Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco shares his thoughts on amateur UK teams and how we can help – rather than hurt – each other
I didn’t really want to write about this, originally, but having seen the community reaction I felt compelled to share my opinion as I think there’s a good lesson here.
If you gave me a pound for every time an amateur UK esports team made a mistake, or embarrassed themselves, or opened themselves up to ridicule, I would be a very rich man.
In the early days of Esports News UK I would write about this stuff all the time, because the scene was a lot more immature than it is today.
I would sometimes join in with the ridiculing, because I thought I was doing the right thing by calling out nonsense or ineptitude or bad practice. I come to realise now that while some of that may have been warranted, I was also part of the problem.
Today I, like many of you I’m sure, noticed this job ad by amateur UK esports organisation Lucendi Gaming, as spotted by TSM Dunc:
I knew the shitstorm that would follow, and I didn’t want to join in with the circus or tweet about it, because I knew it wouldn’t help the team at Lucendi.
I admit I probably would have laughed at this post a few years ago, but I’ve seen so much of this stuff now it doesn’t really have that affect on me anymore, and a lot of it is fading as people’s knowledge of esports and the market is improving.
I knew straight away they’d probably made a mistake born from lack of knowledge and experience, rather than malicious or greedy intent.
Like Richard Lewis told me a few years back, the UK esports scene contains malicious scumbags and well-meaning idiots. That’s a harsh way of putting things but it’s something that’s stuck by me because it was definitely the case for some in UK esports.
Lucendi made a quick apology and it was clear their intent was well-meaning.
While many continued to ridicule them, including some puerile tweets by YouTube drama news host Keemstar, others reached out to Lucendi to help them understand that a social media role like that at an amateur org is usually voluntary.
Posts by Dunc, Bulldog Newts, Nathan Edmonds and Synygy among others show that the UK esports community has grown up in recent years. Their willingness to support Lucendi and help them learn and understand is the right way to go about this, in my opinion.
Let’s help one another, not harm one another or the scene or give it needless hate or a bad name for no reason.
We’re all here to grow and improve and learn, we never stop learning. And Lucendi will have learnt from this, that’s for sure.
The internet can be a wonderful place, giving everyone the tools to do things that would have been expensive or difficult or even impossible a few decades ago. But with this power means it’s easier than ever to show the world your mistakes. And it has opened esports’ doors to anyone, as Clement Murphy highlights here:
If there’s anything I’ve learnt from the esports community is that it is happy to help, if you are open and honest and reach out for help. Try to fast-track things without the right knowledge and you may fall flat on your face – and the community may not be so forgiving.
But I am encouraged from some of the responses I’ve seen today.
I would’ve liked to have ended this on a more meaningful or memorable line, but it’s late and I’m knackered. So that’s it, that’s the article.
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.
