Hailing from the United Kingdom, Neil ‘kboy’ Kirk started Team Coolermaster as well as eSourceUK before joining FnaticMSI. Neil has had a very active role in the development of E-Sports over the 7 long years he has been involved with it. Neil is considered one of the unsung heroes at...

Hailing from the United Kingdom, Neil ‘kboy’ Kirk started Team Coolermaster as well as eSourceUK before joining FnaticMSI. Neil has had a very active role in the development of E-Sports over the 7 long years he has been involved with it. Neil is considered one of the unsung heroes at Fnatic, always working extremely hard behind the scenes but rarely stepping out into the limelight to gain any recognition. Recently, Cameron ‘fams’ Carson caught up with a very busy Neil, and got the chance to ask the Business Development Manager a little bit about what he does at Fnatic, where he sees FnaticMSI and E-Sports as a whole going, and much more.



pictureCould you please give the fans a little insight into how you came to work at Fnatic?
My official title is ‘Business Development Manager’ and I report and work directly with Sam

I was (and still am) the owner of Team-Coolermaster. After some fairly successful European events we had decided to make more of a name for ourselves by showcasing our brand, sponsors, products and teams. We had put together on a very large scale an exhibition at the Multiplay i-series in the UK. Whilst in the middle of managing everything on the stand I had seen lots of people hovering around, a lot of them I didn’t manage to get time to talk to. I seem to recall Sam was at the edge of the stand looking at some hardware we had on demonstration later in the day. He was impressed with what we had done and at the event plus interested in talking due to the fact we both (at the time) had sponsorship with Coolermaster. So we got talking about various topics and exchanged details. He then invited me to later have a chat with him. After talking about TCM and Fnatic he then explained that he was looking for a Manager, asked me if I would be interested in joining Fnatic as he wanted to focus on other interests and needed someone to step in. Obviously I was interested but had some other commitments I had to fulfill first as well as ensuring TCM would be left in capable hands. A few weeks later Sam invited me over to meet with him, Anne and the others for dinner. Needless to say it went well and I accept an offer with them and a few weeks later it was officially announced when I migrated across.

So what does your job at Fnatic entail exactly?
My official title on paper is ‘Business Development Manager’ and I report and work directly with Sam and Anne. Initially I was brought in purely to evolve Fnatic even further in terms of its exposure and mutually beneficial relationships. However in reality the role has expanded greatly. Sam always stated that he wanted to take more of a back seat on Fnatic and had some other interests he wanted to explore (UGAME and Evisua), so I knew I’d be in store for more, which I’m absolutely fine with. In addition as you mentioned in one of the earlier questions I have a very hands on approach plus want to get as involved as I can. I have a wide variety of task from sponsorship, management of staff, players and teams, merchandise, assisting and directing the journalists; working on proposals… the list goes on and on and on!. However I should point out that many of these have multiple people assisting each other and Fnatic is more like a family where we all do what is necessary on a daily basis. Every opinion is listened to and everyone involved is the key to Fnatic’s success. We have quite a large set of staff and everyone is important.

pictureMost people won't know this but, you take a very 'hands on' approach to managing most of the players. However many E-Sports teams take a hands off approach and let the players sort of manage themselves, why did you choose to be more involved with the players?
Well the definition of a Manager is as follows:

man•ag•er
n.
1. One who handles, controls, or directs, especially:
a. One who directs a business or other enterprise.
b. One who controls resources and expenditure.
c. One who is in charge of a person or group of people
2. One who is in charge of the business affairs.
3. Sports
a. One who is in charge of the training and performance of a person, group of persons or a team.

I have a very old school approach, possibly because I am older. So based on that definition I truly believe that it is beneficial to the player (team) and organization to have a very hands on approach. I’ve always taken the stance that the more time and effort you invest in something to greater the rewards and players are no exception to that rule in my book. You also have to remember that players join an organization for “support” which I guess is the key word. Yes that’s financial support but also I believe should be coaching, advice, opinions and feedback. All players want to do is play their game of choice and be the best. They really don’t want to be bogged down with administration and other such fine details. In addition I’ve always taken a huge interest (including playing) in the games of the teams I manage, which means that I can then understand aspects of the game, including game play, maps and tactics. In addition you then become familiar with your players and can see their strengths and weaknesses, which sometimes can be of great benefit to the team. Also it forms a bond, including trust with your players. Managers where affective can add real value to a team, especially at off-line events. They can motivate a team when down, keep momentum going and also see things from a different perspective. In some cases this can be the difference between winning and loosing, especially in high pressure games or when things just aren’t going right.

