Microsoft has been investing a lot of time and money into Halo 5 eSports. The publisher, along with developer 343 Industries, has structured the Halo World Championship to attract a global eSports fan base. Part of this competition included the Halo World Championship Tour stop at the 2016 X Games in Aspen, Colorado. It marked the first time Halo 5 pro gamers competed for real X Games medals. Halo 5 juggernaut Evil Geniuses emerged victorious at the event, which featured eight top teams competing for $30,000 and the coveted medals.

Ryan Towey, the coach of Evil Geniuses, now owns an X Games gold medal. He talked to [a]listdaily about the role ESPN and the X Games plays in growing Halo as an eSport and addresses the global competitive landscape for the Xbox One sci-fi shooter in this exclusive interview.

What role do you see X Games playing in further legitimizing eSports in the mainstream?

X Games has an incredibly significant role for the mainstream success of eSports in the future. The greatest example is to look back on some other extreme sports that were either not nationally recognized as such or possibly looked down upon near the beginning of the X Games competition, such as snowboarding and skiing and similarly skateboarding events at the summer X Games. Whether or not eSports can be considered an ‘extreme sport’ worthy of the ‘X Games title’ is a separate debate entirely, but pushing through the initial response and including eSports consistently in both the X Games competition and live broadcast for years to come will absolutely popularize the competition, the title being played and eSports as a whole among a national audience that most likely would otherwise have no exposure to it.

How have you seen past X Games eSports coverage through MLG raise awareness of eSports?

Personally, after our X Games performance I can’t even properly illustrate for you how many notifications or messages I received across social media. People I never thought would be interested in eSports from my hometown and high school and college contacted me about how excited they were for our team and how exhilarating it was watching us compete. The viewership alone proves how significant the awareness for eSports was for our title and for past competitions such as Call of Duty and Counter-Strike, the same rings true as well.

Halo 5 X Games competition was aired on television. What role do you see TV playing for Halo and eSports gaining more attention?

Halo 5 appearing on national television is an incredible feat that we never thought even possible; it’s safe to say the gravity and significance of seeing our highlights alongside Stephen Curry and Dwight Howard has not quite registered with anyone in our community yet. The role of television is imperative to the long-term success and growth of not just Halo but eSports as a whole to increase exposure to an audience that may not otherwise be attracted to eSports and to educate that audience into becoming invested into teams and players within that eSports title. Creating that investment for fans is what all sports leagues strive towards and the type of recognition that television brings to both Halo and eSports as a whole in the mainstream is exactly what is needed to generate that type of investment in an entirely new audience for eSports.

What similarities do you see between these early days of eSports (from a mainstream acceptance standpoint) and the early days of extreme sports and X Games?

The similarities are pretty striking between early extreme sports at X Games and the current level of acceptance for eSports. Over time as those extreme sports were continually marketed, promoted and competed in at X Games competitions, they were accepted and praised by both mainstream media and the national audience that questioned them at first. In near identical fashion, eSports now sees a very similar story arc with the same reaction from a national audience in the early days of extreme sports and over time with consistent competition and national exposure the same evolution from confusion to understanding to invested viewer can occur.

What does it mean to be able to compete for gold medals at X Games?

Competing for a gold medal at the X Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that none of us on our team took for granted. We know the path that Halo and eSports as a whole has had over the years and for us to be in a position to compete in a once in a lifetime tournament and environment with national exposure such as the X Games was a dream come true. Winning tournaments and prize earnings can fade over time, but the significance of becoming an X Games gold medalist stays for a lifetime.

How has Halo 5 improved the eSports product for pro gamers and teams?

Halo 5 is the first Halo game in the title’s lifespan to attempt to combine the casual and competitive community into one. When I say that, I mean in regard to competitive settings and including the same game that any player can pick up in stores and right out of the box be the same game they watch online and on TV being played at competitions around the world. This type of uniformity is critical to the success of Halo as we’ve seen other titles such as League of Legends use the same approach to cultivate a massive community that follows their game and all competitions worldwide. Strictly as a competitive title in comparison to former Halo titles, Halo 5 is incredibly well made. Aiming is difficult, the weapon system is incredibly balanced, the maps are efficiently and optimally designed, and as a competitive title, Halo has arguably never been more competitive.

How have you seen the global competition evolve with Halo competition?

Regrettably, I have not seen much evolution between teams globally. Halo was popularized by MLG through North American tournaments and as such the professional scene was cultivated in our country alone. That’s not to say that there aren’t successful and highly skilled teams from the United Kingdom and around the world but by and large they can’t stack up to the top teams from North America. With Halo 5 focusing extremely hard on a global landscape for all competition, it’s my hope that we see players and teams evolve in each country to rival the greatest teams in North America, having that worldwide competition increases the awareness and mainstream recognition for Halo 5 exponentially.

What excites you about where Halo eSports is now heading?

What excites me most about where Halo eSports is heading now is the seemingly limitless potential we all feel it has. I’ve been around competitive Halo for over a decade and like I mentioned earlier, have watched it fall off the proverbial cliff as an eSports title into anonymity. With how much growth Halo has seen in the last 12-to-18 months alone it’s safe to say all of us competing never imagined how significantly things would change in this short of a time period and we’ve been blown away by 343’s success at pushing Halo eSports to the masses thus far. Only time will tell how far Halo can be taken as an eSport, but if the growth that 343 has already achieved is any indicator, there is ultimately no title that Halo eSports can’t rival in the future as the flagship competitive title on the Xbox platform.