One of FnaticMSI's beloved sponsors, BigFoot Networks submitted to doing an interview with Cameron about E-Sports, BFN's impact on E-Sports, how they look at potential sponsorships and a whole lot more!

Hi, thank you for taking the time to do this interview, could you tell us a little about what your position is at BigFoot Networks and what you do on a day-to-day basis?      

Sure, I work in the European Office for Bigfoot Networks and I am responsible for Marketing and Sales, so pretty much everything. I travel to Distributors and Resellers to find new Partners for the Product, visit Editors and Publishing Houses for Press Briefings and plan and kick off European Advertising Campaigns. As well, I do the communication with our European E-Sports Teams. I know that sounds like a lot of work, but I wouldn't be able to do it alone, I have the help of some great colleagues which are located in the US

How did you as a person first come to be involved with E-Sports?

I founded a CS Team myself back in 2000 called "PiNuP Clan" where i played with friends on our own Server -Pinups Pleasure Dome- Of course we did not take part in big Tournaments or Leagues in that Time.. But we had Clan Wars on a weekly Basis and competed with other Teams just for Fun. Later in 2005 I arranged the first Big Sponsoring in E-Sports as we know it today. Some People might remember "Tagan" a PSU Brand which were the Headsponsor for Starcoma and later N!Faculty for a few years. Since then I work very closely with the Gaming Community and try to be a part of it.

Do you yourself have a history of being a gamer?  What games did you start on?

I gamed all my life.. seriously.. I started with an 286 with Monkey Island and Prince of Persia on it, quite a few year before CS came out. Also I claimed to be unbeatable in Street Fighter for my SNES. The day when the first Half Life was out in Stores, was one Week before I turned 18, and I remember they didn't want to sell me the Game… Bastards! So I had to wait one more Week! If I should write down all games I played since then, this will be an endless list, but the first ones I fell in love with were, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Rise of the Triad, Heretic, Shadow Warrior…. ID Software dominated the whole Scene at the Beginning :-)

How many hours a week do you get to spend playing games these days?

More than my Girlfriend is OK with! I always answer "This is work for me… I have to be up to date whats going on in the world of gaming" :-) I would say, beside my Job, my girl, my friends and all things which are more important to me meanwhile.. I still spend 5-10 hrs a Week for Gaming… usually 80% of these at the Weekend.

In your opinion what is the benefit of sponsoring an E-Sports team?

There are so many reasons why I like to do this. But the biggest reason for me and for whole Bigfoot Networks is; We are gamers. We love to work on certain Solutions and Products that improve Online Gaming as it is today. We love to support the fast growing and huge Network of people all over the World enjoying their hobby. Of course its also a good outreach to the Community we want to talk to as well… Fortunatly it is like that, as E-Sports wouldn`t exist like it does today without Sponsors.

How does BFN evaluate and end up signing new teams or players to a sponsorship?

Well, we are happy to interact with as many gamers and teams as possible. We launched a Guild Partner Program on our Website for example as we also cooperate with some Tier 2 Teams. While we sponsor a number of big-name ESports Teams, we also know that gaming organisations come in many shapes and sizes and most people are playing together in Guilds and Clans and not actually in professional Teams. I think we try to have a good mixture of all of this stuff and we are happy to get emails and requests from Gamers all over the Planet. Who knows if these will end up with something sponsoring wise, could be sometimes :-)

Where do you think BFN’s future in E-Sports will take BFN?

We are a network technology Company. We develop products which address a problem ALL online gamers have today. We are just at the beginning right now and we love to be a part of the whole thing wherever Esports goes in the Future.

How can/is BFN helping shape the E-Sports industry?

Well, we are! I know by all our partners that they are pleased to work with us, as they recognize that we are putting a lot of effort in our work.. We want to understand gaming and league systems and always like to plan and kick off our own cool stuff like tournaments, battles, partner programs, etc. I think for many Companies who are active in Esports, its still kind of unknown terrain where they are moving.
We work closely with all our teams and always try to improve what we do.

What is it about E-Sports that first attracted BFN to invest in it?

E-Sports is gaming on a competitive gevel. When you want to be competitive, it doesn`t matter if you are already a professional or not, you need to have the best gear to focus on your game and enable your skill to improve itself. Lots of people all over the world take part in competitive Online Gaming meanwhile, and People at Bigfoot Networks spotted this years ago. We only had to wait for the right time… and sorry.. today we have the fastest network card on the planet available for those Guys! :-)

BFN obviously sponsors teams, but have you guys ever thought of investing more into events and tournaments?

I dream about this every night :-) I like events and tournaments of course… However at some Point there is a border where you cannot put more effort into it at the given capacity you have when you know what I am saying… we do quite a lot right now.. and as Bigfoot grows, our efforts in Esports will grow. Maybe also sometimes in Big Events, Tournaments, Leagues… whatever

How closely do you follow E-Sports?

I won`t say I know everything and follow current activities all the time.. but I am quite interested and I am pretty familiar with whats going on. I have to admit that during the Summer months it could be a little less as I can`t wait to meet outside with my friends and have a BBQ instead of sitting in front of the PC till midnight. :-)

What advice would you give in order to ensure people get the maximum performance out of your products?

Get a Killer 2100 and install it! (I would love to say "you have officially been pimped" at this point) Try out the Software Environment and do things you never did before… Prioretize your Voice Chat to No.2 after your Game, listen to WebRadio at Prio No. 3, download some legal movies with your Bit Torrent or the next Game Patch at Prio 4.. WHILE YOU GAME! Without any Effect on your Game… ! People have to learn this again as all Gamers are used to killing all internet applications before they start their game… Did I already say that you are able to assign a max bandwith for down and upload to all applications also?
My Advice would be… Get it, and use it.. You'll never want to play without it again!

What, in your opinion, makes the Killer 2100 so good for people in E-Sports?

It's the fastest Network Card you can play with.. It gives you a smoother more responsive game play, it allows you to do more while you game and have more Internet applications running WHILE you game… Doesn`t matter if you have a competitive Match with your Clan Mates this evening, where you want to have the best performance available.. Or if you just game for fun and you don`t want to kill your downloads while you do it… It is perfect for every Gamer.. and it is perfect for all Gamers who play on a competitive Level.

If gamers had feedback for BFN on its products, how could they reach you with it?

www.bigfootnetworks.com in the SUPPORT Section you will be able to submit a Ticket or take part in discussions in the Forum.

Do you have any closing remarks or anything to the E-Sports community?

YES! I was at a hotel in Munich more than a year ago and had a discussion with some unimportant Politician about Gaming. He was one of those guys who always points towards FPS Games for all problems our world has today. Anyway, somewhere in our talk he mentioned that Kids train killing People when sitting in front of the PC and playing Counterstrike… (I know all of you are laughing while you read this… me too) I asked him if he ever played tennis.. He answered "No" - So I suggested that he buy himself a Nintendo WII with a tennis Game and train Tennis for about 4 Weeks, then meet Back at a tennis court and play tennis against each other to identify.. how well he was able to be trained in tennis by playing Wii! Oh, well I have to admit that I played tennis for 12 years and I bet I`ll beat the shit out of you on the tennis court, it doesn`t matter how long you fooled around on your Wii!
True Story!