I don’t take full credit for our Call of Duty team’s success this summer but I was a key factor and the only event I didn’t attend with them was Outpost on Fire – the event they lost in the final. All other events I did attend and we won. Was this simply coincidence? Personally I think not and two examples I know the team would agree on would be The-Experience and also i-37. In both cases I took action when I felt it was really necessary which changed the course of things. Clearly though as I said; ultimately they are highly skilled and they are the ones that play and nothing should be taken away form them.

My personal opinion is that Managers that choose not to have any involvement with their players aren’t going to get the best out of them in most cases. There are some players that I know hate being managed and don’t react well to it, they’d rather be left to their own devices. That is few and far between especially at the top end of gaming.

I guess you’ll have to ask the players I have and now managed to see if they think my approach is right, but I’ve had no complaints so far.

What in your opinion sets Fnatic apart from other organizations?
The Fnatic Organization manages their teams very closely and the organization has a family feel, to create a star-like status; this allows our players to turn professional and in some cases get a salary for what they love to do, plus attend every major event across the globe. Through our very popular web-site, fans are able to read about our squads, follow their progress, watch their results, read news reports, find a program of events and watch replays of their matches, plus much more! Now I no that is not unique and doesn’t necessarily set us apart from the vast majority of teams in the higher end of esports, but what does I believe is our attitude towards esports and the way we support our players, staff, visitors and fans. We have very much a family feel to the organization. We also care a great deal about what people think. In addition we are always looking at new things that have never been done before and exciting ways to change things for the better. We are very fortunate to have some great sponsors that enable us to carry out some of these projects but also take calculated and educated risks.

It’s also interesting that many visitors get really involved in Fnatic, its funky brand and that’s not seen by many organizations. The fans really care and I believe like the fact they are heard and opinions taken into consideration where it makes sense to do so. It does help of course when you have very skillful and successful players that people admire or simply want to see playing and winning.

pictureWhere do you see Fnatic as an organization progressing in the near future?
Fnatic will continue to increase in terms of its professional attitude and growth as a business and esports organization. Ultimately from a selfish point of view we (Fnatic) want to be the best in the games we play and move with the times, which we will continue to do ongoing. Where it make sense and is possible we will continue to recruit and support games and teams and have just started a road exploring the Console community, so who knows where that will take us? We have some very exciting projects in progress and planned. In the every near future visitors and fans will be treated to a brand new web-site – something to definitely look forward to. We are also planning on extending our Apparel range… so as you can see and in answer to your question; things are only getting bigger and better for Fnatic.

Fnatic seems to be an older team in terms of the average age of staff and players', do you feel that this age difference compared to most teams or organizations these days plays a role in its success? Do you feel your age plays any part in your role in E-Sports?
Yes I am probably considered as quite old in the world of gaming and so are many in the Fnatic organization; however with age comes experience and knowledge. I have a real passion for esports as so do those around me. We want to help and develop it worldwide.

Me personally there will probably come a time when other real life pressures and desires will over take that but for the time being I enjoy what I do and that I’m in one of, if not the best organization in the world. On occasions it can be very frustrating, but on the flip side very rewarding.
Where do you see competitive E-Sports progressing in the near future? This will definitely have been one of, if not the toughest year in esports for many teams due to the worldwide economic situation. This year many teams have purely be doing their best to survive, whilst still trying to continue to attend events and give support to their players. In many respects that has not helped esports and may have held it back slightly.

pictureIt is a tough question as many things can change in the space of a year. In an ideal world I’d love for some huge investment and the comparison between Football and electronic sports can be realized, with mainstream sponsors and exposure through television and radio on a regular basis. However being realistic and in reality I can’t see that happening in the next three to five years, but who knows. The CGS didn’t help with that, but that is another topic altogether. I think if we can survive this year financially, show great value to the sponsors, then esports has the best chance it ever has and the next five years are critical to that. However this still means we need to obtain stronger exposure to the mainstream – a hard thing to do. We are really pushing toward the true value of esports and the power it has, plus where possible take some risks. esports across the globe, where we can and it makes sense needs to pull together even more than previous years and use our combined power. Too many organizations want to work totally independently, almost pulling apart from each over. As a unified force things can only continue to grow and evolve.

In the near future? …if I’m honest not much will change, but let’s hope that we see more investment in events/prize funds and teams, plus along the way we all obtain more exposure than we currently get. You never know it may be possible to close the gaming barrier between Europe and the US?

