moneys. Proof of that is the fact that their competitions, at the first season, are invite-only and for the following seasons are by qualifier. In my opinion, they may be a competitor for CGS, but not for us.

What role do you hope FGL will have in the development of eSports and how will the league contribute to the development of the eSports scene and community?
We want to become one of the largest e-Sports communities in the World. We know that it will take time to achieve that, and we also know that the different cultures are a barrier we must cross before we are able to achieve our goal, however, we are most confident that we are, step-by-step, reaching our members expectations.

Why will FGL also have a community media scene section writing news and articles etc. considering there are so many established ones already? What value does FGL see in a community media scene section?
We will focus in different kinds of content than the rest of the on-line e-Sports media. We see the biggest portals as our potential partners and not wish to engage any kind of competition with them regarding content providing. We will produce our own content which we believe that will get a different kind of audience, comparing to the audience the current sites are having.

Why do you think companies decided to invest in and acquire media sites last year and new organisations like yours and ELC continues to establish new ones?
Electronic Sports is a very young market, and there's still plenty of space for new actors to join the scene in the corporate level. However, the way to do business in this area is quite different than the traditional ways. The companies that understand that and are able to adapt themselves to it will prevail; the rest will cease to exist. We can look at CGS as an example; they have greatly reduced their budget for this season because their business model was not being profitable.

How big an effect do you think writer’s dedication has on the development of eSports?
There are still few e-Sports writers in the scene. With time, more and more writers will start to appear, most of them in a professional way with academic education in journalism or similar. They will have a very important role in the development of the eSports.

The past year several poker and gambling related companies have entered eSports and your organisation cooperates with PokerStrategy. In what ways do eSports organisations and the eSports scene benefit by working closely with poker and gambling companies?
Poker is being accepted as one of the new e-Sports. To have Poker Sites working directly with e-Sports organizations is just a step. However the needs of the organizations involved are very specific and, not all e-Sports organizations understand what is involved. In the case of FGLeague, the fact I'm a semi-professional Poker player made me understand just that and that is why we work with poker organizations.

eSports is only at the beginning of its development. What perks do you see in eSports compared to other sports and what is needed for further development of the scene?
You do not need stadiums to have e-Sports competitions. Internet will be the ultimate feature that e-Sports can have for its development.

Talk With Daniel - Editor in Chief of Readmore (3rd March 2008)

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

For the first time ever the eSports Awards recognised the efforts of scene news writers, who put several hours each month into providing their readers up-to-date news and coverage, by adding a category for the writers for the eSports Award 2007. Scene writers are a segment of people in eSports that haven't been recognised by the organisations within eSports or considered as a factor of success until last year.

Last year major actors in eSports and gaming started to recognise scene media sites and writers; a few major sites was bought or invested in by major companies and organisations, more and more writers started to get paid - some with very low amounts considering their efforts, others very well worth it, yet there are still many writers that does the work as volunteers and with no compensation.

ZoneRank has contacted the editor in chief - Daniel "Beemit" Jensen, of the Germany eSports website Readmore to talk about scene media sites. Jensen is a student in Hamburg studying law and manages to work part time for Readmore. Jensen started out as a writer for a Counter-Strike: Source website before joining Readmore.

The Interview

What has made Readmore, in spite of it mainly being active in Germany, so successful?
When readmore.de started in Germany, there were mainly clans covering eSports. For a journalist, it is really important to be able to write and report unbiased and without any thoughts about your parent company. In the past it was all about the clans which made the money in eSports through sponsors and they could afford setting up big websites and doing coverage. All attempts to create an independent news website were doomed to fail back in the days due to a lack of funding. But eSports has gotten bigger and now it is possible for independent websites like Readmore.de (or GotFrag, fragbite, esportfrance) to do unbiased coverage on a solid financial basis and the readers honor this approach.

What are the most important aspects to think of if you want to create a news website similar to yours?
I think you need to see a niche in the particular market. It's difficult to grow in a market, if your product is almost the same as of all the competitors. Then you really need to stick to your goals. You have to have a concept and the needed human and financial resources. Not all eSports website need to cover the games the same way. For example GosuGamers shows an interesting way of presenting matches. They really try to highlight some special encounters in the WC3L or NGL ONE and create some suspense.

Last year Computec bought Readmore. What were the motives behind this from Readmore's perspective?
You always need to be able to improve and find a way to get better than before. The most of us are still studying or working on another job. We couldn't find enough advertisers, work on the website and cover all the stories in eSports at the same time. Computec is able to help us there and brought readmore.de on another level. On the other side Computec is a publishing house and not involved in eSports other than being the parent company of readmore.de. They will never tell us what and how to write about stuff and that's essential for us. Although we are not the small, self-built community-website anymore, I think the reader gained the most from this merge.

Last year GotFrag was bought by MLG, GameRiot by Games Media Properties, Computec bought Readmore and Regroup eSports invested in a few gaming portals. Why do you think companies decided to invest in and/or buy media sites?
eSports starts to get lucrative for advertisement and this business will get more and more interesting in the next couple of years as companies are redefining their advertising strategy and putting less money into TV or print and more into online ads. But right now it is really important for the companies to get into the market, so you can get the money in one or two or maybe five years. Nobody doubts that eSports will grow further and be more popular in the future. Thousands of people already use their computers or consoles to play games and more of them will find out about the competitive side of this. And the competitive gamers of today will get older on the average and gain more spending power which leads us to a highly attractive target audience for advertisers.

Some event organisers have supported and funded reporters from various media sites to attend events and report. In what ways are online media sites an asset for the eSports industry?
That's not an easy question. On the one hand you personally want to attend as many events and tournaments as possible to give your readers an insight into what happen all over the world. On the other hand the unbiased journalism can be in danger if you get a paid trip to go to a certain tournament. I think as a website you need to be sure to do what's right for you in that particular situation. You shouldn't cover anything that's of no general interest, but you should try to be able to give the reader as much content as possible. The eSports industry knows about the importance of high quality coverage and as long as they don't interfere with the way media covers their events, I don't see a problem in accepting offers like a paid trip. This is the usual journalistic practise.

What role do online media sites play in the development of eSports?
For a journalist, there are lots of tournament organizers, clan-leaders or businessmen who strive to convince you that criticising their projects will hurt eSports overall, that media has a huge responsibility for eSports as a whole and therefore their project should be hyped by the media as "it is a really positive thing for eSports". That's not what we want. Media in general always needs to show conflicts, inform the readers about the wrongdoing of companies and try to balance the power of the big names in the scene. Everyone in the business can improve if the media shows them what is throwing a bad light on them and where their flaws are. The media can put them under pressure to develop further. On the other hand media can also damage clans and companies when they post false rumours or other wrong stuff. So we have a big responsibility of doing it right.

How important are the writers' dedication and recognition for the eSports industry and its development in your opinion?
You can't work in eSports without being highly dedicated. It's not just about journalists, but everybody who has the opportunity to earn money in eSports today, had years of working without any remuneration. It's just the dedication that brought them there. The recognition is another thing. For a long time journalists weren't in the focus of community, as long as they were no famous casters. But with people like Carmac, who made a name for himself, you can be sure that eventually even a few journalists will achieve some sort of public recognition.

Many writers are heavily underpaid today and only a few writers are paid fulltime. Considering their importance, what do you think needs to be done to improve this situation?
Yes, many writers don't get what they deserve for their time spent, but can you pay people when you don't make enough money on the other side? Even event coverage can get extremely expensive as there are tournaments all over the world and readers expect on-site coverage. So it's not only about salaries or IT-infrastructure if you look at what kind of expenses an eSports website has. Many projects are still not making any profit and it's difficult to pay somebody more money, if he is not even working out of an office and you can't exactly see what he is doing. But as previously mentioned, eSports is growing and maybe one day we will see a whole floor of eSports journalists working in downtown glass tower covering everything we love (smile).

