Photos by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games Flickr
Yinsu Collins has enjoyed a rapid rise in esports, having transitioned from journalist to host and interviewer working on some of Riot’s biggest broadcasts in Valorant and League of Legends.
While she was raised in the UK, her mother is Chinese and Yinsu can speak Mandarin – as witnessed this week when she helped BLG player Bin with his first English interview on the MSI 2023 London stage. She speaks with Esports News UK’s Dom Sacco about striking the balance between striving for success and living in the moment, in this fun interview full of banter.
Great to chat with you Yinsu. You started out in esports as a journalist and now you’re working as broadcast talent. What’s it like to make that switch and to be working at MSI 2023, on your doorstep in London?
I saw your Caps interview so I feel I have big shoes to fill. I know cockney slang (more on that later in the interview)!
First of all, I feel like we’ve known each other for five or six years now, so you’ve seen my actual journey, and it’s nice to be able to speak to you about it.
It’s sad not to be on the journalist side, because our press room keeps shrinking and shrinking. Emily Rand went from ESPN to the LCS broadcast, we have Tom Matthiesen who just announced he’s left esports journalism, and Danes did a lot of journalism stuff. I saw him at the Valorant venue in Berlin. We used to be do press stuff together. So journalism always has a really special place in my heart.
Even coming to these events, I wonder where the press room is, where people are chilling and where the press seats are!
So, it’s weird [making the transition from journalism to broadcast], but I’d say that my job, doing interviews and hosting, is basically an extension of what I was doing before.
The transition was pretty smooth. The only difference is instead of doing interviews like this, with editing and writing, everything is live.
It sounds a bit scarier. But Yinsu you’ve never struck me as someone who’s had fear in esports.
I distinctively remember two times I’ve been nervous. The first was as a journalist interviewing Bwipo at 2018 Worlds. Fnatic were in the final and Bwipo was up and coming. It was my first ever interview in League, so I was nervous and I didn’t want to botch that up.
The second time I got nervous was at the LEC two weeks ago. Only because I put too much pressure on myself. I was like, ‘you’ve been at the LEC for so many years as a fan, watching it and reporting on it, getting to know the game and the players,’ and for me, this was too big of a moment for me to fuck it up. Sorry, I’m gonna swear. You can beep that out.
I can leave it in. It’s not a Riot broadcast, you won’t get in trouble for this.
Oh yeah. ‘Oi oi cunts!’ (laughs)
Erm, we’re in London! We’re in London, what can I say?
So in my own head I didn’t want to mess it up on the LEC, but by doing that I kind of messed it up. Luckily I was there for three days, so I relaxed on day two and it was fine.
“I think the downside of grind culture and having a goal and aiming for it, and setting the bar higher and higher, is you kind of miss the moments. You get into a mindset of never being satisfied or happy with what you’re doing. It’s only when you look back, you’re like, ‘oh I did that, that’s kind of cool’. But I’m trying to learn to enjoy the moment more, instead of always looking up, as you can forget where you are.”
Yinsu
When I was prepping in this interview room waiting for you to show up, I could hear you on broadcast interviewing a PSG player on stage, and there was some laughter. What happened there?
*Puts fingers in ears* I bet you were like, ‘shut that up, oh god, not her again!’
One of the cool things about esports is there’s a lot of different players from different speakers. And as a Mandarin speaker, I’ve never professionally used Chinese for anything, so being able to interview players who are also Chinese, and maybe throw in a Chinese question here and there and translate, it’s quite nerve-wracking but really fun.
It’s interesting because you’re described as a British talent, but you have that Mandarin background.
Yeah, my mum is Chinese, I obviously grew up and was raised here in the UK. So I guess I am British by location, but I’m pretty in touch with the other side of the cultures I’m involved with. And it doesn’t hurt that so many Chinese players are so good at esports, in general. They monopolise a lot of the corners of a lot of games.
Is there anyone you’re rooting for at MSI 2023, or feel will do well?
The people I’m rooting for are not here. I’m a big Turkish esports fan, I really like the Turkish Valorant scene and the League of Legends scene too. Apparently one of Turkey’s most famous players is coming out of retirement, which will give the region a boost.
Unfortunately the Turkish region in League of Legends got a bit unlucky, I don’t think it exists anymore in terms of their own tournament. But in Valorant it’s thriving, we have a Turkish world champion. We have Turkish speaking LoL players Nisqy and BrokenBlade in EU, so I’m rooting for them.
Who do you think will reach the MSI 2023 final?
The meme in the past is that EU always at least come third, because there’s only one team from LPL and LCK, but now everyone has two teams, so we might not even reach the top four this time!
It might be China vs China or Korea vs Korea in the final. I think it probably will be that.
What’s next for Yinsu? Do you see yourself on a lot of Riot broadcasts?
Redacted. Because I signed an NDA… No, I haven’t signed an NDA, I’m just fucking with you (laughs).
I don’t actually know. I think it’s about getting through each day and being satisfied. I like the grind culture, I attribute my success to this. But it’s not healthy.
I think the downside of grind culture and having a goal and aiming for it, and setting the bar higher and higher, is you kind of miss the moments. You get into a mindset of never being satisfied or happy with what you’re doing. It’s only when you look back, you’re like, ‘oh I did that, that’s kind of cool’. But I’m trying to learn to enjoy the moment more, instead of always looking up, as you can forget where you are.
Yinsu interview quickfire round – cockney rhyming slang and UK football banter with Dom Sacco
Apples and pears.
Stairs.
Duck and dive.
Surely not chive? Hive?
It’s actually hide.
Wait, how does that work?
Must be a half rhyme. Dustin lids.
That’s a cockney rhyming slang? Kids?
You got it. You’re better than me. Give and take.
Break?
Nearly.
Drake?
Cake. Maybe you can test me?
I could test you on football?
Okay then.
Oh yeah, how are your team [Arsenal] doing? Bunch of bottlers.
Don’t. What about your team, Palace? How are they doing? They had to get their ex manager back again.
Yeah. Context matters. If we had your budget and resources, mate, we’d be in a very different position.
Do you support any other teams?
I like Adana in the Turkish league, where Mario Balotelli went.
I ask as you have a bunch of different football jerseys, right?
Yeah, I collect them. One of the talent managers at the Valorant tournament in Brazil recently was really hyping his own team, São Paulo FC. One of their ex goalkeepers has the record for the goalkeeper with the most goals scored [in the history of football – 131 total].
I thought that was a sick story so I bought one of their jerseys and brought it home! I wore it on stream and all the Brazilian fans were so confused!
Yinsu I thought this would be a nice and easy interview for me. You’ve made it quite hard, with the football banter, F-bombs and you trying to trick me! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
When are we cooking next?
Ah yeah, we used to do Yinsu and Sacco’s Snackos cookery streams years ago! Thanks for the interview Yinsu.
It was fun! Thanks for having me. This has been Esports News UK with Dom Sacco, so make sure you like and subscribe and drop us a comment, we’ve got more esports content.
Thank you Yinsu, you’re doing my job for me!
No problem!
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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.
