How I see myself in Esports
By now most of you will have heard the big news. I will be moving back to America (Yay!) to join ESL as a Commentator and Creative Producer (Double Triple Yay!). With that news, there’s also been a ton of questions: Where will you reside (NA!)? Will you still be doing OGN stuff? What games will you be a part of?...and most of all, Why are you leaving OGN?
For starters, I will be leaving OGN and joining ESL as a full-time employee. I’m not barred from doing outside events, so there’s a chance you might see me at other tournaments like we do with Apollo at Dreamhack =] I will be moving to California to join the ESL North America offices, but as you saw, this also does not mean I won’t be doing ESL HQ events since I am kicking off my ESL career with ESL One Frankfurt.
I have about 3 pages by now on all sorts of explanations for my choices...and decided that’s not exactly what you guys are looking for heh. Maybe I’ll share all of that one day, but today, let’s talk big picture.
It seems a lot of people don’t know, but I started off my esports career as a caster foremost, then a translator/interviewer, then followed by all sorts of behind the scenes work surrounding production and consulting. The point is, it’s not that suddenly I want to do more on-stage work...that was what I always wanted to do the most! That is where my roots are, and I’m just returning to it in a sense ^^
As a commentator at ESL, my biggest role will be as a host, and that too is where I wanted to see myself going. Sure, I casted matches more often than I hosted events in the past, but I didn't have many opportunities to begin with to host events. A big part of this is that OGN is in Korea and the audience is Korean and Korean will be the main language, as it should be. The few times I got to host events though, I had a blast and wanted to do more so I could improve even more.
Another thing is that I want to hold a broad repertoire of games. You have to draw the line at some point to remain knowledgeable in all the titles you are a part of, but I wanted to take part in as many as I could. This is because I want to continue reminding myself that I enjoy games as a whole, and that I enjoy esports as a whole and the different styles each title brings. Not to say analysts of games don’t enjoy other games, but to me, as a presenter, it was always important to stay in tune with that within my job. If you’re an analyst, you have a very clear priority in which title to spend the most time with. As a presenter, it’s often a different case. Now, OGN does do multiple titles, and any broadcasting company’s repertoire will come and go...but Korea in general moves in masses. Culturally, be it fashion, music, or games, when one thing gets big, it gets huge. You’ll always have leaders in any field, but in the Korean community (compared to America at least) the discrepancy is quite a bit larger between the largest audience and those that follow. As we know, if there isn't a player base, there isn't a scene, and that can often be the limitation in what gets produced. The way I see it, at ESL (especially with offices across NA and EU) there will simply always be more options because the overall playerbase is bigger to begin with.
One factor that isn't directly esports-related is that I planned to move back to the West at some point. Korea’s great and it’s changed a lot for the better from the past, but culturally I just feel more at home in the States (there are parts of EU I’d like to try living in though!). With that as a plan, I wanted to prioritize my career in English over my career in Korean. It was an honor to be invited on to the Korean broadcast of global tournaments in LoL and Hearthstone. I had a lot of fun, learned quite a bit, and received a lot of support from the community. I really wanted to do more of it, but I was torn because at the end of the day, I was building up 2 separate careers rather than 1. Some parts of it overlap (such as stage presence and game knowledge) but I’m still essentially building two different towers and asking people to look at them as one. My efforts and time had to be split. This was one of the biggest things, and one of the unfortunate aspects of the situation. I was thankful to be given such opportunities by OGN and honored to be so valued, but our long term visions for myself didn't align in the end.
On the flip side, I have held high regard for ESL for quite some time. I really like ESL’s style in most of their productions, and thought it would be neat to take part in that. When the position included that of a Creative Producer, it really seemed to be a good fit for what I was looking for. I didn't just want to be included in the set for ESL events, but also help evolve it, and coming from Korea and OGN, I believe I can offer some new angles and ideas. They might not all be great, but I’m positive they’ll at least lead to new questions and new challenges to take some different steps in global esports production. My experiences on stage at OGN will be helpful, but it’s the time I spent in the production room and in the office at OGN that will help the most here. I’ve been a part of most of the different aspects of producing a tournament, from brainstorming, tournament format, set design, to tech on site. I don’t claim to be an expert in all of them, but I hope that I can at least provide another set of eyes and ears for most of them.
Global esports is still growing day by day, and I can’t wait to be in the thick of it with ESL =D After a lot of consideration, I saw ESL as the best fit for me. It was a place where I wanted to go, and I decided it’s also the place that provides me with the best canvas to work on. They have a solid foundation in esports broadcasting, quite a history, and great people. When I talk with members of ESL, so often I can tell that our ideas about what’s exciting about esports match up. ESL already does awesome work in the scene, but I’m confident that so much more can be done...and it will be =]
Man, I wish I could just keep on writing out all my thoughts. There’s a lot I want to share, but I hope this answers some basic questions. My visions and OGN’s visions for me didn't line up at the end of the road, and I've always enjoyed working with ESL and watching ESL productions. I’m very excited to join and be a part of that, and I hope that you continue to have faith in the fact that I’m here to make esports more fun for us all. I want to enjoy it, and I want you to enjoy it with me.
I plan to host an AMA soon to help answer detailed questions, so if your curiosity hasn't been quenched please stay tuned to find out when that will happen! Until then, good luck and have fun~