The past year many companies from industries outside gaming have invested in eSports. Why are more global, non-IT related companies entering eSports?
Gaming isn't exactly small anymore. The figures of money made through videogames exceeds the movie business as everyone knows today and we can all hope for that more of these gamers start to be interested in eSports when they want to play their favourite game in a competition. The lion's share of gamers in eSports is 16 to 24 years old and has just started to pay for its own goods. They are the people you want to reach as somebody having a lifestyle product. No surprise to see Adidas, Volkswagen, Coca-Cola or Kappa starting to work in eSports. They slowly understand what happens here and the fear of bad PR because of "killer games" starts to fade.

An obstacle for many local events in Europe has been proper funding in order to attract the elite. With your experience of LAN and events, what do you believe are the reasons behind this difficulty and what changes are needed?
In Germany the casual gamers and the professional gamers are mostly separated. Maybe it's because of the ESL and the chance to see your stars every week in a city around the country, but it will be difficult for LAN events to get the best players back into their tournaments as they have to play various online events during the week and aren't too interested in travelling long distances to win a mouse pad at a LAN on the weekend. They would have to offer a lot of prize money, but as we see most LAN organizers being in financial distress without even offering prize money I don't see that happening very soon. As long as big eSports companies with the right sales team and sponsors don't host the events, they won't get the money to attract the best gamers in Europe to classical LAN events.

eSports is only at the beginning of its development. What perks do you see in eSports compared to other sports and what is needed for further development of the scene?
Right now eSports is still depending on a big number of volunteers. They get recognition, some fame, a little money or hardware for their work. The other work is done by people growing out of the volunteering and doing it as fulltime-job. At many parts you notice, that this people know eSports, but they don't know business and what you need to do to stay successful. I would say SK Gaming is one of the positive examples. They got partners and work with people who are not from eSports and get some input from an outsider's perspective. Negative examples are companies trying to get into eSports without the necessary scene knowledge, CGS for instance. I don't believe that they are already making any profit, because they are not really interesting for the hardcore gamers and the casual gamers are not that much focused on competition yet. What we all need is knowledge and views from another side than eSports on the business.

SWOT Analysis of CGS (3rd March 2008)

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Last year DirecTV announced one of the biggest and most funded leagues in gaming history called Championship Gaming Series. The CGS started its league by creating six franchises in USA followed by another six teams in Europe and South America then at last four in Asia and Australia making it a total of 16 active teams within CGS. This first season they have been struggling with acceptance but their fan base has grown far bigger than many anticipated.

In December I went to Bangladesh to meet my cousins, however, I luckily (!) managed to get sick a few days and during those days I basically benched myself in front of the television. I was very fond of the famous TV network called STAR TV - one of the CGS’ partners. I was telling my brother that they were sponsoring one of the biggest gaming leagues in the World and voila, there they were, matches from the CGS World Finals on STAR PLUS broadcasted on prime time on Wednesdays. Unfortunately none of us were convinced to follow up the tournament so I've dug a little bit deeper into CGS and made an (amateur) SWOT analysis of the league based on official announcements and information that has reached me.

SWOT Analysis is a planning tool used within businesses to evaluate, for example, companies, markets or products' Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats based on one's perspectives. The technique was created by Albert Humphrey at Stanford University and is supposed to help identify the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable in achieving different objectives.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Strong line of executives; they recently released information about the core decision makers behind the company consisting of people with extensive know-how. Coming from different markets and industries they have worked at major companies such as Walt Disney, Sony BMG, MasterCard, CPL, Tribal DDB and AVP Pro Beach Volley Ball Tour. Their executive producer - Michael Burks is an 11-time Emmy-award winner who has produced 2300 shows, including 25 NBA seasons, ten NBA Finals, ten All-Star Games, 17 March Madness Tournaments, 25 NFL seasons and eight Super Bowls for CBS, FOX, TNT and NBC.

Financially strong; "This is the moment the gaming world has been waiting for. We will be paying salaries and bonuses to our players in excess of $5 million dollars during the 2007 season" said Andy Reif in April 2007. But that wasn't enough for the company; they later announced that one million dollars would be at stake at the World Finals in December 2007.

Different games; CGS decided to go with games that were more appropriate for television broadcasting than appropriate, accepted and generally used by the eSports community. This bald action was ground breaking at this level as they based their leagued on Counter-Strike: Source, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham Racing and FIFA 07.

Different rules; not only did they choose different games than other events but they also changed rules to make them more appropriate to television broadcasting. They invented new rules for the games so they could easily be understood by those watching the shows on television. The rules in CSS for example were totally different to what had been used in Counter-Strike the past 6-7 years.

Opportunities and Threats
Fairly young market; as the eSports market still is very new compared to other existing sports and markets, it does not have a clear direction on where it is heading. Therefore CGS, with its money, has a golden opportunity to lead the way and build up a new, more steady ground as no other actor has the financial backup to go up against them for the time being. And even if any other actor do get the millions and millions of dollars to support a project like this, they don't have the same type of mainstream media possibilities that CGS has at the moment.

Television and Internet broadcast; since CGS is created by the famous American TV network DirecTV but also sponsored by SKY Network and STAR TV they are able to broadcast CGS matches live to over 350 million people worldwide. They are constantly also releasing Video on Demands (VODs) on their website from the league matches and have had live streams from the drafts and finals available on their official website on the Internet. By reaching out to so many people they also reach out to a lot of people who can help them with constructive criticism.

Core eSports acceptance; CGS has realised that they haven't been able to convince the core eSports community being the Warcraft, Counter-Strike and other FPS games communities such as Quake. To be accepted by these communities CGS recently announced the creation of CGS online leagues based on World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike.

Poor TV-show; during my visit in Bangladesh I was privileged to watch a few CGS episodes on television. After a lot of convincing I even managed to get my cousins to watch the program to get their opinion of the show. We all felt that it was too transparent that the audience were brought in by the studio, that it was difficult to understand the games for non-gamers and that the in-game cameras were basically awful.

Conclusion
The first season of CGS ended in December with the million dollar World Finals and they now have another year ahead of themselves but how can they become more popular when their TV-show is bad - their core and most vital point. CGS has enough money and competent people to produce the accepted type of show. They need to turn their biggest nightmare (the poor TV-show) into their strongest strength.

They now have an 11-time Emmy-award winner who probably can produce a lot better shows than the ones I have seen. They need to learn from their mistakes but also listen to feedback from those who are familiar with eSports and gaming to produce something worth watching because if the gamers don't like the show, why would the general people? They need to make this TV-show entertaining if they want acceptance by the general people along with the eSports communities because their opportunities is by far better than any other event actor at the moment.

I can start by giving the following feedback from my perspective: Major sports don't have fake audiences during the matches they have real people, real fans with real feelings. Despite the money CGS has there are some things money can't buy (for everything else there’s MasterCard) because they are priceless!

If they do make a better TV-show they have a major opportunity to focus on building up the new eSports grounds for the future.

Exploring the World - Denmark (20th January 2008)

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

After a long Christmas break, our trip around the world is restarting and this time we are flying to Scandinavia, more exactly Denmark. The Danish eSports scene, although small, has had its fair share of successful teams and NoA will immediately spring to the mind of anyone who knows a bit about eSports; be it for the team’s past or actual success. We can also mention teams such as SOA or Copenhagen esports, who both also had a few successes, although nothing as big as NoA. It would also be a mistake to forget the Danish company Regroup eSports A/S, which is one of the most influential eSports companies in the world, owners of famous eSports team MeetYourMakers as well as community related websites such as Dotaportal and NNScript.

