H&F: To that question, obviously the industry is growing, but a lot of people see the industry as very homogeneous, especially in eSports.

I know a lot of women who, if they do play League of Legends, they won't use a mic. I don't know all the eSports teams that there are, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any that are all-female. A lot of my female friends have a hard time getting engaged and getting involved just because the community can be toxic. Do you think that, as the games grow, it's just going to solve itself? Do you think that game companies, ESL, things like that, can do more to promote diversity or just address the problem?

JG: Yeah. There're a few things that add up to causing that phenomenon. First of all, you're talking about a main demographic over the past 35 years in video games that is predominately male, and male teenagers to early 20s; consider the source of those trolling statements, first of all.

I think that the other problem you're dealing with is the anonymity of the internet, where kids can log on and their real name isn't there and they'll say anything to anyone. I think not only does that not make women happy, but it also makes non-endemic sponsors unhappy. Once you start seeing Doritos and big name brands coming in, they're not going to want people mistreated, whether by gender or race, religion, whatever.

There are women pro players and they do have their leagues, and there are women players that are at a level with any male player. We're just looking forward to the day when they don't have to have gender-specific tournaments.

H&F: You would definitely call yourself an old school PC gamer, right?

JG: Me? Yeah. I first played video games on Christmas Eve in 1972. It was Pong. I was a coin-op Defender hero. Back then, 8-bit PC games weren't as exciting as coin-op, but look what's happened there.

H&F: Don't tell me you met your wife in an arcade or anything like that.

JG: I met her working at Atari.

H&F: I could smell it out. You're in a huge position of responsibility. I would say that you've definitely grown eSports. In part, you're responsible for what it's become today. Do you see yourself as having a responsibility to continue guiding it in a good direction?



JG: My key objective is to embrace, celebrate, and grow the eSports community. Of course, we build great technology. I'm not an engineer, so that's at a different pay grade than me, but I'm the public face to the community and it's extremely important.

We're not selling flavored water in a can, with a huge profit margin. Hardware margin structure is a totally different business. We're not going to have the dollars to compete against non-endemic sponsors, but I think as their entrance into the tech net grows, we'll get lifted with it.

H&F: Do you think that anything is missing in the eSports environment? Something that you'd like to see more of, especially with your vantage point through the years of PC gaming and how it's changed?

JG: That's a great question. I'm not sure. Hang on one second, let me ask Clay. Hey Clay, what's missing in eSports and what would you like to see?

Clay Causin: Right now, I'd say the only thing I see missing would be more professional league organizers.

JG: I agree with him there. A trade association that standardizes behaviors, both for the operators and players, would help the industry immensely. In my background, I spent 10 years as the exec board chairman for the MIDI Manufacturers Association. We organized several hundred companies, competing companies, like Roland and Yamaha and Microsoft and Apple, to agree on a technology standard that has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, and I think that eSports would benefit from a similar trade association.