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We had the opportunity to chat with UK Rocket League esports player Archie ‘Archie’ Pickthall at Endpoint’s Pracrooms bootcamp space in Sheffield last week. We discussed his new team, Geekay Esports, hopes for qualifying for the RLCS Birmingham Major, the state of RL esports and more.
Archie joined Geekay earlier this month with fellow UK player Joyo and Dutch former Moist player oaly, with US coach Nick leading them.
They now have their sights set on qualifying for the RLCS Birmingham Major in March 2025.
Thanks for joining us, Archie. Tell us about being a part of Geekay Esports and your chances of qualifying for the Major.
We changed one person on the team, there’s still Joyo and I on the team, but we’ve got oaly on the team now instead of Oski.
Obviously it’s a bit of a change, because I’d say Oski last season was one of the best players in the world, and oaly can be one of the best players in the world, but it’s about getting to a consistent level. I think our synergy is really good this season, we’ve shown it a lot in scrims and we had a pretty decent run recently.
I think we can beat anyone, we just have to prove it in further tournaments.
You’ve been bootcamping at the Pracrooms facilities in Sheffield. What’s it like there?
We’re here [at Pracrooms] again! We were here last season, every time, the Endpoint bootcamps are reliable – shoutout to those guys.
We’re here for the Regional 1 bootcamp. There are three regionals in a split, and we need to get points to qualify for the Birmingham Major.
Speaking of which, what would it mean to qualify for that?
It means a lot to make every major, just because you want to be at those LANs playing against the best players in the world. But also in England, you have the best crowds, so you really wanna be there for those crowds and hearing all the chants.
“I’ve played at the Copperbox Arena in London twice now, and going there another time would be a bit boring I think, so changing it up in England [and qualifying for the Birmingham Major] would be good, cos the crowds are definitely the best in the world, easily.”
Archie, Geekay Esports
You were a part of the FIFAe England Rocket League team recently. What was that like?
It was surreal, to be honest. I felt like a football player a little bit, travelling down to Wembley Stadium, we did an announcement there then flew out to Saudi Arabia to play in the tournament.
We didn’t do as well as we wanted to, the format was quite weird but it was very interesting and a proud moment for me, especially.
The Rocket League esports scene is volatile, with UK orgs like Endpoint and Resolve stepping back from it. What are your views on the state of RL esports?
It’s pretty sad. For anyone that’s not a top-tier pro, I think it’s a pretty bad place to be, I think [right now].
There aren’t many orgs that are interested, I think the only reason you’d get an org is if you’re fighting for that major and guaranteed to be in the top six spots at least. I dunno, we’ll see where it goes, but it’s not looking good!
Thank you to Archie for his time and to Pracrooms/Endpoint for letting us access their facility. Check Esports News UK later this month for an exclusive interview with Endpoint on the year ahead, an upcoming announcement and more.
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.