Despite the presence of such successful teams and companies, the Danish scene is still very small compared to the Swedish or German scenes. In order to unveil the reasons behind this and to discover more about the Danish eSports scene, we have decided to meet with ClanBase’s European Managing Director, Mads Ehrhardt. Mads has been part of the eSports community for a long time now, after running the foreign sales team of a New-York Danish bank Mads developed the concept of “Colliseum Games” which is now known as “Boomtown”. Mads was soon contacted by the GGL and is now in charge of ClanBase’s operations.

ClanBase was created in October 1998 by Willem "Tal" Bison and Rob "Amsterdam Wob" Van de Veer as a Quake II CTF ladder and is now one of the oldest and largest online electronic sports league in the world. On the eve of its 10th anniversary, ClanBase reached its 2 millionth user.

For his involvement within the international and Danish eSports business, we have decided to contact Mads and ask him a few questions about eSports in Denmark.

Could you describe the Danish esport scene?

The Danish esport scene is best described as small!

Denmark is a small country, with not many national tournaments – so the Danish esport scene is small. It is larger if we can look beyond the borders of Denmark. That is another way of describing the scene. Danish players are often very international. Either in international leagues/ladders or even LAN’s – as well as on international teams.

What are the most important LAN events in Denmark?

In Denmark it is SLAP, SHGOpen (thought that is not happening this year) and BattleIT. There are some smaller tournaments taking place at D3 (Denmarks answer to E3….). However Swedish and north German LAN’s are also important – and easy to get to – from Denmark.

Is there anything that makes Danish esports unique?

It is a small scene… for good and for worse. I guess that is unique.

Are there any hotspots for eSports in Denmark, cities/regions with significantly more players than other parts of the country?

Well – Copenhagen being the capital and having the highest concentration of young people – makes it a natural “hub”. We do see strong teams and players from Jutland.

What changes are necessary for a positive development of the Danish community?

I do feel that the Danish community is doing great – but due to its size – it is important to look beyond the borders of Denmark. The scene is not big enough in Denmark alone.

With the exception of teams such as SOA and NoA, the presence of Danish teams at an international level is quite rare, what do you think is the reason for this absence?

Well – we do see players in the international scene. Often you will find players in the Scandinavian clans. Like NIP had Danish players, Le Seules has, TEK-9 had and so on. Denmark is a small country – and players are often looking abroad to find a good clan with international potential. This has also something to do with the limitations there are in finding sponsors in Denmark for Esports.

What does the Danish population thinks of esports?

The mainstream audience has not really embraced it yet – but with increased exposure, continued prize tournaments and teams beginning to be more professional – it is definitely coming. I also believe that the general population is starting to see – that it is not only 15- year old nerds playing games – but it is an older group – and some does it like a sport with training and a coach and lots of tournaments. So it is still in its infancy.

Have Danish mainstream medias shown any interest in the Danish or international esport?

Yes – more and more. Now we are getting regular coverage of the larger events in Denmark and we see an increased interest from national TV stations. They know they are loosing out to the interactive medium the PC/internet is – so they need to get to this demographics group…. And that is done by interacting with them. With this increase in exposure – the possibilities of finding sponsors will increase and that will bring better possibilities for the Danish gamers.

What is the best way to reach players in Denmark?

It all depends on what players you are looking to reach.

The Danish CS scene is still very embedded in Xplayn.com – and some of the other CS sites has closed down.

Other games like WC3DotA – is Dotaleague or CB, and I think more and more gamers are using international sites. It is natural for danes. We have good connectivity and are used to play on international servers. Hence that is also where the gamers are doing CW’s.

Boomtown.net is also a good place to reach them – on a broader level.

How popular/successful is the CGS model in Denmark?

Well – it is followed – but not really something that is successful!

Do you believe that finding companies/investors interested in esports is difficult in Denmark? If yes, what do you think is the reason behind that?

Well first of all the limited exposure in the media gaming and Esport is getting currently is one very important factor. This area is developing rapidly and with teams like SOA – and even Le Seules – I believe that this will help other gamers of potentially find sponsors. The increased awareness of these teams improves the chances for others and of course themselves.

We are still in the state where it is often (very) personal connections that ensure you land a small sponsorship. And they are still smaller sponsorships.

You have to keep in mind that Denmark has a population of 5.5 million people. If a team can secure some international results like SOA has – then the basis for attracting a sponsor with some international view – are present.

Finally, how do you think eSports will evolve in the next few years in Denmark?

I know it will evolve. The maturity of the market will help on this front. There have also been talks in the Danish government about a stronger focus around gaming – both on the development side of things – but also on the Esport front. That is very interesting and if it’s possible to get the government onboard and interested in Esport – that will pave the way for great things to come.

That will “blue stamp” Esport in Denmark – and hence give the sport a big boost.

The Best Of CS - Exclusive Interviews (17th January 2008)

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Grab your armrests; this is a mighty juicy paper, full of uncovered secrecies and defamatory observations! This is definitely an out of the box multi-interview, prepared in exclusivity for you by Zonerank's staff including answered interviews from mooN, Archi, dsn, Sunde, Neo, REAL, cogu, allen & SpawN. Let us know if you want more of this kind, so we may start publishing more on a regular basis, let's get started!

CS champions session - 9 Interviewed players:

Jan "mooN" Stolle - Alternate aTTaX - Age: 22
Oscar "Archi" Torgersen - Fnatic - Age: 20
Harley "dsn" Orwall - Fnatic - Age: 21
Christoffer "Sunde" Sunde - mTw - Age: 22
Filip "Neo" Kubski - Meet Your Makers - Age: 20
Sondre "REAL" Svanevik - Age: 18
Raphael "cogu" Camargo - Rio Sinistro - Age: 21
Jimmy "allen" Allen - SK-Gaming - Age: 19
Abdisamad "SpawN" Mohamed - SK-Gaming - Age: 22

Zonerank: Would you please uncover to us the deep secret of your nickname origin?

aTTaX|mooN: I always had some big interest in the universe and also had some fun watching anime/cartoons, so i wasnt far from calling myself "Moon_Fighter".

Fnatic.Archi: Well, I started out with the nickname Archangel when I was really young. People began to shorten my nickname to either Arch or Archie. So I changed my nickname to ArchiE. After playing Counter-Strike for a couple of years archie from blomma and mostly known from EYE emerged. So I wanted to have something more unique as a nickname, but I was really fond of my old one. So I only removed the “e” in ArchiE to have something unique but with the same pronunciation.

Fnatic.dsn: I wouldn’t call it a deep secret. It started out as “design”, but eventually got shortened down to “dsn”. It’s a pretty bad nickname, but I’ve been using it for so long and it would be pretty hard to just change nickname now.

mTw-Sunde: In the beginning I used "zephix", but after a pretty short while I realised how nerdy it sounded when people addressed me by that. So I changed my name, so that it was similar to what I was called by my friends, my last name, Sunde.

MYM]Neo: Unfortunately my nickname is not that original since it's from the movie "Matrix". It seemed pretty cool at the beginning but after seeing 5 other Neos on the server it became irritating. Anyway, it was too late to change it since everyone knew me already as Neo so I've just decided to stick with it.

REAL: I have thought of this myself from time to time, but I don't really know why I chose REAL. I guess I just wanted a simple nick, and REAL is a fairly easy one, I also added 0rz/z0r to my name, since every other cool player used it.

RIO-cogu: I had one of those bowl haircuts when I was very young and I've always been short :P. So everyone called me mushroom, which spells cogumelo in Portuguese, shortened to cogu after a while and since then thats how people call me.

