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Esports News UK published almost 70 interviews in 2024 – the most we’ve ever conducted in a calendar year.
From Worlds winners to organisation owners, streamers, cosplayers and broadcast talent, to coaches, voice actors and other personalities, here are some of our stand-out esports and gaming interviews of 2024, in no particular order.
‘I’m not interested in slowing down’ – James Banks interview at Blast Premier Spring Final 2024
James Banks is a legend in Counter-Strike (CS), having rocked the broadcast mic at many a major event.
We caught up with him at London’s Blast Premier Spring Final in June, to discuss his ambitions, and working at Wembley, and he even brought his son into the interview for a guest appearance at the end.
His inclusion in this list is timely, given he’s just been named as a finalist in the 2025 HLTV Awards.
Interview with KennyS and RpK at Epic.LAN
On the topic of Counter-Strike, a surprise announcement in early 2024 made it known that French CS veterans kennyS and RpK would be attending Epic.LAN 41 in Kettering, with skins platform Tradeit.
We caught up with the former pro players to discuss all things UK CS esports. Kenny also took the opportunity to speak about smooya, drinking beer in England, and he also criticised Liverpool Football Club.
One of Zeus’ last-ever interviews with T1
Esports News UK was blessed to have several freelancers and coverage partner AGON by AOC on board with our Worlds coverage this year, as the pinnacle of League of Legends esports had its grand final in London.
Prior to the final, though, one of said freelancers Cecilia Ciocchetti had the opportunity to speak with top-laner Zeus in what would be one of his last ever interviews with T1, as he soon left for HLE following Worlds.
‘The hate I get means nothing’ – GiantX creator Tenshi talks content, cosplay and confidence in her first ever interview
We’re fortunate at Esports News UK to have been the first to interview several rising stars in UK esports and beyond.
Back in September, UK Valorant streamer Tenshi joined GiantX after amassing more than 1m followers. We chatted with her about her new home, the challenges of being a woman who’s high elo in Valorant – and never giving up.
‘Pantheon saved my life’ – Archarom
Alexandre ‘Archarom’ Maia is a Portuguese esports host, voice actor and caster that’s a bit of a legend in the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC), the EMEA Regional League for the UK, Ireland and Nordics.
What started out as a bit of a joke that he looks like LoL champion Pantheon, ended up rebuilding his character in a way that perhaps none could have envisaged. In this interview, Archarom tells Dom Sacco how this character has gone on to shape – and save – his life.
Family share heartbreaking story that led them to set up games-in-hospitals charity TheRockinR
TheRockinR is a family-run British games charity set up in memory of Reece Miree that provides Medical Gaming Carts to young people in hospitals across the UK and Ireland.
We caught up with Reece’s dad Jonny Miree and sister Jess Miree to learn about their inspiring work.
Faye Mata on voicing Lulu in League of Legends and competing in the FGC
Faye Mata is an American voice actor with roles in League of Legends (Lulu), Pokémon (Chandelure, Lapras & more) and Street Fighter (A.K.I.) to name a few. Prior to that, she also played Pokken and Super Smash Bros competitively.
We caught up with her for a chat at one of the last Insomnia Gaming Festivals, and it resulted in one of our most popular TiKToks.
Sam Mathews on Fnatic turning 20 years old and dealing with the high expectations of fans
Fnatic celebrated their 20th birthday at their London HQ in the summer. We chatted with Fnatic Founder and CEO Sam Mathews at the event, to discuss the milestone, playing in the Esports World Cup and the community’s high expectations for Fnatic to do well, particularly in League of Legends.
Gross Gore on returning to full-time streaming
Ali ‘Gross Gore’ Larsen is one of UK League of Legends most controversial streamers, having been banned multiple times on Twitch, involved in all kinds of drama and facing accusations over the years.
He returned to full-time streaming in early 2024, this time on Kick.com, and pivoted to RuneScape in what ended up being a bit of a comeback year for him.
‘Cosplayers build each other up and cheer for each other’ – Karoinna talks about her incredible Spectre cosplay at ESL One Birmingham 2024
On the last weekend of April, Dota 2 fans gathered at Resorts World Arena for ESL One Birmingham 2024. The event embraced the creative spirit of the community, with cosplayers bringing Dota 2 characters to life. We interviewed one such cosplayer, Karoinna, who cosplayed as Spectre from the game, to ask about becoming a full-time cosplayer and working with UK esports organisation Into the Breach.
Notable mentions: 6 more of our esports interviews of 2024
There are countless other interviews we’d love to include in here, but to keep the article from becoming too long, we’ll just mention another handful.
Alongside James Banks at the Blast Premier Spring Final, we also got to chat with fellow UK broadcast talent Jacky about the state of UK CS, and signing fans’ socks and a Nintendo Wii at the event.
It also also great to see Reece Barrett interview G2 TaZ about being ‘ready’ to stand in at Blast Premier Spring Final.
“I feel fresh, I feel good, I feel confident. Team Spirit are going down,” he said. (spoiler: they didn’t)
We also had the opportunity to interview BAFTA Breakthrough 2024 talent Jennifer English about the ‘magic’ of Expedition 33 and performing with Andy Serkis, following her Baldur’s Gate 3 fame, plus we recently interviewed Mac and Pad of Team Vitality.
Worlds also provided plenty of engaging interviews, including Patty Yu’s chat with BLG Bin, Cecilia Ciocchetti’s chat with British coach Duffman (who was with G2 at Worlds), and Dom Sacco’s two minutes with Faker.
Here’s to many more interviews and stories to share in 2025!
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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.
