Original article: https://www.weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404345087151742407#_0

Q: Hello TuTu, as the face of the Chinese Overwatch scene, you are widely known throughout the local scene. However, as per usual protocol please introduce yourself to our audience.

A: Hello everyone, I am ChiXiaoTu. Currently a caster for Overwatch esports, correspondent for Guangzhou Charge, and broadcaster for NetEase CC.

Q: Can you share with us how you got introduced to Overwatch, and what led you to stay in the scene?

A: Before Overwatch I managed a League of Legends team, the team didn’t make it out of relegation and thus disbanded. At the time, former OMG (Oh My God) player Adog told me about this cool new game Blizzard was developing. He had been paying attention to this upcoming game for a year. We played the beta together, and that was when my love for Overwatch began. Adog was also a coach for another team, and his team was somewhat in the same boat as mine, they didn’t get out of relegation either. You could say we jumped together to Overwatch, but he eventually became a player, I became a caster.

Q: Even before Overwatch was released you were involved in the scene, you watched the Chinese scene grow all this time. Your position has also changed many times, and we are interested in the history. Do you mind sharing your story with us? Perhaps you can start with your caster career.

A: Back in the beta, Adog and I played together. He also suggested streaming the game, so we went to Douyu to stream. At the time, Douyu also gave me some opportunities to cast some online tournaments hosted by them. I felt that I did pretty well at casting, and right at the same time [production company]Banana Culture was hiring, so I went for an interview. There were many others also going for the interview, including MsJoy, XiaoYao, Ukyra, March etc. I could have been considered the least experienced amongst the group of us, haha. MsJoy and March were both veteran casters from World of Warcraft and StarCraft, XiaoYao and Ukyra had gathered lots of experience and popularity after casting the Bamboo Cups. Even though I had the least experience, I still got hired, and looking back I would say I got quite lucky. Actually, at the time Mars TV was also looking for Overwatch talent, and I went for their interview too. I was accepted by them too, so I had to decide between Banana Culture and Mars TV. Even though Mars TV treated me better than Banana Culture (lol), they focused more on DOTA esports, and I decided to join Banana Culture. In hindsight, picking Banana Culture over Mars TV was the right decision.

Afterwards I worked as a caster, ever since the first professional matches, I have casted almost all the tournaments, no matter big or small, online or offline. About half a year before the Overwatch League (OWL) began, League commissioner [Nate Nanzer] and the head of Blizzard China invited me to dinner in Shanghai. They asked me whether I wanted to go to the US to work for OWL for half a year. At the time I hesitated, having to work in unfamiliar lands for six months. It wouldn’t be ideal, and thought I could develop myself better if I remained in China. But I felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I could learn a lot of things, and I could help the [Shanghai] Dragons in the US. After some deliberations, I decided to go. To be honest, even though I was 20-something years old and had job experience, I still had doubts about whether I should go to the US to work. The players, barely turned 18 and going to other countries to work, especially when practice is often dry. For them, it is perhaps worlds apart [from what they had been used to], so being a player is not easy, and I really understand them.

Q: And then in the latter half of 2018 you were selected to lead the [Chinese] World Cup team, is that right?

A: Yes, I think everyone is more familiar with me leading the World Cup team. At the start I was still working in the US, while Coach RUI and Xiaogui were in China. Every day I had to weather the time zone delays to hold meetings, contact players, contact teams. RUI would be watching VODs, selecting players… there are a lot of stories [from the World Cup]. For example, RUI wanted to select Leave [as a player], but Xiaogui and I had some reservations, since Leave had left OW for a long while. But Xiaogui and I eventually decided to trust RUI. After all, he is the head coach, we ought to help him deal with the other work, and allow him to fully focus on coaching the team. We will support any of his decisions, and we had a plan of how to deal with any public backlash. We’ll face it together, and train hard. Hopefully we can answer back with our results.

Q: How did you then become a special correspondent for the Guangzhou Charge and a broadcaster for CC?

A: For Guangzhou, it was a serendipitous encounter. I had contacts with all the Chinese OWL teams. Very early on, whenever a team had questions, were finding players, needed staff members to be recommended, I was there to help. I didn’t collaborate explicitly with any one team, I just wanted to help out the Chinese teams. I did actually help quite a bit, as I had experience and many connections in LA after working there for half a year, and I was very familiar with the Chinese players. After the World Cup ended, Guangzhou Charge CEO Sonny Xiao asked me I wanted to join the team as management, and this was actually the offer I got. Even though I never expected any form of repayment after helping them, just wanting to help the Chinese teams do well, I unexpectedly joined Guangzhou, which was a nice surprise. The management of Guangzhou is very professional, and I’ve learnt a lot from working with them.