SK|allen: Not sure if its' a deep secret. Before I became good at Counter-Strike I changed nicks a lot and when I tried allen, which is my lastn ame, it just went good. People started to know who "allen" was so thats why I stayed with it.

SK|SpawN: I got SpawN from the SpawN movie back in the old days. Its a black super-hero.

Zonerank: Are you interested in other e-Sport games?

aTTaX|mooN: Oh I really am, the most interesting for me are RTS games like Warcraft III and Starcraft, even playing them myself a lot.

Fnatic.Archi: I enjoy both watching and playing other FPS games as well. Such as Quake 3 / 4. I loved to watch Painkiller when CPL had their world tour. I’m not really interested in other e-Sport games such as Starcraft, Warcraft 3 etc. I know how to play them but still I don’t enjoy watching others play it.

Fnatic.dsn: I like StarCraft. I watch VOD's from Korean leagues every now and then.

mTw-Sunde: I like watching the top Warcraft III players play, but I don't really play much myself.

MYM]Neo: No, at the moment I'm focused only on Counter-Strike. I don't like other games that much.

REAL: No, the only computer game I play is Counter-strike, I used to play Quake 2 though, but that was a very long time ago.

RIO-cogu: No. Only Counter-Strike.

SK|allen: Yeah, Warcraft III! It's really fun to watch and I play some myself too, so I think thats a great e-sport game.

SK|SpawN: I like playing Pro Evolution Soccer on Playstation 2. But the game i like most after Counter-Strike would be Rocket Arena 3. It's really fun.

Zonerank: Who was (or still is) your favorite in game team mate ever?

aTTaX|mooN: CHEF-KOCH because we're a great team together and he's the most professional teammate I ever had. Taking things very seriously and therefore pushing the team a lot.

Fnatic.Archi: I love all of our current Fnatic players equally ;). And it’s definitely my favorite roster of all time.

Fnatic.dsn: I’ve played with cArn almost my whole career, so it would be him.

mTw-Sunde: That's an easy question. ave was back in the days, and still is, my favorite teammate!

MYM]Neo: It must be LUq since we understand each other in game very well. Maybe if he whined less it would be even better ;).

REAL: Havent really had so many different team-mates, I guess there are no specific ones, but the team9/mym/catch players were all great.

RIO-cogu: I believe it was Pava, unfortunately he quit.

SK|allen: Prolly RobbaN :D, reason: unknown.

SK|SpawN: Fisker, ahl and ScreaM for sure.

Zonerank: What is the best world achievement for a Counter Strike player?

aTTaX|mooN: Winning an ESWC or a CPL (if it's going to be as big as it was back then).

Fnatic.Archi: A year ago I’d say it was CPL, It’s been the most honorable title for a long time. Now I’d say that the best title to claim is either the title as the winner of WCG or ESWC.

Fnatic.dsn: Winning any of the majors – ESWC, WCG and CPL back in the days.

mTw-Sunde: I'm not really sure I think ESWC, WCG and WEG are really great tournaments to conquer.

MYM]Neo: Thes best world achievement must be winning ESWC or WCG, one of them since both are great events with lots of spectators and prestige.

REAL: I guess winning ESWC is the biggest achievement right now, since ESWC is the only event where all the best teams attend.

RIO-cogu: To keep yourself on the top, for a long time.

SK|allen: I would say to win ESWC, it just feels a little bit bigger then WCG imo.

SK|SpawN: CPL or ESWC.

Zonerank: What was your favorite vintage game back before online gaming?

aTTaX|mooN: There wasn't a special game, there were just huge loads of N64, SNES and Playstation games, but I guess overall its Final Fantasy VII.

Fnatic.Archi: I and my friends used to play a lot of Quake and Warcraft II back in the days. But I’d say that those games still qualified as an online game. I think I’ve always played PC games either on LAN or online so we might have to go back to a console title here, Megaman 1-5 maybe? :P

Fnatic.dsn: I didn’t play a lot of games before online gaming. I played some Wacky Wheels when I was a kid, that’s like the only title I remember.

mTw-Sunde: I got really caught up in Heroes, and played both I, II, III and IV, I even forced the game on my little sister, so I had someone to play with. Later on I played strategy games such as Starcraft and Red-Alert.

MYM]Neo: Unreal Tournament, that's the only game I've tried online before CS and maybe Quake 3 which I played a lot a few years ago, when we didn't practice much as a team.

REAL: I was one hell of a Ludo player!

RIO-cogu: None, started with Counter-Strike!

SK|allen: Before I started playing online games I just played games like James Bond and Super Mario on Nintendo64! :D

SK|SpawN: Mario Cart on Nintendo 64. It was hella fun back in those days.

Zonerank: You mouse is broken and you're forced to use another brand for the final. Would you still have a chance to play as good as usual?

aTTaX|mooN: As long as I only have to play AWP there is a good chance that I would.

Fnatic.Archi: No I wouldn’t. You need to feel comfortable with the things you use. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a new mouse, especially not right before a final.

Fnatic.dsn: Obviously not.

mTw-Sunde: I just recently changed from MSI 1.1 to Razer Deathadder, just to try something new. I think that changing mouse is a pretty crucial thing, though if I set my mind to it I know I'll adapt pretty fast. It takes more time to master slingshots and other reflex based actions though. So the answer would be no.

MYM]Neo: My teammates very often repeat that if you give me a brick or a stone instead of mouse I will still be playing on my usual level. Maybe there is some truth in it. It doesn't take much time for me to get used to different settings. For example, I changed from MS 3.0 which I had been using for 4 years, to a MS 1.1SE one week before WSVG London, which we won. I played at a good level I think, it didn't take too much time to adapt. At nearly every event I manage to break my keyboard (somehow) and I am forced to borrow a different one, in case we didn’t bring any spare parts. I remember to play at the CeBit this year using Roman R's :D.

REAL: Pretty much I guess, I don't really care which hardware I use, but it had to be somewhat similar I guess, couldn't play with a Joystick :D.

RIO-cogu: Interesting, I'm not sure if I would have the same performance, but would definately do my best as always.

SK|allen: Nah, not as good as usual, but I think I can still play play pretty good. It's all about focus!

SK|SpawN: No. I'm a picky fuck. Can't play without my own stuff.

Zonerank: What is the most unusual bind (special key assignment) in your config?

aTTaX|mooN: Actually I dont have ANY spectacular bind in my config, not even a teamsay bind.

Fnatic.Archi: Probally that I’ve got “ctrl”, “shift“ and “c” binded as my duck key.

Fnatic.dsn: I think I have very standard binds, so no bind sticks out.

mTw-Sunde: I try to keep my config as standard as possible, so there's really nothing cool.. Maybe that I use (bind "q" "weapon_hegrenade") to draw HE, similarily I use E and Z, for flash and smoke respectively.

MYM]Neo: Bind mouse4 "say he he"? To be honest my config is almost a default one so I don't have any unusual binds.

REAL: bind mwheeldown “stopsound” ; bind mwheelup “stopsound” ; Guess that's the only specific bind I have..

RIO-cogu: Nothing special, simple one!

SK|allen: That I switch to pistol by mwheelup and to main weapon at mwheeldown I think, the only bind I got.

SK|SpawN: Don't have no binds.

Zonerank: Are you taking care of the way you look? Do you try to have your own style?

aTTaX|mooN: Of course I try to but it's not like this is the most important thing to me, so sometimes when I'm lazy or late I just skip making my hair. just wearing a cap.

Fnatic.Archi: I live a healthy life (if you exclude the alcohol during the weekends). I workout on a regular basis. I eat healthy food and I don’t smoke. A good role model ;).

Fnatic.dsn: Not so much at tournaments, but when I go out, sure.

mTw-Sunde: At the moment my look is 'tired student', I just started studying at the University of Aarhus, studying IT. At the same time I'm getting settled in my new apartment, so there's not much spare time. The little I have I spent playing Counter-Strike and trying to catch up :).

