Let's start with Mr. Aydin. As the founder and CEO of Space Soldiers, can you tell us what the goals and vision behind the Space Soldiers organisation are?
Our vision is to make Space Soldiers a global brand. We aim to make Space Soldiers not only an eSports team but an eSports lifestyle brand.
Do you think that in its current state the team can reach their goals? If necessary, what sort of changes should be made in order to reach these goals?
The team has existed for two years but we’ve had a preparation period for a whole year before the founding of Space Soldiers, so we can say the organization has existed for three years. Our first goal was to break out into the top-20 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams. Currently, we seem to have reached that goal as we’re always there or thereabouts.
We have been able to create an important management team in the past three months. Under this management team we address questions like “how will our social media strategy be, how will our growth strategy be and which other games should we invest in?”. As a result of these questions, a couple of months ago Emre Kay?r joined us from Dark Passage, making FIFA our second eSport. At the same time we define our goals to determine where we want Space Soldiers to be in the short, mid and long term.
Apart from that, the new Space Soldiers jerseys will come out in 2017. We design new jerseys each year equivalent to the world standards but we create a difference at this point by designing all the outwear of the players, from the track suits to the caps. This is the first in Counter-Strike. We achieved a total look last year at Copenhagen Games and had everybody talking. We want to familiarise eSports with the world and our difference is that we don’t act purely as an eSports brand; we also act like a fashion brand. From creating new content in terms of aesthetics to a photographer that travels with the team to the tournaments, we have solid investments that make us different. Our photographer creates new content and takes care of our community at the same time.
The most important sentence at Space Soldiers, which is also its brand value is “Digital athletes of the next generation”. This is what Space Soldiers is for us. Uniting the whole world is also one of our goals. That’s why our name is Space Soldiers, it does not belong to any country but it was born in Turkey.
I’ve never thought like this. I’ve always wondered where the name “Space Soldiers” came from, now I see and it’s really meaningful. I believe many fans will think like me after reading this.
Yes, it’s a Turkish brand but someone from England, Germany or South Korea may join us. Our dream is being the model of a world that is Utopian, respectful and full of love where everybody unites.
Can we say that the team is heading to these goals? Thanks to recent success, Space Soldiers are more popular. In recent months, you’ve won GO: Champions League Season 3 and ASUS ROG Summer and qualified for WESG global finals. Do these achievements help you in reaching your goals?
I must say that the success starts in the office. We can’t be successful without being disciplined, well prepared and synchronized. By “we”, I don’t mean just the players, I mean all of the crew including them and the management team. First, we need to be successful as a whole team. Then our popularity will grow.
What are your thoughts on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s current state and its headway in Turkey?
First of all, Counter-Strike is one of the oldest games and it has a very loyal community. Moreover, people that don’t actually play the game, for example my wife, can understand the game and enjoy it as a spectator. Compared to Counter-Strike, when someone watches Overwatch, League of Legends or Dota 2 for the first time they can’t understand the players’ actions or even the map itself.
I don’t think Counter-Strike will lose its popularity because it is incredibly fun to play, you may meet people from all over the world and at the same time it’s really fast in-game. It’s like backgammon; the player needs to make his/her decisions fast. You may act like playing chess before a match but while playing the game, especially during the action, you must decide quickly. In this regard, countries like Turkey and Brazil are very important because people from these countries have really high potential of fast decision-making and because of this, I think Turkey has a bright future in Counter-Strike.
However, there might be some declines while the Turkish scene tries to reach its limits as we always see in eSports but the Turkish scene will always improve, even with some potential steps backwards in the way.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an eSports team in Turkey?
There aren’t many teams that we could practice with but before that, the biggest disadvantage is the internet. We’ve discussed this problem with the biggest corporations of Turkey but haven’t found a solution yet.
There must be more investments if a Turkish team is going to be a top team in the world. We start with -10 points in Turkey. To avoid these disadvantages, we’re planning to create a new budget before the majors so our team can play their matches abroad before these prestigious events. This is going to be another expense in our books but we see that if we don’t do this, we can’t qualify for a major.
Would it be appropriate to say that it is hard to find local tournaments during your preparation period for the majors?
Yes.
What’s the situation like in terms of sponsorships?
