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Alex ‘Machine’ Richardson believes that ‘staying true to esports’ roots’ is the best way to navigate through the industry’s ‘winter’ period, as he explained to Esports News UK’s Reece Barrett in an interview backstage at IEM Katowice 2024. The British desk host and caster also spoke about the differences between styles of broadcast, his path into esports and how he uses his photography-based Instagram feed to explore more of cities while at events.
Speaking on the esports ‘winter’ currently engulfing the industry, British Counter-Strike caster and host Alex ‘Machine’ Richardson said: “I’m feeling optimistic.
“I feel like it’s not even an esports thing, as much as it is a global politics thing, inflation, recession… it’s bigger than [esports].
“Esports needs to stay genuine, stay cognizant of its grassroots, because that’s what people want. They just want to play their video game and watch people play their video game when they’re knocked out. The competition, the camaraderie, the friendships, packing your PC and going to a LAN event, just so you can have some fun with your boys. That’s what this is.”
Machine
“It’s just been scaled up and scaled up to a point where there’s a stadium full of these people ideally.”
Machine also spoke about his work as a caster and host, starting out as a player and what it’s like working on the Intel Extreme Masters broadcast in Katowice.
He spoke about how special it is to meet the community in person at events like this too. Speaking of which, Machine delivered a ring to a couple who got engaged live at the Spodek Arena:
Machine also shared his views on the final, which saw Team Spirit beat Faze 3-0 thanks to an incredible performance by rising star Donk.
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Reece is a sports journalist who has previously worked with the likes of BBC Radio Solent, Southern Daily Echo, Salisbury Radio, VAVEL and many more. He is currently studying a degree in Sports Journalism at Solent University.