MYM]Neo: I am taking care of the way I look, but I am not trying to have my own style. Maybe I should start doing it since it's getting popular.

REAL: I just have a casual style I guess, being something very special isn't very important for me. It's not like I'm screaming for attention like the fucking gothers and stuff.

RIO-cogu: Yes, always, wait... who isn't? :p

SK|allen: I've been trying to take care of my self a little bit more lately, before I didn't care at all.

SK|SpawN: Don't try to have my own style honestly. Just trying to be me. But of course I take care of my look.

Zonerank: Have you been recognized in the street lately? How do you usually react?

aTTaX|mooN: It's not happening often, or actually it happens only few times that people try to talk to you then. But when it happens its always fun just talking to any guy you didn't know before and just making some fun talk over there.

Fnatic.Archi: I get recognized in the street a lot, especially when I’m out on weekends. The most common reaction is: “Hi Archi, I’m sorry but I’ve got to introduce myself. I love your game”. I always respond in a friendly manner.

Fnatic.dsn: Not lately, but sometimes it happens. It’s fun to have fans and they are the reason there are competitions.

mTw-Sunde: I never got recognized in the street, at least not that I know of :>. I would probably act really surprised, but it would be great!

MYM]Neo: Yes, it happened a few times already, even at a party in a club. I usually smile and answer questions or chat a little bit. It's nice that people recognize you even in the street.

REAL: Oh well, since there is only one street in the town I live in I obviously get recognized all day long. But seriously though, everyone here knows im gaming, and they are fine with it.

RIO-cogu: We have, mostly on the airports, I try to give everyone as much attention as possible.

SK|allen: Yeah it happens, been happening for quite a long time so I don't act at all, just doing nothing. It's still fun though that people recognize me in the real world.

SK|SpawN: It's strange to say this but in Stockholm, people recognize me really often. It's fun but at the same time i feel that its kind of weird. That you can get so much postive effect for being a pro gamer.

Zonerank: What is the worst comment a journalist ever wrote about you?

aTTaX|mooN: I guess so far nobody wrote anything bad about me and if someone did I probably just forgot about it (maybe because it was nonsense).

Fnatic.Archi: That’s a though one, I can’t actually recall something really bad that a journalist have written about me or any other player for the matter actually. Journalists usually try to keep their writings objective and professional with a disregard of personal grudges.

Fnatic.dsn: No idea, they probably write a lot of things when you play bad in languages I don’t understand. I can’t really remember reading anything really bad myself though.

mTw-Sunde: I don’t know, they’ve all been nice to me so far :).

MYM]Neo: I really don't know. I don't care that much about these things. I do read comments and articles when I don't have anything else to do but I don't take it personally.

REAL: I have no idea, cant really remember but I'm sure bsl has been pretty critical, as always.

RIO-cogu: I don't really worry with what is being said so it's hard to remember anything.

SK|allen: As far as I know no one has really wrote anything bad about me, let it stay that way! :D

SK|SpawN: Don't get much bad comments from journalist's cause I really am good friends with a lot of them. And for those who talk shit of me, they can lick my left nut sideways.

Zonerank: You've been travelling and meeting a lot of young people all around the globe lately. Does it influence your character and your judgements?

aTTaX|mooN: It really does, yea. You get more open overall and also get more kind to anyone you're talking to. Actually you learn that there are no differences between anyone in the world, whether he comes from a different country, whether he is a superstar or just a normal person overall.

Fnatic.Archi: Oh, Definitely! We’ve met a lot of interesting characters during our two years together. We’ve both learned and received experience from different cultures, countries and people. It’s been an incredible experience so far.

Fnatic.dsn: I like travelling and seeing a lot of different cultures. It gives you perspective for sure. I’ve met a ton of cool people during my years in gaming and I am very thankful for the opportunity to travel around the world and play. I’m more influenced by friends and family than by people I meet quickly abroad.

mTw-Sunde: Travelling is a bonus I personally really enjoy about gaming. It's interesting to compare your thoughts about the top-players that you have encountered online, to the experiences you have with them at the different events. It sure has an influence on my way of action, both online and offline. For example, I'd think "I'll never act like that if I ever get that famous." but it's easy to point and criticize when you don't know the whole story.

MYM]Neo: Indeed it has some influence. Travelling, meeting people is a lot of new experiences, which some of, for example, my friends will never get to taste. For me it is obvious that new experiences change your point of view, or judgments.

REAL: Yah, definitely. I started travelling when I was just a kid (16), I kind of grew up with travelling with older people and had to take care of myself in other ways than a normal kid would do. Guess I have a much wider perspective on cultures and how people are different from each-other aswell.

RIO-cogu: I think so, you end up getting to know many cultures and how life is different (and surprisingly sometimes similar) in such remote locations from your home.

SK|allen: Yeah its a good experience, you learn alot and it helps you grow I think.

SK|SpawN: No. I still have the same attitued as when i started the game.

Zonerank: How old were you when you discovered Counter Strike? How did it happen?

aTTaX|mooN: I was 15 I guess and we just came along Counter-Strike as a MOD since we got tired on playing Half-Life Deathmatch on private Lan Partys with friends.

Fnatic.Archi: I think I was about 14 when I started playing. I was big fan of Half-life and was following the progress of different modifications for it. Counter-Strike was one of them. So I actually played some Counter-Strike the same week as the very first version of it was released. I think I was about 12 then. But I just tried it out a couple of times nothing more. I started playing more frequently when I was around 14.

Fnatic.dsn: I played at an IT-cafe situated pretty close to my school when I was around 14 or something. I used to go there during breaks and after school and play with friends.

mTw-Sunde: It was a rainy day in Arhus, Denmark, I think I was 13 years or so. Me and my mom had been to town to do something I don’t remember, anyway, we were looking for something interesting to do until the rain took off, and pretty random my mom spotted a net-cafe sign, so we went to investigate. And so I begun playing computer games.

MYM]Neo: It was about 8 years ago, so I was maybe 12 years old. Our neighbour gave us a CD with the Beta 5.2 of Counter-Strike. I've started playing together with my dad. The whole scene was so small back then, that I remember only 1 online server with 20 slots. It took so much time to get there because it was always full.

REAL: There was alot of Counter-strike players in my town when I was a little kid, many friends of mine had older brothers who played alot of Counter-Strike, tried it out for the first time when I was 10-11 years. I guess it all started seriously when a new kid started in our class, he was from Singapore and had played Counter-Strike for a long time, so we all went together forming a team (Granbar). The rest is history.

RIO-cogu: I played football (soccer) in a local team here in Sao Paulo, had a concussion on my knee, followed by a surgery and a long absence from the game. During that time some friends in my condo asked me to go play a computer game in a LAN, it was Counter-Strike, I loved it and since then I've always had the motivation to play it.

SK|allen: I think it started when I was 14, a couple of friends showed me the game at a local internet cafe. Love at first sight!

SK|SpawN: It was back in 2001. Broke my elbow and was at home all day. That's when my friends showed me the game. And now I'm here.

Zonerank: What is your favorite curse?

aTTaX|mooN: Verreck.

Fnatic.Archi: In English I’ll stick to one of the classics, "fuck". In Swedish I’d have to say it’s “fitta”. You’ll have to translate that yourself!

mTw-Sunde: Easy, the sweet little mouse to evil-two-headed-lightning-breathing-dragon curse.

MYM]Neo: For me there is no such thing as favourite curse. I try not to curse without a particular reason. While competing in tournaments it might occur that some words slip out of my mouth, but only in order to boost our motivation, meaning “nice” e.g. That is not to be meant offensive at all!

