Adam Fitch is one of the UK’s most well-known esports journalists, having worked as editor of Esports Insider, business content lead at Dexerto and receiving awards along the way. Now he’s starting off the year doing something a bit different with an organisation that’s not known for its news content – yet.
Adam has just joined UK-based esports jobs platform Hitmarker as head of content, where he’ll be aiming to make industry news pieces less PR-driven and more digestible to readers. But why leave Dexerto, what does he think of the current state of esports journalism and how is he handling business reporting at Hitmarker? Dom Sacco asks him in this extensive interview.
“The goal at Dexerto for me was to make esports business content quite accessible – that’s very difficult to do at a publication that’s very views-focused,” Adam explains. “So now I can do that because Hitmarker is not a publication and thus, page views are not the north star.
“I’ll still be reporting, and if I hear that a company has been naughty, I’ll still be looking into them. So in my mind I’m operating as a journalist, not like Jake Lucky or Travis Gafford who want to do journalistic endeavours but not take the responsibility that comes with it.
“I want to have fun and challenge myself, not chase views. It’s not that I’m turning my back on journalism, it’s more so I’m turning my back on the current form of journalism in esports. I don’t want to play their game, I’ll play my own game now.”
“[At Hitmarker] we’ve agreed on a format where I can report business news that breaks it down, so that if a person reads a story and may not understand what the hell it actually means, they’ll be able to read this and digest it.
“They can find the news on Esports Observer or Esports Insider, but if it doesn’t make sense or you want to know what it means for the ecosystem or that company, then hopefully I’ll have something up [on Hitmarker on it].
On possible esports careers focused content, he adds: “I don’t want to do the same generic thing of ‘how did you get into esports?’ all the time, maybe it can be one question in an interview to paint a better picture of the hiring process.”
Adam is also reuniting with Nathan Edmonds, who recently joined Hitmarker as head of community and marketing, after leaving Excel Esports. Adam and Nathan worked together at business publication Esports Insider.
“I worked with Nathan when he was a real little nipper!” Adam says. “I knew Nathan was looking for what was next as he handed his notice in at Excel, and I told him I was speaking to Hitmarker. He said they had approached him too.
“So I think in a way we both maybe influenced each to go along with it, or at least the presence of the other person being there was more comforting and exciting to us as well. I thought it’d be cool to work with him, see how he’s progressed with the Excel and jump into something new with a company, which is unlike either of us have worked at before.”
“I’ll still be reporting, and if I hear that a company has been naughty, I’ll still be looking into them. So in my mind I’m operating as a journalist.”
Hitmarker MD Rich Huggan, comments: “We’ve been considering adding a content element to Hitmarker for a long, long time now. In Adam, we believe we’ve found the best possible person to build out an offering that will bring value to our users and to the wider industry.
“We can’t wait to see the impact his features and reporting will have and are all excited for him to get started.”
The state of esports journalism and views on anonymous leaker accounts on Twitter
Adam is honest and open with his views on the current state of esports journalism, and discusses everything from anonymous leakers on Twitter, content creators posing as journalists and not taking responsibility and the idea of journalism that has an actual impact on the industry.
“What content are anonymous leakers going to be doing in the off-season?” he points out. “They have no experience doing other content or journalism experience outside of leaking on Twitter.
“It’s commendable that Upcomer are going to try and help [LEC Wooloo], but I don’t know if I trust them to be the best academy for upcoming leakers/journalists.
“Anonymous leaker accounts are journalism without accountability, which is not journalism, it’s just bullshit! News on a roster move is good for building up excitement and nothing more, in my mind.”
“Fans don’t care [how or where they get info from], they want anything they can get their hands on, even if [the information] is not right, and I don’t particularly like that. A roster move is good for building up excitement and nothing more, in my mind.
“Anonymous leaker accounts are journalism without accountability, which is not journalism, it’s just bullshit!”
On Upcomer in particular, he says: “I think we’re at the point where Upcomer will go bust, because they’re paying outrageous salaries. On one front it’s nice to see a company pay some journalists what they’re worth, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to survive it.”
Hear more from Adam Fitch in our full interview, and check out even more in this chat Adam Fitch had with Richard Lewis:
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.
