On Anders' Golden Joystick Award As E-sports Icon of 2015

Hello friends of the internet,



Just wanted to type a few words during this major to congratulate my colleague and friend Anders on his recent Golden Joystick Award as an E-sports icon. None of us are egotistical enough to put much stock in awards in the Counter-Strike community but it’s a truly significant award not just for someone I respect immensely but also our scene as a whole.



We’ve come such a long way people probably don’t remember when Anders first came into the scene. He was solo casting every game he could, around the clock and while he had a loyal but small following, there were many traditionalists who used to be so critical of him because he wasn’t a Joe Miller, a ReDeYe, a Tosspot… Those guys all had the benefit of starting at a time when you could broadcast to fifty people using voice only, giving you room to fuck up and try new things without a barrage of judgement. Anders was straight into the spotlight and being compared to legends without any of that benefit.



I remember meeting him at a Copenhagen Games for the first time when he had come to meet as many people as possible, ask advice and learn about the scene. We immediately hit it off. He was thoughtful and articulate. Most of all, he gave a shit at a time when even some of the players who are now “household names” in e-sports terms were speaking in disparaging terms about CS:GO.



The amount of work he put in, along with his partner Semmler once they paired up, was ridiculous. He built up the NiPTV brand through slaving away. You could turn on a stream at 4am and he’d be there doing commentary for some low level match between teams you’d never heard of. Not only that, it’d be interesting, entertaining.



What Anders & Semmler did in terms of changing the way we approached CS:GO commentary can’t be understated. I did my own commentary back when it was as formulaic as “play by play guy does the round” followed by “colour guy talks in the buy round and during ecos/breaks.” This new way of doing it was more natural. It wasn’t about roles, it was about chemistry. It wasn’t just about commentary, it was about narrative. You didn’t need fake hype to sell the game, the game could sell itself because you were telling the story well.



Crazy to think that industry people were saying they weren’t ready to do majors or main stages only a few years ago. Now if Anders and Semmler aren’t at an event, something feels desperately missing. They went from being off the radar to the setting the standard. All of the new wave casters owe them a debt and it’s one we all acknowledge.



If you don’t respect Anders then you don’t respect hard work, dedication and talent, three qualities that define the best about personal achievement. I couldn’t be happier that he’s receiving recognition like this and there’s no finer person to act as an unofficial ambassador for e-sports in 2016.

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