REAL: Is this some kind of a Warcraft interview? My favorite curse is level 60 mage orc flamethrowing of the wizard on mountain of elf.

RIO-cogu: If you mean curse word, that'd be "porra" I think, which is used in a way similar to the "fuck" word in portuguese.

SK|allen: I dont uses curse alot ;). When I do i probally scream "They're fucking idiots who cant think".

SK|SpawN: Fuck you.

Zonerank: What key would you bind to a pedal device?

aTTaX|mooN: Move Forward.

Fnatic.Archi: ”+speed”.

Fnatic.dsn: W.

mTw-Sunde: Scroll? :].

MYM]Neo: To be honest, I have no idea. I have never used a pedal device before in my life.

REAL: I obviously allready use a pedal device (Thats the secret of becoming a progamer, I promise).

RIO-cogu: W (meaning what you mean :P).

SK|SpawN: I would bind “say Fuck you” or I don't really know. Maybe defuse?

Zonerank: How is your family reacting to your involvement in gaming?

aTTaX|mooN: First they were sceptic about the time I spent, but seeing that I could get both up, gaming and studying (doing school back then) they got really interested in gaming, following my games and are a huge support to me today.

Fnatic.Archi: They’ve been really supportive the whole time. They read e-Sport news on a daily basis and they’ve been great. I don’t think this would’ve been possible without my parents support.

Fnatic.dsn: They are really happy for me. When I’m out competing they’re usually up to date on results and when talking about gaming with them and for example mentioning that we lost to the best Danish team, they would know that I meant NoA (even though they don’t know anything about the players etc).

mTw-Sunde: My dad has always supported me, no matter what I did, he even told me to delay my education to explore my possibilities with gaming.

MYM]Neo: They are also into gaming, maybe not that much as I am. My dad is a known person in the Polish gaming scene. My family supports me very much in what I do so I've never had problems at home with gaming. Without their support I wouldn't be able to get to the point where I am at now. Again, I would like to thank them.

REAL: They think its great that I can travel all around the world on the others bill! I'm not really that involved anymore, they do attend the biggest events, but thats about it.

RIO-cogu: Was hard to explain to my family in the early days. Now they gave me unconditional support.

SK|allen: They just support me and think its great that I can earn money at my hobby.

SK|SpawN: Always get positive support from my family. They were a little bit against it in the beginning but they respect me for whatever I do at this point.

Zonerank: What did / would you paint on your computer case?

aTTaX|mooN: Nothing, because it's under my table anyways, so no one's ever gonna see it then.

Fnatic.Archi: I’d spray it orange and white with a large fnatic logo across. Like the Everglide Titan Fnatic edition pads.

Fnatic.dsn: Fnatic logo!

mTw-Sunde: I don’t care much about my computer or the way it looks. If I had to paint something I’d never paint anything ‘cool’, either something funny or pretty.

MYM]Neo: I've never been creative. That's why it would probably be a skull or something primitive.

REAL: I have a picture of chien on my computer, only have a giga tower though, so only his mouth + half a burger is showing.

RIO-cogu: Would definitely be a pedal device!

SK|allen: I would paint it pink and write teamrosa with a darker pink!

SK|SpawN: None. I like it as it is right now.

Zonerank: Do you see yourself playing professionally in 5 years?

aTTaX|mooN: That's a close call, but I'll agree here, gogogo!

Fnatic.Archi: That’s a hard question, I think it depends on how well e-Sport will evolve the next year or two. I’d love to still be playing in 5 years but I don’t know if it’s realistic. I’ll always try and harness my skills to my limit and try and be the best I can to be able to play professionally. But in the end it’ll be decided by how well the development of the e-Sport scene will be. I want to go and study in the university at some point. I guess time will tell on what’ll happen.

Fnatic.dsn: No, I don’t think so, but who knows.

mTw-Sunde: I’m really unsure how much the gaming community will evolve 5 years from now. As I said before I just started studying, hopefully I’ll be done 5 years from now, but it would be really great to be able to work with and help the community grow even bigger than it is now. I don’t think I’ll be playing myself, at least not professionally!

MYM]Neo: Sometimes I wonder if that will happen. I wish it would be like that, since I like playing. I would like to play as long as I can, of course if I would still like it.

REAL: No, but I will almost certainly be a professinal degenerate for a long time.

RIO-cogu: I dont think so, very hard to know.

SK|allen: Not really, but I hope I will, really hard to tell

SK|SpawN: I dont think so. I probally won't been playing at that time but I will for sure be involved in e-Sport. It's just getting bigger and bigger. Won't leave the scene just like that, thats for sure.

Zonerank: Could you please demonstrate to our readers that pro-gamers are active sociable people by revealing how much girlfriends you had until today?

aTTaX|mooN: 3 since I prefer having a longer relation than having lots of short ones. Actually the longest one was over 2 years.

Fnatic.Archi: It’s not your occupation or hobbies that defines how many women you’ll have. It’s your personality! Keep that in mind lads!

MYM]Neo: It depends what you call a girlfriend :P. I've never been active sociable what probably doesn't mean every pro-gamer is like that. I had about 4 before I became a nerd and a professional gamer, which was in Primary School so if you don't count them, it would be 2 girlfriends after I've started playing.

REAL: Heh, what are those girls you are talking about? Nah, seriously though, have actually had a couple, but none too serious. But I'm not a very serious person either, so it's all good.

RIO-cogu: Serious relationships I had a few haha, I had one for about 4 years. But have many unserious relationships :).

Zonerank: What is your private nickname on Quakenet?

aTTaX|mooN: I have to tag up, so I can't hide, but most of the time its aTTaX|mooN^away :P.

Fnatic.Archi: Fnatic\Archi you’ll find me at #fnatic.

Fnatic.dsn: fnatic\dsn2321354.

mTw-Sunde: mTw|Sunde of course.

MYM]Neo: Secret_NickName_Of_Neo_Which_Is_Top_secret.

REAL: Et|chi/mat/brb5tima.

RIO-cogu: I don't use it, hardly seen there.

SK|allen: SK|allen or Teamrosa]allen.

SK|SpawN: SK|SpawN. Please keep it private.

Zonerank: Would you spoil us with one more detail that very few people know about you?

aTTaX|mooN: No matter how much I concentrate on preventing this, it appears that I have almost no chance not to mess myself up at least a bit while eating. This must be kind of a hex I guess.

Fnatic.Archi: I can make a dolphin sound… ;)

Fnatic.dsn: I usually lose to ins in Tennis, even though I used to play a lot. My new year’s resolution for next year is to practice enough to beat him easy.

MYM]Neo: Whenever we go to an event, my teammates complain a lot about me snoring too much and too loud. I feel sorry for my girlfriend about that. :P

REAL: I used 16bit vs HeatoN@CPL... HAHHAHA sucker 1-0. I love family guy too.

RIO-cogu: Some people don't understand that, even playing on a major team, answering interviews, talking about pedal devices and been often in the media, I'm a normal person like anyone else. Said that, many think the fact I don't manage to answer everyone over the internet makes me a cold person, which is wrong. Only a few really know me! Thanks a lot!

SK|allen: I change crosshair size and sensitivity more then anyone I think! Not happy with that though.

SK|SpawN: Im trying to help my friend to get this site bigger: WrapEm.com. Its a hiphop community. Check it out if you like hiphop.

That's a wrap! We really enjoyed having you opening your hearts for this exclusive Zonerank interview, with some questions never asked before. As mentioned above, positive feedback will motivate for doing more interviews such as this in the future.

Thank you very much for your time, good luck for this brand new year and lets hope it will be a great year for e-Sports.

