Turning Game into Passion and Money
We talked to Rudolph Karundeng about how he brings together his passion and profession at GO-JEK.
For Rudolph Karundeng, or ‘Rudi’, he never imagined that his truest passions would translate into an actual career. For someone who has more than 15 years of experience in the banking industry, most of his roles have centered around finance.
But things took a turn when he was presented the opportunity to build GO-JEK’s eSports business. We caught up with him at the office to talk about his hobby and why he decided to join GO-JEK.
How did you join GO-JEK?
My previous occupation had nothing to do with what I’m doing right now. I spoke to a few people from when they were first introduced to GO-LIVE, and they said that they need someone to start up the whole e-gaming division, because e — gaming or eSports is a great way to actually interact with the users of Indonesia. In 2017, Indonesia has 43.7 million gamers so it means that it’s a big opportunity.
Because of this opportunity and my passion in gaming, I couldn’t say no.
Tell us about your previous experience.
My previous occupation has always been in either logistics or in finance. I used to work for a bank, and in my previous job I was an exporter of goods like vegetables and fruits to the United States.
My bachelor was in macroeconomics. I was big on finance, but I’ve always had a passion for gaming.
You mention that you are into games. What is your favorite game?
Atari was one of my very first gaming consoles, even before Sega. It had very, very low quality graphics. This was back in the early ’80s. If you’re talking about console gaming, I prefer offline, so things like Gods of War. I also dabble a bit on Call of Duty, which is more online. For PC, I kind of like Dota too, but I also like Counter Strike Go. For mobile, I have a number of different games that I play: Mobile Legends, Walking Dead Fortnite, PUBGM, Tekken, South Park just to name a few. I play a lot of strategy games as well, so there are a number of games that I play to occupy my free time such as Civilization, StarCraft, The Last of Us….. I don’t play Ragnarok, but some of my nieces and nephews do and I love watching them.
Why are you so passionate about gaming?
Video Games represents the peak of technology as games advance in graphics, speed of processing, code computation of physics of the world in the game, it has pushed technology to meet its demands such as Graphic Cards, MotherBoards, Monitors, Keyboards, Mouses, Sound, to Processors. It shows innovation as an art form from the detailed rendering of the game world, to the artful storyline. This excites me.
Now with how good games are, a good game to me is like a good book or a good movie. I can put myself into the character and imagine what’s happening to the character and how it reacts to how I would react to it. I love watching people’s excitement when they play. I love reading a review about a game and anticipating the gameplay, then when getting it I get to sit down with my kids and play the game. Nothing better than that.
Why did you decide to join GO-JEK and become the head of eSports in GO-LIVE?
I saw it as a great opportunity to actually develop the eSports industry because GO-JEK has such a far reaching arm in Indonesia. Everyone knows what GO-JEK is. And so, when you provide eSports and you add in the GO-JEK brand, it gives it a little bit more credence that, moving forward, it will grow even bigger in Indonesia.
This is why I thought it was really cool that I could actually participate and try to develop the eSports industry in Indonesia. I see it as a great opportunity not just for GO-JEK but also to connect with the users of Indonesia because everyone plays video games in one form or another, when they’re stuck in traffic or all stressed out — a bit of Candy Crush here and Mobile Legends there. I just happen to spend a lot of my free time on games as it keeps me out of trouble.
Now that you’re here, what’s your favourite part of working in GO-JEK?
I’ve been here for six months. The truth of the matter is that GO-JEK promotes a environment to explore, the office itself as well what everyone else is up to. When I got a bit a free time I walk around and ask people what they’re doing, and find out what everyone is doing. It’s interesting the push and drive everyone has in a positive environment.
I can walk to an analytics team, and ask “hey, what do you guys do all day?” and they willingly explain it to me in detail. Go up and ask, and everyone is very helpful. It’s such a different environment than any office I’ve ever been to. Most offices are a little bit more stressful, there’s hardly anyone smiling.
Here, on the other hand, everyone actually looks like they want to come to work everyday. Everyone wants to move forward and make GO-JEK’s brand bigger and its customer service a little bit better. They try to develop the app and the company to be the best it can be.
Years ago, eSport was a community of video gamers who could gather at conventions to play Counter Strike, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.
But today, as the history of eSports progresses, one Go-Jek division called GO-LIVE is disrupting the world of tournaments and competitions. Its aim is to provide a venue for GO-JEKers and non GO-JEK people a place where they can intermingle in festivals that celebrate electronic sports, this idea is carried along to their other fields whether that’s festivals, music, concerts, eSports or sports events.
GO-LIVE hopes to add that little bit of GO-JEK spice to the execution of these events. In eSports, this means going beyond traditional competitions to include dining, VR, augmented reality — a festival that doesn’t just entertain but educates on the myriad of different possibilities Esports have to the initiated and non initiated. It isn’t just an eSports events.
So what will the future of GO-LIVE E-Sport look like? Want to get involved in the future of eSport? Join GO-LIVE here.