There are a lot of sponsorship offers for us, but we prefer to work with larger partners. Currently, we have a big corporation backing us so we’re standing by. We’re not interested in small sponsors like equipment sponsors. There are offers but equipment expenses aren’t a big deal for us, we’re making the management stability and social media strategy our priorities. After that, we want to advertise our brand DNA. In fact, our brand DNA will be heard in this article for the first time. When the world understands our brand DNA, the partners we’d like to work with will contact us. We are certain about that because once the firms that share equal visions and values with us understand our brand DNA, they will contact us before investing in the Turkish market.
On the topic of globalisation, let’s continue with social media. Space Soldiers have recently started using English as a second language on social media. Is this also a part of your globalisation plan?
Actually, we want to be both local and global. We, of course, care about the Turkish community as a priority. We want the foreigners to see the success of our Turkish team. We proved a Turkish team could be in top-20 on rankings. We do this in order to increase the foreigners’ respect for us.
Prominent traditional sports clubs across the globe are investing in eSports. How do you feel about this?
I think it has both positive and negative effects. The good thing is that eSports is becoming progressively popular with investment. On the other hand, I fear the fanaticism and other negative aspects of the huge clubs that could come with those investments. In eSports fair play can be felt more than any other sports. And we would like to maintain this spirit.
One more question regarding this topic, as you know Be?ikta? and Fenerbahçe already have League of Legends teams and there are also rumours about Galatasaray preparing to establish its own LoL team. If these three giant Turkish clubs decide to create their CS: GO teams what would you do about that? Will you be eager to cooperate with them?
Firstly, we would like these teams to invest in Counter-Strike. The sector will benefit from the investments of giant clubs. If they contact us at this point, we would gladly guide them. This cooperation doesn’t have to be on the team basis. We may even give them some ideas or a direction to go towards. And we won’t request anything from them because the Turkish scene would improve.
Mr. Aydin, before we turn to Can “Xantares” Dörtkarde?, would you like to add anything else?
We want to spread a beautiful message all over the world because the world is full of negative things. All our projects and crew are focused to a goal which is being the story of success of a worldwide Turkish eSports team.
Thank you Mr. Aydin. Let’s continue with you Can. First of all, can you tell us about your Counter-Strike story from the beginning?
Like everybody else my Counter-Strike story began when my friends introduced me to the game. At the beginning I was focused on its fun aspects but as I continued playing, the competitive side of the game and it being team-based made me addicted.
My professional career began in 2010, when we created a team with my friends.
You will retire at one point, hopefully many years from now. How would you like to be remembered or in other words, what achievements would you like to have under your belt?
My answer is short and clear. I’d like to achieve everything that hasn’t been achieved yet.
Compared to most European countries, Turkish internet connection speed is very low. How does this affect you and your team when playing against foreign teams online?
I can say that the situation is better than a couple of years ago thanks to the technological improvements. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough for a game like CS: GO where you must decide quickly. The difference between Turkey and Europe is so high right now, for example in Turkey, the minimum ping we’ve experienced is around 40 but our European opponents have pings as low as 5ms.
Despite this problem, your in-game statistics are so close to the best players from elite teams, even better than a handful. Is your team strategy built for you to grab frags?
This is a misconception. As Space Soldiers, our teamwork and understanding of the game is on a very different level. I must admit with a smile that the lack of knowledge regarding our game dynamics and strategy makes me happy.
Two of your teammates, Tugay “TuGuX” Keskin and Engin “ngiN” Kor were born in Germany. Does this create any language problems?
Neither one of them has a language problem. Despite being born in Germany, their Turkish is fluent.
But their native language is German. Have you guys every come across funny misunderstandings between that duo and the rest of the team?
We have. There is a spot on Train that we call “çat? alt?” (under roof). Engin and Tugay always pronounce it as “çatal alt?” (under fork).
Are you friends with any other professional players? Tar?k “tarik” Çelik comes to mind.
A lot of the popular professional players are my friends and I talk with them, including of course Tar?k.
Before finishing the interview, as a professional player, what would you advise young players that aim to “go pro”?
A well-balanced diet is important. Sleeping well, being disciplined and working as hard as you can are all musts.
Apart from these, how should these players train? Maybe you could share your training routine with them?
My training regime is secret so I can’t share it, but my advice for them would be to train in a regime that they’re confident with.
Thank you for very much for the interview and good luck in future tournaments.