Championship Gaming Series Andy Reif Interview (16th December 2007)

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

When the Championship Gaming Series announced its first season and business plan the gaming community reacted with mixed feelings. Yes, this was an opportunity for gamers to really become professional players, but at the same time a lot of people were anxious about the format. The CGS was going to set up franchises and let these franchises play each other at the CGS events. By doing this the organization has full control over their players and became, in the eyes of a lot of fans, more than just an event organization. At the same time a lot of players couldn’t wait to participate at a CGS draft and get picked to play for and earn money from a CGS franchise.

In the beginning of the CGS I didn’t pay too much attention to it. To me the CGS was American, and at that time most of the news about the organization was all about the American scene. Next to that I didn’t really understand its format and therefore wasn’t on top of all the information surrounding the league. But slowly the size of the league became clear to me and I noticed the amount of professional people surrounding it. They incorporated the two most famous eSports teams in the United States, assigned a CEO with a tremendous amount of success setting up a new sports league and spent over 5 million dollars on wages. For me, and eSports in general that is huge.

I then visited a CGS event myself and experienced the filming of the United Kingdom qualifier. The studio we were in was top-notch and the crew running it knew what they were doing. They were filming a games event in a way to make it enjoyable to the general public...

To get more information about the format and people involved in the CGS I spoke to its CEO, Mister Andy Reif. Andy Reif is the former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Association of Volleyball Players (AVP). During his time at the AVP the league turned from an unknown sport to a mainstream television broadcasted sport. One of the first things Andy Reif told me when I met him in London was “I’ve got the experience to take a sport to a much higher level”, he continued saying that “the CGS is designed for the long term”.

Andy Reif (left) at CGS Worl Finals Press Conference TheCGS.com

The Interview

ZoneRank: The eSports 'scene' seems to be scared of changes sometimes. What were the biggest challenges you faced when you announced the Championship Gaming Series?

We are committed to keeping the essence of esports pure in its core since it was this subculture that has built esports into what it is today. Therefore the biggest challenge for me was to build this into a
sports property that the core eSports community would embrace while growing it into mainstream success. It was imperative that we maintain the respect of the community while we grow the brand. They are the soul of what we are building.

ZoneRank: In North-America the CGS incorporated known eSports brands such as Team 3D and Complexity. What were the reasons for a different approach in Europe?

In North America we held two CGS events in 2006 giving us more time in. This region built the base. Therefore when the opportunity arose to include two storied franchise teams with a great rivalry as part of the League, we were better positioned to take advantage of it.

ZoneRank: The first season of the CGS already covers the complete globe; this was certainly not the easiest way to start a new league. Has this influenced the league?

What we have achieved is an unprecedented accomplishment in sports. No other sport league has ever launched globally in its first year. Achieving this caused many sleepless nights and 24/7 work days and still that was not enough. However, it was important to us to launch globally since video games know no natural boundaries. It's the only true global Sport.

ZoneRank: One of the games played in the CGS is Counter-Strike: Source. Your main goal is to bring eSports into the homes of people that were unfamiliar with eSports, aren't you afraid that CS: S will be hard to follow for these people? How do you plan to solve this?

What is exciting for us is we have figured out a way to make pro gaming entertaining for all viewers.

We are working with one of the top sports production teams in the country led by Mike Burks who has won 11 Emmys and has produced NCAA and NFL events throughout his career. Mike and his team take the viewer inside the game through the extensive use of in-game virtual cameras. We allow viewers to experience the games the same way they watch other professional sports. Additionally, our broadcasts feature multiple angles of gameplay with multiple on-screen windows simultaneously showing gameplay and the players. Through these production values and using the right story-telling, we are evolving toward the best possible way to show competitive CS:S on TV.

ZoneRank: One of the growing markets in eSports is India. India does not have a franchise in the CGS. What are the reasons for this and can we expect something like the "Mumbai Madness" franchise soon?

India is definitely a growing and very important esports market. However, we have already launched 18 team cities globally in the first Year. That being said, we definitely have our eyes on india as the league grows.

ZoneRank: The CGS does not have a media partner for mainland Europe yet. Is there a specific reason why this, potentially huge market, isn't covered?

CGS World Finals in Los Angeles TheCGS.com

Again, we launched this year offering CGS content to over 100 million Households through our partnerships with DIRECTV in the US, BSKYB in the UK and star in Asia. We are now broadcasting to more than 350 million viewers. Looking at our track record you can safely assume we will be expanding distribution as we move forward.

With the World Finals of the CGS played in Los Angeles the first season has come to an end. At the event the CGS has announced that it is going to start an online league as well. During the upcoming second season of the league the CGS will not start new franchises but will focus on their existing franchises to make them grow bigger. During the past year the Championship Gaming Series has build up a presence within the gaming world that is not deniable anymore.

Getting eSports at a mainstream level is a process that takes time, money and dedicated people. I believe the CGS will help getting gaming to this level significantly. They have the money and the power to make their league a success and most importantly the dedication and knowledge. The CGS might not be eSports in its purest form, but it most definitely is a huge step for gaming.

Exploring The World - China (16th December 2007)

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Continuing on our world exploration, we are now going back to the far-east and landing in China. China is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion inhabitants representing almost a fifth of earth's total population. China is the second largest country in Asia, just after Russia and is considered as the third or fourth largest country in the world (depending on the inclusion or not of the disputed territories of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.) behind Russia, Canada and possibly the United States.

China is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world and has an immense history and has always been an interesting subject because of the vast amount of historic events that took place in the country. It has been the source of some of the most important and influential scientific discoveries and inventions of human history, with the discovery of paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing. This eventful history has led to the construction of the longest human-made structure, the Great Wall of China, stretching over 6,400 kilometers.

China's esport scene only started to grow roughly 4 years ago. Although this is not much compared to the extensive history of china where the earliest archeological discoveries are dating back from 2070 Before Christ; China has already filled an important gap that many other countries would like to see filled. According to many market reports, the Chinese gaming and game development industries are already amongst the strongest in the world, as online gaming market is expected to reach $1.3 billion dollars revenues, representing at least 30% of the online games market.

Naturally with the strong evolution of (online) gaming in China its esports scene has also evolved is now becoming one of the most influential in the world and might even outgrow some of the most advanced countries in the future. Most of the best esports players in China are playing games where only individual skills are necessary such as StarCraft or WarCraft 3. Players such as Sky, TH000, XiaOt or FLY immediately spring to mind when talking about WarCraft 3 and Chinese esports as China has recently started to dominate the WC3 scene, but many talented players are starting to appear in other games. The most popular Chinese team would be wNv, it has been part of the Counter-Strike elite for a while now although they have not managed to win any major event. China also has talented StarCraft players the most known of them being PJ thanks to a recent second place at the WCG 2007 Finals; where he lost to Stork (ranked number two in the KeSPA ranking). To achieve such a position he had to beat professional players such as sAviOr (ranked number three in the November KeSPA ranking) or White.Ra.

In order to know more about the Chinese eSports scene we have decided to contact the General Manager of the CGS Wuhan Dragons, Chao Ma. Mr. Chao Ma has an extensive experience of eSports, both as a player and as a manager. In the past, he has participated in many Counter-Strike competitions where he won 6 National Championships and two World Championships since 2003, including the IEF China Regional, WGT China Regional, WEG Masters, CS World Champion and Kode5 China Regional, among others. He also was the former manager and director of wNv-Gaming, one of the most successful esports team in China. Without any further ado let's see what Mr. Chao Ma has to say about the Chinese eSports scene.

ZoneRank: Can you give a brief introduction of E-sports in China?

Chao Ma: eSports in China started late, about 4 years ago. But the development is unbelievably quick.

ZoneRank: We have recently seen an important growth of the Chinese esports scene and of the popularity of esports in china, what is the reason behind that?

