British esports legend Michael ‘ODEE’ O’Dell has been included in the Lifetime Achievement in Esports Class of 2023.
The Esports Awards presented by Lexus has today announced the inductees for this year’s Lifetime Achievement in Esports award, which celebrates those that have dedicated their professional life to improving the industry.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement in Esports Class of 2023 inductees include ODEE, the co-founder of Dignitas, 38x CoD champion Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter and esports host and VP of Programming for MLG.tv, Chris Puckett, among others listed below.
Even Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco’s elusive, award-nominated hand and microphone were featured in the below video at the 29-second mark.
The news also comes a few days after ODEE received an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from the University of Chichester for his work in esports. You can see ODEE receiving this and giving a speech in this University of Chichester video, from around the 1:03:40 mark.
Chichester has a course in esports, with one of ODEE’s former pro gamers at Dignitas, Rams ‘R2K’ Singh, working as programme coordinator in esports at the uni.
Earlier this year, ODEE joined Scan Computers after working as the London Royal Ravens managing director and chief gaming officer at Ravens’ parent company Infinite Reality. The Royal Ravens let several staff go before moving to the US to become the Carolina Royal Ravens.
The full Lifetime Achievement in Esports Class of 2023
The Lifetime Achievement in Esports Class of 2023 inductees are ‘carefully chosen by the esteemed Esports Awards panel’, with each member nominating an individual they deem deserving of the accolade.
This year’s selection will join the likes of Dennis ‘Thresh’ Fong, the first professional gamer in history, Stephanie ‘missharvey’ Harvey, Chief Culture Officer at Fly Quest and retired CSGO player who achieved a staggering five World Championships, and Ralf Reichert, co-CEO, founder and chairman at ESL FACEIT Group.
To merit this distinction, candidates must fulfil three criteria: ‘a substantial and enduring impact on the advancement of esports throughout their professional journey, a significant and sustained dedication to the industry’s progress, and a distinguished status as a longstanding advocate who has achieved widespread recognition through their contributions’.
“All of these individuals have laid the foundation for the current generation of esports. Through their hard work, dedication and perseverance, they have been instrumental in shaping the esports industry into what it has become today.”
Michael Ashford, Esports Awards
To celebrate the arrival of the Lifetime Achievement in Esports Class of 2023 inductees, the Esports Awards will host them at a mixer event on November 29th, an event that allows all classes of the Lifetime Achievement Award to meet and network.
The full list of lifetime achievement inductees are:
- Chris Puckett – Former professional Halo player, long-standing esports host who made his name in MLG -Call of Duty but has been a mainstay from 2004 to the present day.
- Michael “Odee” O’Dell – One of the founders of Dignitas, who has been a part of the esports industry since 1999.
- Victor “Nazgul” Goossens – Retired professional StarCraft: Brood War Player who founded Team Liquid at 17 years old.
- Shane “rapha” Hendrixson – Considered the greatest Quake player of all time, with his esports career spanning from 2002 to the present day.
- Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen – One of the most successful real-time strategy players of all time, playing Warcraft III, Age of Empires and Starcraft II.
- Lee “Flash” Young Ho – Began his career in 2007 as a Starcraft professional player and quickly became one of the best players of all time.
- Marc Merrill – Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and President of Games for Riot Games.
- Ian “Crimsix” Porter – Currently, the ESL R1 Driver for FaZeClan, who retired from professional Call of Duty after becoming 38x COD Champion and winning three CoD World Championships.
“I am elated to share the Lifetime Achievement in Esports Class of 2023 inductees. All of these individuals have laid the foundation for the current generation of esports. Through their hard work, dedication, and perseverance, they have been instrumental in shaping the esports industry into what it has become today. We are proud to welcome eight of the most influential inductees into the Lifetime Achievement Awards” said Michael Ashford, CEO, Esports Awards.
The full list of Esports Awards 2023 finalists were announced a month ago.
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.
