ReDeYe is a man who really needs no introduction for anybody that follows eSports, working more and more events ever since his departure of Gfinity at the end of February, ReDeYe is a man of many talents and easily one of the if not the best eSports host. Most recently finishing the Dota 2 EPICENTER. He’s also the writer of Talking eSports, a book on eSports broadcasting, which can be found here.

Following EZSkins last year, do you think we could actually get a team to the global stage? If so what do you think it would take?

Its possible, but lets be honest, we haven’t seen a team come together with the highest skills required and every day that doesn’t happen, we fall further behind. If we can get a stable set of players together who don’t bicker and have the skills, then sure, why not, but I don’t see it happening soon. It also needs more support in the UK for esports teams and some greater aspiration and dedication.

Following on to that what do you think is holding UK teams back the most when it comes to getting to the international stage?

More support on a national level, association or other, training facilities, team houses and the player base who aspire to be the best instead of bickering about who they play with.

With Surreal and Dephh playing with Complexity, do you think players moving to other countries to play with foreign teams is a choice that can work well for UK players?

I think it can work better than staying at home right now. Experience is essential for players and they aren’t going to get it competing on a national scale in the same way. Things like Gfinity running UK tournaments, ESL premier league and Multiplay supporting the scene via funded tournaments all help though.

How do you feel about the Majors system that is currently in place?

I think its fantastic. I’d still like to see more money on each of them and perhaps a version of the international each year like in Dota, but I know the team are stretched as it is delivering three majors and the support that goes with it, but it’s pretty damn good as it is.

How do you feel about WESA, and the idea of a more closed tournament system being put in place going forward? Is this better for the players or is this the last stand of teams trying to stay more important in the long run?

I’ve answered this via an article.

Writers Note – Article can be found here – https://splyce.gg/topics/post/443

These days we see you working a huge range of events, but most recently was EPICENTER, what draws you to working events outside of FPS games?

I’ve never been just an FPS guy or a counter strike guy or an quake guy, contrary to popular belief in each community. I’ve always said I’m an esports commentator and host and that means being able to go and do other games, especially ones I really love working on like Starcraft and Dota. As an esports host, you want to do the biggest esports events, regardless of game.

How do you feel about Twitch chat and the recent drama floating around with the recent Dreamhack Hearthstone Drama? Is twitch chat becoming a place where Racism and abuse is allowed or is it just Twitch chat being twitch chat? (Source – http://www.gosugamers.net/hearthstone/features/4980-enough-is-enough-confessions-of-a-twitch-chat-moderator)

You can never condone racism, sexism or any of the other things that crossed the line at the weekend. Calling it bullying is hard though, none of the competitors were in chat while playing and I doubt they care too much by what gets said in what is effectively an anonymous chat room with little consequence. That said, I don’t think we should tolerate it and I wrote as far back as 2014 that we should do something about it, but it fell on deaf ears and this will likely too, which is a shame. I think as we come under more scrutiny, we are likely to see resistance to “twitch chat being twitch chat”. There is something crazy fun about Twitch chat that helps with the atmosphere of a weekend esport event, like you’re part of a huge crowd, but the bad side of it is too much at times, so whats the option? Turn it off? Ignore it? hire better admins (impossible to police by the way)? There isn’t an easy answer, but that doesnt mean Twitch and partners shouldn’t exploring them.

Thoughts on players creating brands themselves with the likes of Astralis and player names meaning more than the organisations that they’re part of?

I think its a great initiative, but one that sadly won’t continue in the same way. There is too much money now and many big corps coming in. The days of players creating their own brands and managing them are not going to be around for long.

With Overwatch launching soon, do you think this could be the next big eSport, or is it going to be lacking with the likelihood of only having one major tournament per year at Blizzcon?

Tricky to say, but it has all the right ingredients to become a huge esport. The problem is, I can buy all the ingredients to make an amazing cake, but my baking skills suck. Its not a sure bet yet.

There are a lot of CS players moving to Overwatch. Do you think this is a viable choice? If not, why?

I don’t see why not and lets be honest I don’t see any of the top 20 teams or players moving over to it any day soon. They have plenty to play for in CS, the only ones who will switch are those who aren’t good enough or don’t have the chance to compete at majors.

How does it feel to be a Newcastle fan after the last season?

Like any other year really. My team often flatter to deceive and after 30 years of supporting them, nothing has really changed. They suck a lot, then they improve and give you hope and just when you start believing they lose and get relegated. We’ll be back though, we have the best fans in the world.

Lastly, any shout outs you’d like to make?

Everyone that works hard for the esports cause and continues to produce amazing things in esports.

I’d like to give ReDeYe a massive thanks for doing this interview, for more on ReDeYe you can find him at the following locations

Featured image taken from – http://redeyehd.co.uk/