You founded Team CM, how do the teams differ do you think? Why is Fnatic more successful than Team CM was?
The two are very different, yet very similar at the same time. Fnatic was and is its own independent brand. A start up business that had initial investment took risks but also was prepared to sacrifice a lot for the greater good and long term. Sam selling his car is a great example and something he should be admired for doing. Sam decided to go “big bang” with European players and world wide stages. On the flip side TCM represented a sponsor directly and evolved as a business more naturally and in the early days was more focused on the smaller games within Europe. Otherwise and especially behind the scenes they are very similar in many respects. Clearly the success, well known names and exposure has set Fnatic apart from pretty much all other teams including TCM. However in saying that recently TCM have grown and evolved plus paths have crossed with their Call of Duty team challenging Fnatic for the top spot at three finals. So I guess with all due respect to TCM is purely down to the scale that is different. Fnatic, through hard work have achieved what I guess many would term (including myself) as a true "professional" status. It's a hard word to define but I guess what I mean by that is the exposure they have achieved and that they have a set of professional players that are actually paid to travel, play and represent Fnatic. It’s easy to obtain the best players if you have the right means.

pictureWhat advice would you give to someone trying to get into professional E-Sports?
Player or Manager? My advice would be if you are a player and believe you are skilled enough, simply try to get yourself noticed by being as active as you can be on-line. Enter as many tournaments, study existing players and travel to see them play and even talk with them. To get into the professional side you will first have to play for a possibly not as well know team to get noticed. As with anything you’ll need to do your time and hopefully it will pay off for you.

The same applies for management really – start small, work hard, have a positive attitude and hopefully you’ll get noticed or work your way up. It’ll take time but it’s no different to any career or job in that sense. There are far too many people that just want or expect to just jump in, “get sponsors” and “start an org” and think that spending a few hours a week will get them what the larger organizations get. Clearly all of the team spend many hours a week working and making sacrifices to benefit Fnatic. The same applies with any job - work hard, earn respect from people within the industry and the rest should follow.
Many professional organizations will only pick up winning teams and then dump them when they begin to slump. What is your opinion on hiring teams as mercenaries?
The organizations that do that may be being a little short sighted. I guess it comes down to a case-by-case basis: have the team been under performing ongoing? Have the team set their expectations to high? Has the teams time come and gone? Is the organization getting the exposure they deserve for the investment? In all cases it’s hard to comment unless you know the facts. A very black and white opinion would be that organizations should always try to resolve any issues first and only when it’s agreed by the players and management that it cannot be fixed should they both part ways. However things change, people change, people move on.

On the flip side sometimes organizations are forced to part ways with teams or players. Those teams and players have to be realistic about what support they are asking for and if it is fair and reasonable as well as sustainable. Too many times winning teams expect a huge amount, which on occasions is expected and justified. However those same teams still expect that level of support not to change when they are not as successful. Like anything the support has to be in-line with the teams performances, value to the organization/sponsors and exposure they obtain.

pictureWhat to you makes a game an 'E-Sport'?
Anything that you can market to be honest, has a prize fund and a fan following. I don’t think there is any real criteria so to speak, but game developers and sponsors will simply look at what is popular. Professional esports would follow this but of course adapt or mod the game to make it more competitive, even in some cases fun to watch. Some of the most popular are clearly still going today (CS1.6) without any real investment by the creators/developers or software house.

Most game developers make their games for the casual gamers in the retail sector and not the competitive ones who are but a minority in reality. In the end they leave it to the modification creators in the competitive community to fix all the loose screws and modify the game to be played competitively. This alone brings up a problem, as the more modifications to the game; the more the community is divided, with everyone having their own take on what should/shouldn’t be included.

Game developers these days depend very much on their graphics to help the game's sales, while in contrast, competitive gamers have a habit (quite rightly) of dumbing down the graphics of a game to a point where all they see are polygons for the sake of visibility and boosting their frame rates. This in itself is a problem for the developers as they won't be able to promote their game should the game be used in a competition with the graphics in such a state.

Being that the majority of gamers are casual gamers while the competitive ones make up only a small niche in the market, game developers do not see catering to the competitive community as profitable as the majority.

I only hope that some of the game developers see the true value that esports gives and they start to include a competitive aspect as well as key items that would help remove any boundaries between retail and competitive markets. They should also realize that many casual players start playing and desire to become a professional player.

In your opinion should E-Sports teams be run like mainstream sports teams?
That’s the ultimate goal…..I’d love to see it happen but sadly can’t for many years, especially in Europe. Some might argue they are very different but I would have to disagree. The only real difference is not all esports events are they can be off-line or on-line where clearly all mainstream sports are held off-line. Otherwise we could take the business model of Football for example, replicate it for esports and I think it would work with some tweaking given time.

