Man, these past two years have been incredible. Rotti and me flew from Dusseldorf Germany to Rancho Cucamonga California in March of 2012 to work, not on WCS, but on the North American Star League season 3. To this day, I think the team we put together then was the best I've ever been a part of, and that first year was the most fun I've ever had working on StarCraft. Since that time much of the eSports landscape has changed drastically, but I've never loved my job and this industry as much as I do today.
The choice to leave ESL to come work at NASL was a tough one. The choice I've made to move on from NASL was tougher still. I've accepted a position at Red Bull to work with their eSports team. It will be a new job with lots of new challenges, but I can promise that one thing won't be changing: StarCraft will still be a huge part of who I am and what I do both personally and professionally.
It would be impossible for me to thank everyone who's touched my life and helped me reach this point in my career without forgetting many, but I have to recognize at least a few of them: First and foremost, Rotti has been one of my closest friends and colleagues for over three years now. Everything I've accomplished in these past three years, I've accomplished with him. Love you Kev. Can't wait to see what kind of crazy shit we get into next.
A massive thanks to the entire NASL team, but especially to Russell Pfister and Mark Brown for taking a chance on me. I also have to mention Gretorp, Frodan, Clutch, Elliot, Mike, Josh and Morgan - the NASL OGs who made working here so much fun.
To Blizzard: You guys are amazing. Thank you for making the game of StarCraft, and thank you more for allowing me to work on it. Kim, you're doing great work with the eSports team, and WCS 2014 is going to be the best yet!
And last but certainly not least, thanks to my family and girlfriend (and our two cats) for all the support through the years. Its not always easy to make it work in eSports, and I probably wouldn't be here if you guys hadn't had my back this whole time.
To the community: Don't be sad. Rotti's going to continue to anchor WCS America (and it's going to be the best show ever now that he doesn't have to carry me anymore) and I'm sure we'll find new exciting ways to work together. I can't say what we’ll be doing at Red Bull just yet but I promise we'll be blazing trails and putting on the best shows we possibly can.
GG WP I met Ben at Blizzcon and man, I have to say, he is such a good guy, and makes a great team with Rotti. I hope Rotti can join him as well. The power of two! Congrats
much love <3 we'll miss you at NASL/WCS AM (what's Rotti gonna do without you? I dunno Kev, I dunno), but you still do SC2 related stuff with RedBull, right?
Much love, Ben. I remember when I first met you and Kev back at IEM Cologne all that time ago. Things sure are different now but the fact that you and Kev are both role models for me in eSports hasn't changed. Until spending time with you guys in Germany, I had no idea what it looked like to throw everything you had at making something you love better. I'm so excited to see what you do next and what you and Kev do next, together. Say hi to Kani for me!
EPT
