The term “gamer” still has some negative connotations, I think. But whether that’s true or not, I probably have to call myself a gamer. But if you ask my friends they will confirm that I’m not the typical one who likes games in general and just plays everything and is always on the lookout for the next fun game to play.

I never play games on my iPhone or iPad, I have a Nintendo Switch, but very very rarely use it. What I do use is my custom built Gaming PC, probably every day. But I seldomly play single player, story driven games. I like them in theory and try one every couple months or so, but I never really get into it.

What I do love are competitive multiplayer games. DotA 2, Overwatch and the like. I like the sport aspect of gaming. Practicing, getting better, competing, taking it seriously. I have fun if it’s not just about the fun, I guess?
I like giving it my all and being exhausted after playing. It sounds weird writing that down, but that’s the truth. I like the emotions of winning or losing.
I often like to think I got that from playing soccer for relatively serious teams for about 13 years or so.

Recently I heard a DotA 2 Pro say “You don’t play DotA to have fun” and on a certain level that is definitely true and I somehow love the game for that.

Despite me loving the esport aspect of gaming so much, I never really played in a serious team. I was only once part of a clan (when I was a teenager, teams were still called clans), but we were just a bunch of friends trying to win a couple of War Craft III matches. We weren’t really good, but we had one or two practice evenings per week.

Anyway, esport is growing massively and it gets more and more recognition in the mainstream media. Tournaments get bigger and players get salaries. That is great and I love being a part of it, even if it’s currently just as a fan and a mostly bad, but highly motivated player in my evenings.

I watch a lot of DotA tournaments, have favourite teams and in general follow the scene. I also watch some Overwatch matches from the Overwatch League and sometimes even watch a few rounds of CS:GO tournaments if I see streams popping up on Twitch.

For a while now my friends love playing Fortnite. I didn’t really get into it, but now the Fortnite community is making up competitive modes and starting online tournaments. Marcel told me about it the other day and I was immediately hooked. I don’t know what it is but it turned Fortnite from a casual game into something serious in my mind and I realized then and there that I really have a love for the whole esport scene, not just one particular game.

At some point I’d love to get involved in the esports industry somehow.
As a web developer, photographer, team owner or I don’t know what. If I were younger I’d love to pick one game and give it all I have to go pro, but I’m not kidding myself, that chance is long gone. 😁

So, esports, mh? Love it.