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Esports industry conference and networking event ESI London is around the corner once again, this time for 2022 from September 5th to 7th at Boxpark Wembley.
What can we expect to see at the event as the UK esports industry prepares to gather? We speak to Esports Insider co-founder and managing director Sam Cooke to find out in this exclusive interview.
ESI London is approaching once again! Please summarise what’s in store this time around and why people should attend.
How long are summaries allowed to be? This is our biggest event in history; we are about to surpass our attendees target of 600 which includes an excellent turn out both from the industry (teams, TOs, publishers, gaming adjacent brands) and from those outside looking in, including a large number of brands, to agencies, media and more. You can see the attendees list here for a taster.
We have a very strong speaker line-up on the main stage, and on September 7th we’ve $25,000 on the line in The Clutch, our start ups competition with live pitches. That segment will also go out on Ginx TV post show. Not forgetting the ‘festival’ vibe we are committed to ensuring networking can be fun and we’ve Hotshot Pop Golf (with Hotdrop), axe throwing, VR gaming, sim rigs via Alpine, and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee’s arcade machine. We also have a monitored safe space for those that need some downtime amongst the madness.
One element I’m excited for personally since I stole this idea from the Design Museum a few months back is the Wall of Jerseys in partnership with We Are Nations, which will be making its debut. It can only be written or said in all caps (not on Esports News UK it can’t – Dom), and we’ll have 25+ esports team jerseys on display in a bid to show the evolution of the industry via these designs.
I’m excited to see the ESI Hall of Fame returning on the Monday, recognising top esports talent. Can we expect some surprises in there? How important is it to recognise those in the industry?
Dom Sacco always hunting for those spoilers. Indeed we will have three new categories this year: Rising Industry Star, Community Champion and Youth Award Champion, alongside the ‘MVP’ award, better known as our Hall of Famer trophy. The winners will all be announced on the night of September 5th live at Platform [bar, in Liverpool Street, London] in an exclusive ceremony and pre ESI London warm-up show.
Our ESI HOF is all about individuals only and will remain as such, as we think it’s vital to recognise and celebrate those doing good work in a variety of different ways!
SSee the official ESI Hall of Fame page here: https://esportsinsider.com/esi-hall-of-fame
“ESI London is our global flagship event, our largest event and will remain as such for the foreseeable future. We have hosted events elsewhere in the UK – Birmingham, Brighton, Manchester – and are conscious we don’t want our UK events to be London only. Manchester is one we will absolutely return to in the future.”
I’m moderating a panel on the state of UK esports on the Tuesday. What are your views on the state of the UK esports industry right now? Can we expect more UK events from you in the future?
God save the scene eh. I’ll let you know after your panel if I may, but as of right now I think the space has come a long way since we at ESI got started in 2016, however we’ve a long way and a lot further to go. The potential is there.
A far bigger push at a government/council level would be a game changer here including cities, look at what Espoo in Finland has done, and Kimmo Leinonen (Espoo’s Esports City Planner) and it shows the potential when it’s done right. This is a city with a population of around 300,000 people. Naturally landing some of the bigger events across games more consistently would have an impact and is exciting, but also this more localised support and growth is something I’d love to see here.
As for our events, ESI London is our global flagship, our largest event and will remain as such for the foreseeable! We have hosted events elsewhere in the UK: Birmingham, Brighton, Manchester, and are conscious we don’t want our UK events to be London only. Manchester is one we will absolutely return to in the future, and we work closely with Host at Media City which makes this a lot easier.
Nathan Edmonds recently said ESI had a presence at Gamescom and that you are at every single event he attends. How do you manage to do so, and balance and manage everything in this hectic industry?
Edmonds needs to keep my name outta his damn mouth or we gonna have some dramas. He’s at every event now anyway, he’s one to talk eh.
How do I manage to do so – have you ever watched The Prestige? (I haven’t, but I’ll add it to my list – Dom) Like Hugh Jackman’s character, or Christian Bale’s, I forget the ending.
To be sincere for a moment though, I like being busy and enjoy the events, it certainly isn’t for everyone. I’m fortunate that my partner works in the wider industry too, at EA, so she attends too most of the time! Would be more challenging balancing work/life otherwise that’s for sure. I do think it’s important for ESI in particular, with how we are positioned in the industry, to be as ever present as possible across these events.
Also we’ve a good and larger team across our media and events arms, so that certainly helps as I don’t need to be as hands-on as I have in the past. That said, we are still hiring for a head of sales and partnerships, so if anyone is interested or knows anyone…
I love ESI London for its networking. Axe throwing is back at this event too – please tell us about these kind of ice-breaker experiences and the benefits of this for attendees
We love Boxpark as it’s perfect for the type of business events we like putting on. We do our best these days to ensure our socials are more varied and not just alcohol-centric, hence why we love Boxpark: great food options, good coffee, VR gaming, Pop Golf and axe throwing! We’ve the sim rigs too as mentioned.
For those who want a drink we still have this in abundance, indeed it’s an open bar, but we love having a variety of ice breaker, fun type socialising activities.
What are your personal top three panels for people to look out for at ESI London 2022?
I assume this won’t be published if I don’t say The State of UK Esports, so that is in pole position (correct answer! – Dom)
In terms of others, we’ve a really good line-up and it’s a hard choice, but the social impact one I think will be cool and it’s an important topic on September 7th, and the team identity conundrum session too on September 6th with Liquid, Dux, Hotdrop and Alliance should be a session and topic that interests all in and around the space.
“I think the UK esports space has come a long way since we at ESI got started in 2016, however we’ve a long way and a lot further to go. The potential is there. A far bigger push at a government/council level would be a game changer here.”
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Nothing sensible. Thank you for the interview Dom, and see you at Boxpark!
See you and everyone else there Sam, I look forward to it.
ESI London 2022 tickets and more info can be found here
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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.