As for CC, I would cast or host a lot of their events, and previous collaborations with them had ended up quite well. I’ve talked to Blizzard and Guangzhou, OWL would need some casters, so when the season starts I’ll go back to cast, and work with Guangzhou from China. During the preseason or during the breaks, I’ll fly to LA. While I’m in China, I can also give some time to stream, do some VOD reviews, and just chat with my audience, allow them to know more about the players.

Q: A lot of people call you the mother of Chinese Overwatch, not only because your career grows alongside the growth of the scene, but also because of your unwavering contributions to it over the years. What do you think of this title people are calling you?

A: I don’t think I’m some mother or anything, lol. Many other crew members contribute equally as much to Overwatch as myself. Perhaps because I’m at the front of stage, hosting and casting, people would recognize me better. But there are many, many crew members behind the scenes, working for Blizzard, OWL, NetEase, that silently contribute.

ChiXiaoTu was awarded the special Outstanding Contribution Award for Overwatch in the 2018 Gold Annual Awards organized by Blizzard Entertainment

Q: You’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the Chinese Overwatch scene over these years, can you share with us your best and worst moments?

A: The happiest moment would be when the Chinese World Cup clinched their best record in a silver medal last year. The team and I went through this together, from being doubted by many to proving ourselves on the world stage.

The saddest moment would be the time when many Overwatch teams disbanded. I saw many players going elsewhere. I was worried whether our Overwatch superstars wouldn’t stand out amongst the crowd in those other games, whether they would have new fans to support them, whether they would be successful in their new careers. For many [of those old] teams, I casted their first professional match, so to me it feels like a mother watching its children leave the nest.

Q: An esports magazine published a report recently, that showed the gender ratio in the esports industry is 80% male and 20% female, with 27.2% of female respondents interested to join the industry. Not only will there be more female players in the future, but there will also be more females in the other aspects of the scene. What do you think this means for the development of the industry, do you think this will push the industry towards a new direction?

A: I think that while female workers might see things differently from their male counterparts, but their passion for esports would always be the same. Same thing with female players. There is no gender gap, only a skill gap.

Q: The globalization of OWL is undoubtedly allowing the esports industry to work towards its goal of being a professional sports industry. Not before long, the 4 Chinese teams will have their own home stadiums, and the local markets can be tapped into much more greatly. There will be much more job opportunities in the industry, so as a person with lots of experience in the scene, what advice do you have for the young, up-and-coming talent who are also passionate in joining the scene? Where do you think the esports industry need the most new talent? How would they successfully enter the scene?

A: Just keep learning, haha. There are many positions to be filled in the esports scene, not only just as a player or a coach. News organization, broadcasting companies etc. need crew members, both in front and behind the screen. A growing esports scene needs many other people to succeed, not just players or coaches or casters or hosts. If you want to find a job which you are passionate in, it’s best to start now.

Q: OWL has had unexpected success in its inaugural season. CEO of Cloud9 Jack Etienne has publicly stated the inaugural season has brought in more revenue than what he thought was even possible. What do you feel about the future of OWL? Where do you think OWL can improve in?

A: OWL is the first city-based league in the esports scene, replicating traditional sports league like the NBA. In the future, OWL could become a mainstream league, and shatter expectations about the esports industry. I believe OWL can do that, especially when the home and away system comes into effect.

Q: There has been a lot of resources being poured in to develop the esports industry, and it has been growing rapidly. However, the shortage of talent is also stunting its growth. Over the past few years, there have been many universities opening up courses on esports management, and even in the Overwatch scene there are organizations helping to develop esports talent, such as LinGan e-Sports Institute established by LGE. What do you think the esports scene can do to attract and develop new talent?

A: I don’t think the esports scene needs to attract more talent, esports has many fans who are passionate. Bringing in people who have never played and aren’t interested in esports to work in the field wouldn’t help the scene grow. Eventually there’ll positions in the esports scene for our passionate fans to fill.

Q: Overwatch’s 3rd birthday is almost here. In these three years, there have been many people who loves this game, love these players, just like you. They witnessed the game’s highs and lows alongside you. Things seem to be going on the up and up in 2019, what do you have to say to the fans of Chinese Overwatch?

A: Thank you for sticking through with us. We will always love Overwatch.