Chao Ma: China has the biggest gaming community in the world for two reasons: First, the population base is big. Second, the development of technology and network, as well as the culture change among new generations. Among these players there are many talented individuals who are promoting E-sports in China. The Chinese government also helped E-sports in gaining social acceptance in the recent years.

ZoneRank: Despite this growth, only few Chinese teams are present at an international level, on the contrary, there are a lot of individual Chinese players (mainly in WarCraft 3 but also in StarCraft) who are present at an international level, what is the reason behind this?

Chao Ma: Since the late 2006, wNv hasn’t played well in international tournaments and team gaming has been the biggest problem for Chinese players. There are many subjective factors. WarCraft3 and StarCraft‘s core development lies within Asia. China and Korea have many players for these two games. However, European and American teams play a leading role in team-based games. Maybe it’s because of the culture. Asians players are better at individual skills than team play. Another thing is that team games are not promoted very well in Asia and cost more to maintain. The event holders in Asia have big problems in broadcasting team games plus they have a tight budget for the event. I think we just need more time. For any competitive sports event, after a period of time, there will be a certain point during its progression where team competitions will be highly spectacular and competitive.

ZoneRank: Is there anything that makes Chinese esports unique?

Chao Ma: The individual games are most popular in China. Also the media’s preference in individual games has led to the lack of attention to team games. Plus WarCraft 3 suits the logical thinking of the Chinese which limits the possibility of growth for other games in China. Local TV station's incapability to broadcast game tournaments has been the greatest obstacle for the growth of China's E-sports, but I think it is just a short-term problem and will be solved in no time!

ZoneRank: Are there any hotspots for eSports in China, cities/regions with significantly more players than other parts of the country?

Chao Ma: Yes. Wuhan, Chengdu, Guangzhou and many more southern cities.

ZoneRank: Are there any necessary changes needed for the development of the Chinese community?

Chao Ma: Absolutely. Every industry requires many stages of revolution and so does the Chinese E-sports industry. We desperately need the involvement of specific supervising department and TV media.

ZoneRank: What does the Chinese population thinks of esports?

Chao Ma: The whole country develops rapidly and the E-sports industry has made great progress in only 4 years. Many young people are very familiar with E-sports. People need a new entertainment to relieve from work pressure, therefore the combination of entertainment and competition is the best direction of E-sport’s development.

ZoneRank: Have Chinese mainstream medias shown any interest in Chinese or international esport?

Chao Ma: Yes. Lot’s of mainstream Medias have shown great interest in E-sports event and have been involved in reporting and promoting these events.

ZoneRank: What’s the best way to get to know players in China?

Chao Ma: Chinese players are easy-going, you just need to be kind to them.

ZoneRank: How easy is it to find companies/investors interested in esports in China?

Chao Ma: You need a great proposal and investment plan like any other industry. It’s the same in China.

ZoneRank: What do you think of the recent investments that have been done in China?

Chao Ma: You should join the Chinese market if you are a wise investor. It will bring you lots of surprises in a very good way. I suggest you find a reliable partner in China as this will save you a lot of time in understanding the country.

ZoneRank: You have recently been made General Manager of the CGS Wuhan Dragons, what does the Chinese community thinks of the CGS model?

Chao Ma: CGS is a brand-new project which Chinese E-sports has never participated in before. But CGS will convince Chinese people with its excellent performance, and very soon, we’ll see how great CGS is!

ZoneRank: Finally what is your opinion towards the rapid growth of E-sports in China?

Chao Ma: It’s surprising. But each and every staff should take steps to improve his/her professional standards

Interviewing Abe Zarran from Pro Gam3r Magazine (16th December 2007)

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

A few months ago a new gaming magazine that focuses on eSports was released. So far the magazine is published every 3 months but the future goal is to turn it into a monthly publication. We caught up with ProGam3r Magazine's editor Abe Zarran to ask a few questions about the magazine and its purpose.

Abe Zarran has followed professional gaming since the 80s when people were starting to compete in coin-op arcade machines such as Donkey Kong, Dig Dug and Mappy but later moved on to the FPS competitions with games such as Quake. He has worked the past seven years producing a publication for the wine and spirits industry that just celebrated its 67th year. He was then through some friends approached by MyGameRoom to consult on how to do a magazine. "When I went and saw what the subject matter I was ecstatic. I didn't expect to see someone wanting to put out a publication on something that I have been an avid and passionate fan about for so many years. So I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this undertaking", he described.

What is Pro Gam3r for those who don't know?
We are a high quality print magazine that features major competitive video gaming leagues such as the CPL, ClanBase, ESWC, ESL, MLG, etc. Our focuses are the leagues, the players and games featured competitively. We try to make it interesting by adding some personal touches such as lifestyle of players and asking questions about the players outside of the games. But generally we focus on the leagues and the players.

Who are the people behind this magazine? And why did you decide to start this project?
MyGameRoom is the company behind ProGam3r Magazine. They produce software for statistics engines and management for LAN/online game tournaments and matches. This software has been featured and used by our company's website FragArcade.com and recently our S.L.A.N.T engine [statistics/tournament management software] was used to run the Quakecon 2007 Quad Damage tournament which featured four different games in one tourney. First of its kind.

Pro Gam3r is at the moment just another gaming magazine as there are dozens of those already. What is going to make your magazine different?
Wow, dozens? Well, in regards to video game magazines, yes there are dozens. We are different than other video game magazines as we don't review games that aren't used in competition, we won't be featuring hardware that isn't used by professional gamers; the focus is mainly professional gaming. We are trying to stick to those tenets in that if its professional video gaming, we'll be featuring it.

We feature the pro gaming leagues, the pro video game athletes, what they do and how they live. We want to bring our readers into this world where they might just know about the MLG or the CPL and don't know about the European Leagues or the StarCraft Asian leagues. So we are here to bring everyone together and show them that they are not alone, that these athletes want spectators and fans to join them in the push to bring our passion, our sport of video gaming to the rest of the masses.

The magazine is also put together in a high end paper format featuring tasteful artwork and it's just a magazine that surpasses the quality of other publications in the market.

What makes you believe in eSports enthusiasts to actually subscribe to this magazine when there are so many exclusive materials available for free on internet?
People underestimate the value of having a publication in your hands. Yes, you can get the latest news as it happens online. But we are offering a place for those that don't live on the internet to get a compiled listing of ranked players and events. Not to mention that we have custom articles written by players and writers at most major events. Introspective articles that you just can't find elsewhere.

What were the motives behind releasing it at QuakeCon, is there a cooperation with QuakeCon and the magazine?
We decided to launch at Quakecon because that is where most of our staff met each other and we felt it was a great jump point for pro teams and players that attend this even to get an opportunity to see our magazine and get direct feedback from them. As for a pro event in the U.S.; where else than QuakeCon can we find fans, spectators and pro players in one place.

From where will you be able to subscribe to this magazine?
You will be able to get this magazine ANYWHERE you are located. Currently we are providing subscribers direct to mail magazines. But we are currently looking at making the magazine available in newsstands in Europe.

Were there any actions to have the magazine more user-friendly to those who don't know enough about eSports?
Absolutely. We try to be as detailed as possible with our use of acronyms and terminology and we also have some features such as a strategies section that explains to people some of the strategies in games that are played in competition. The publication is definitely easy to read for the novice and includes all the subject matter that the die hard would want to read.

What communities/scenes is your primary focus going to rely on in the magazine?
Right now we are covering CPL, ClanBase, the CGS, ESWC, the ESL, Kode5, MLG, WCG and our never covered in print FIGHT section that features the EVO competitions for fighter games and some coverage of the Starcraft leagues in Europe including those players listed in the KeSPA rankings.