The problem is the people outside of esports need to be able to understand what's going in front of them without being confused, or having to have played the game themselves. We need to educate them but at the same time not treat them like idiots; it’s a fine balance that not many have yet achieved. We need to start by ensuring that what would be perceived is a professional set of gamers playing for prizes. The media hasn’t helped in the past deeming games as “geeky” and recently with scare stories and trying to ensure that parents see “gaming” as a bad thing. However it can be done but we need to have a regulation of teams, players a bit like the F.A in the UK or FIFA globally. We also need everyone involved to be mature and professional.
When you are not working at Fnatic what could we find you doing?
I spend most of my time working to be honest. I’m not a work-aholic (I don’t think) but we are extremely busy all that time. When I’m not working I really like to relax, play a few games (PC and XBOX), spend time with my ‘better half’, friends and family. I especially like to go to some local restaurants as well as the Cinema. On some occasions I just like to relax with a few glasses of wine, watch some TV and try to chill. Nine times out of ten I find myself checking my Blackberry or having a stream on in the background.

Through all of your travels, which place has been your favorite to visit and why?
I’d have to say New York would be top of my list. The nation's most populous metropolis—still a major entry point—is a world centre of finance, communications, fashion, and culture. It has a certain atmosphere that I’m yet to replicate anywhere else. In a matter of minutes you can be standing in the middle of the city “that never sleeps” with all it’s noise, hustle and bustle, to standing in Central Park, surrounding by towering buildings in a quiet and really interesting surrounding. It feels like you are somewhere completely different. A place that has some of the most famous buildings in the world, such as the Statue of Liberty and The Empire State Building, which rises majestically from the heart of Manhattan. The building's 86th floor observatory, 1,050 feet above the street, has dazzled visitors since 1931.

pictureClose to that would have to be Honk Kong. A frantic, hurly-burly mixture of capitalism and exoticism, Hong Kong has been called the “most thrilling city on the planet.” Change is the constant in this city of 6.9 million. Just a pure spectacle with an amazing culture and way of life. It’s something you have to experience and respect.

After that I always enjoy Sweden, Germany and Spain, all for very different reasons.

If you asked me in terms of esports events then the list might be very different.

When and why did you decide to stop trying to become a professional player and take on a staff role, or were you always more geared towards a behind the scenes role?
I was always more geared towards in the management side of an organization, not necessarily behind the scenes but not as visible as many managers or owners. I stopped playing for the very reason (and also in truth) that at the time I either wasn’t quite good enough at the games I played or just wanted to play them for fun and as a way to relax. I’m sure if I had put all the energy and focus on playing instead of managing I could have easily made it in to the top flight of certain games. Not now of course as my reactions are some what slower. However I still give Stevy a run for his money on an aim map and in fact stood in during group stages at the past few i-series.

pictureWhat did you want to be when you grew up? When did that dream change (if it did) to E-Sports, etc?
Never wanted to be or set out to be anything in particular if I’m honest. Unlike some who say “I want to be a pilot” when they grow up I never had those thoughts. All I wanted to do when I was at School or studying was get out, work and earn myself some money. I guess I have an entrepreneurial side to me that has always been there as I always wanted to own my own business, create, develop and get involved in things. In everything I’ve ever done to this point I’ve tried to do to my best abilities and usually they have evolved and progressed. Unlike most people I never set out to (really) to be involved with esports – it just happened. When you own a business and a large percentage of emails you get daily were from gamers wanting sponsorship you have to take note and actually explore it. It helped that I had a passion and interest for gaming.

Will you have any hand in developing a promod for the latest version of COD?
I did for the previous couple and if asked I may well assist depend on my other commitments at the time. One problem I have at the moment is time, i.e. not enough of it. I’m involved in a huge amount and already have plans for the first quarter of next year. That said it is still unclear if the mod tool will be released for the latest version of the game. If the competitive community aren’t given that tool then there is not a lot we can do ultimately. In addition that same community needs to be clear which version of Call of Duty they intend to play and support. If that is unclear then I’m not sure many will waste their time (potentially) developing a competitive mod for a game that may not be played. If Ryan (raf1) wants or needs a hand he knows where I am.

Any last words for all of the kboy and Fnatic fans out there?
Thanks for the interview and I hope everyone has enjoyed the read. If I can – I’d just like to thank all the Fnatic visitors, supporters, players and members of staff for their dedication. Importantly our very special sponsors: MSI, SteelSeries, Bigfoot Networks, UGAME, SLAPPA and FShost. These companies make it possible for us to continue doing what we do and their support is appreciated on so many levels. I’ll not list out anyone in particular (as the list would be a page in itself), but to all that know me <3 and thanks for your personal support.