Danes, MyM, e-Sports

translated by Apollis @ MyM (with a little editing/proof reading by yours truly)

Well first I will say sorry for my bad English, but I tried my best in translating everything. The translation is a lot word by word, but also so (I hope) will make sense to everyone.

So here goes:

Danes behind the worlds largest electronic sports club.

Online computer games have become profitable sport. Eight Danish businessmen have bought one of the world’s best electronic boxing stables. With million injections and more professional computer players being bought, will they make their electronic sports team “Meet Your Makers” to the worlds best in one year.

Mountains of chips and cola bottles. Greased, pale, acne and asocial teenagers with blunt eyes and as a blunted mind have long been the picture many have seen, when people have talked about computer games. With horror, parents and experts imagine, how that part of the youth will make them illiterate. But with so much other, where the electronic have a circuit in the game, have the reality distance them self from the prophesies.

Online-gaming or e-sport has developed it to a professional and social sport. Companies as Adidas and Samsung throw millions of dollars in sponsorships at the best cyberathletes. e-Sports clubs appear everywhere. With help from sponsor and paying fans, there grow with same speed as a virus, the clubs buys the best computer players, the net have made.

Danes in front.

Eight Danish businessmen from the commercial-, sport- and media business have jump on the gaming-train. With an unknown million investment have the bought one the leading e-Sports clubs in the world, with the dangerous name Meet Your Makers (MYM). The expectations are huge: In the year 2007, the eight will make the club into the world largest with over 250.000 users from 150 different countries. It won’t be cheap. That’s why the Danish businessmen are in negotiations with possible partners, there are willing to add an extra three number million sum, to the club.

The club value stands with 40 professional computer players on the club payroll. With support from MYM, the 40 pros travels around the world to compete in different competitions, with the strategy game WarCraft and shooting game Counter Strike.

Two of the eight businessmen are partners in the communication bureau Dreyer & Kvetny. Jacob Dreyer and Peter Kvetny means it serious, when they say that e-sport already are bigger the soccer, measure in the numbers of players.

Like many other new things, the development is strongest in Asia.

“In China and Korea have e-sport become a millionaire industry. The most famous players can barely walk on the street in peace. They have their own idol-sites and a salary far above a million kroner (170.000 US $) each year” tells Jacob Dreyer.

South Korea are the power center for e-Gaming. Here is many TV channels there transmit 24/7 from different tournaments. Here is WarCraft 3 the most popularly game. The most famous player are 21 year old Korean Jang Jae Ho. In the e-sport he is never called more then his gaming ID, MYM Spirit Moon. MYM means he is a member of Meet Your Makers.

The nerd is dead.

Broadband development and the computer game upgrading to a sport have by Peter Kvetny view, affected the hour-long activity behind the screen to become an interactive social activity. The players talk to each other over the Internet, meeting at net café and at high growth at e-Sports tournaments around the world.

"To the big competitions in South Korea gathers over 200.000 spectators – that’s more then any soccer match can do" explains Peter Kvetny. And tries to kill the myth about the pizza eating and cola drinking computer geek.

"To be in this game, you have to keep your body in perfect physics shape. That means a lot of training in fitness center and a healthy diet. We have added a health expert to our team, so the players physic works best. That results in that our best players can do ten hits on the keyboard per second." Tells Peter Kvetny.

The Wild West

e-Sport is still new, so there aren’t that many rules and ethic lines. Besides making it hard for the club to make their players fulfill their contract, does the player not have any special rights. Many or the professional players are in the gymnasium age. With a daily training on 12 hours, it become hard for the player to do any other things. MYM are aware of the problem.

"This is still the wild west out here. That’s why we are together with other e-Sports clubs building something similar as FIFA is in the soccer world, to get everything under control." Says Jacob Dreyer.

Better then Google

E-sport is still biggest in South Korea. But the Chinese government have seen the interest for the e-Sport. It’s a healthy way to use the Internet. “It’s healthier then searching on Google.” Says Peter Kvetny with a smile. The Chinese government is known to lead a hard electronic censor on the Internet.

MYM got to feel the Chinese e-Sport interest, when the government in Beijing contacted them in spring. In the beginning MYM though it was a joke, but the Chinese ambassador in Copenhagen confirmed the Chinese interest. Then MYM said yes to become partner in arranging the worlds largest e-Sport event, where every Chinese gymnasiums and universities participate. 5 TV channels, with a potential of 1 billion viewers, will cover the event.

Olympic discipline?

A lot look like that the Chinese e-sport madness, will lead to that we maybe will see the sport as a discipline at the Olympics in Beijing in 18 months, as a demonstration sport. The Global Gaming League is in negotiation with the Chinese government.

“With the large growth the sport is going trough, I can only imaging that we will see e-sport as fully serious discipline. Already now it’s bigger then soccer and in 2009 we count that the sport will have more then 100 millions players in the world. Says Jacob Dreyer.


I hope everyone understands it.
Good night
//Apollis