Well-known British esports host Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner has shared his views on the current state of UK esports.
Paul wrote an opinion piece over at Slingshot Esports, saying that 2017 looks potentially very exciting for the scene, and how it’s changed from being ‘a mess’ two years ago to ‘a little diamond of the esports world’.
“The United Kingdom esports scene was a mess two years ago. In shambles. Mocked and ridiculed in all quarters. Rarely a player or team competing on the world stage, let alone winning anything,” Paul said.
“But then something changed. Instead of being looked at like an island of high cost, low reward and no fans, the organisers, sponsors and government slowly started to embrace the fact that here sat a little diamond of the esports world. A rough diamond, admittedly, but a diamond nonetheless. [We now have] the infrastructure, talent and some of the hardest working people in esports.”
“The UK esports scene was a mess two years ago. But then something changed. Organisers, sponsors and government slowly started to embrace the fact that here sat a little diamond of the esports world.”
Paul also praised the work of several organisations in the UK, including Multiplay, Gfinity, ESL, Ginx TV, and other firms like DreamHack, which held an event in late 2015 in London, and FaceIt, which relocated to London.
He added: “There is still plenty to do for UK esports, but two years later, we’ve come a long way. Imagine where we will be in two more years with the same kind of progress.
“We’ll make our share of mistakes going forward, it’s true. But never underestimate what a small but passionate set of talented people can achieve with hard work.”
Read the full piece on Slingshot here
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
