Journey from Gamer to an Organizer

Playing online games, practising in scrims, participating in tournaments, and having an elite team is incomplete without an organizer. An organizer is the one who arranges space for all the gamers out there, gives them the right environment to polish their skills in, having a great match with people they want to compete with and win against.

Today we have an organizer with us, someone who has been arranging tournaments for a couple of years now. There are many things you all don’t know about being an organizer and a lot of things you’d “what!?” after reading.

“Hey Ansh, hope everything’s great!”

“Oh, it never really is, haha.”

“I agree, so allow me to throw some firey questions at you. You ready?”

“Totally”

First off, how did you plan on paving your way as an organizer?

I was a gamer initially, used to play for hours, wanted a career out of it and was the most passionate gamer, at least in my eyes. Though, there were days when I felt that I could better be organizing than playing. Ideas were always flowing in for the gaming community. So, I got into this field of organizing tournaments, arranging scrims and found myself enjoying it. I found a different passion in my zone, and I am glad I chose this path.

That’s really nice, moving on to our next question. Did your family support you initially? If not, how did you manage the financial issues starting off?

As you know, not all Indian parents are okay with their kid getting into E-sports professionally. Mine too didn’t want me to play, let alone organize gaming tournaments. I started off on my own, managing most of the expenses with the prize money I earned from gaming battles. Rest, I had some savings and my pocket-money, which turned out to be of great help.

Your passion somewhere motivating us as well. In your opinion, was it easier being an organizer coming from a gaming background?

See, here’s the fact: you know both sides of the story if you’re both a gamer and an organizer. Most of the organizers are gamers initially, which helps them create a picture of all the gamer’s needs. We know both ends’ positive and negative, making it easier to understand the moment’s need. We try to make the best out for the gamers as they are evolving each day, but to be honest, there are still certain things we fail at.

Definitely, we are all learning. On that note: What hurdles you are facing currently?

The e-sports industry has a lot of potential in it. Its value is increasing every day. It is also turning into a full-time profession for a lot of people, But the thing is that we don’t get the right kind of sponsorship in this economy. The amount of recognition is nowhere close to the amount of energy and emotions invested in it. Though things are improving day by day, there are other things that are still troublesome: we face issues in reaching out to all the communities, we lack promotion, and sometimes it is also difficult to manage toxic communities.

Are you planning on being an organizer forever? Has it has no age limits?

I am planning to be this as long as the gaming industry exists. It is also suitable for me because the E-sports industry is growing at a very high pace. I am in love with this life, meeting new people, connecting with new gamers, getting to know their problems and trying to provide them with the best solutions. Organizing has changed me; I am a better person in real life. My communication, my leadership have all improved, which is an achievement for me. I have started acknowledging people’s needs, putting my gamers others before myself. I am compassionate and selfless, and I don’t know if anyone can give this up for anything else.

I can imagine your love for this profession already; it is so fulfilling at the same time. Okay, so if you had the power of changing certain things about organizing in our community, what would you change?

That’s a tricky one. First off, I’d love to put one thing in our society’s mind: gaming CAN be a profession and not just a hobby. I am a professional in the E-sports ecosystem, and I am earning well. Moreover, one thing I’d like to erase from this community is that some people sell/buy slots of gaming in tournaments, which is not a good practice. If someone intends to get a slot, they disregard its value and sell it to someone who doesn’t even deserve to be there, just for money.

For sure, such practices gotta go away!

That is all for today. Thank you Ansh for talking with us and sharing such valuable experiences. We wish you a great future ahead.

Stay Tuned. Cheers!