Adam Fitch: You’re not an esports expert
In 2020 I was on a networking call where I was called an ‘esports expert.’ The same thing happened on a podcast I had appeared on too. Those moments stayed with me, not because of ego — I have a lot to learn across the board — but because it simply didn’t sound right. Can anybody actually be an expert in an industry so vast?
If you’re well-acquainted with executives in the esports industry then there’s a good chance you’ve heard of a horror story involving a ‘consultant’ or ‘expert’ who’s led a company down a futile path. Grifters, scam artists, charlatans – whatever you wish to call such people – position themselves as subject matter experts to swindle otherwise-uninformed entities who have heard esports is an exciting industry and want to get involved. These snake oil salesmen often offer useless, hardly-effective advice for a fee. They take their money and are soon gone, having dished out some bulls**t with inaccurate KPIs or a ‘strategy’ that hardly warrants such a description. What these esports experts are oftentimes doing is actually harming the industry they claim to be passionate about. Once an unfortunate, misguided company has a poor first experience dabbling in esports, they’re likely going to believe it’s fruitless and not worth their time nor money. That can result in them stopping any activity in the industry for a solid length of time – perhaps forever. https://twitter.com/Naysayerz/status/1245990358477082625 I don’t suspect that every self-proclaimed “esports expert” has such malicious, selfish intentions — to do so would be to go againsta lesson I’ve learntover the years — but I believe it’s fundamentally incorrect. It actually bands those with honest intentions in with those who are looking to make a quick buck to many of us, whether they know it or not.
Industry veterans that have been around since the late ’90s understandably know more than most when it comes to esports. To stick around for so long probably means they’ve worn many hats, forging paths that require competence in multiple trades. That’s commendable and respectable, to say the least, but even then that doesn’t mean they now possess a “high level of knowledge” across the board. Even if I was entirely wrong here and esports experts do indeed exist, there are only a small number of people even eligible to claim as such without being instantly laughed out of the room. To those who are legitimate experts in their chosen field, whether that be production or player management, you’re great. We need as many of you as we can get, frankly. Industry figures dislike those who enter fresh from other sectors who act like they know esports better than anybody else, but nobody I’m aware of is unwelcoming to those with expertise from elsewhere that are keen to learn what this industry is about. Will this piece result in people labeling themselves more accurately professionally? Probably not, though I believe that’s in their best interest. Will it prevent companies from being scammed? There’s a chance — a slim one, but a chance nonetheless. Does the esports industry stand to gain from constructive conversation around this topic? Whether I’m right or wrong in the eyes of the majority, I think so.
