INTERVIEW:
Matthias 'losemann' BeyerHello Matthias. How are you doing recently? Are your hips hurting from the Harlem Shake you just did recently?
-"Hey buddy. I have fully recovered from my Harlem Shake. We got 15,000 views, that cures everything pretty quick. I loved the support by the community and organizations who shared the video. Thanks for that."
Who put you up to that?
-"I have to be honest, until the last moment I have not really wanted to do it. John Lim, manager of Invasion and Neolution E-Sport International, wrote a status update, where if Neolution E-Sport received 120,000 Facebook likes, I would be doing a Harlem Shake. Initially, I did not care much about that update, but then my friends from the magazine Compgamer have printed it. After I saw that, I agreed to do the Harlem Shake."
Before we get into any serious questions, tell us more about yourself growing up. When did you start playing games?
-"I grew up in a small town in Germany, next to Cologne. I think I joined the gaming scene by luck. We had a lot of gaming events in that area, as well as ESL’s headquarters there. I grew up in a very normal and boring way. This small town had its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to gaming. Firstly, there was nothing much to do other than being on the internet and play games. I started playing games on my 66 MHz computer and my first online game was StarCraft. The real disadvantage was the internet-speed, I was on 64K speed for a long time."
In any case, you are quite a big icon working behind the scenes in SEA Esports now. Tell us a little story on how you venture into Esports.
-"I was sitting in my office in Berlin and wanted to go to South East Asia, because I think there are a lot of chances in SEA. The high purchasing power, the high activity on Facebook and on all scene news pages, the consumers – behaviour and the love for games in general. There are a lot of Malaysians and Pinoys running the Dota scene in SEA.
Initially, I started out in Singapore, but I have always wanted to be based in Bangkok. I met my friend Satean, who is the guy behind Neolution Technology and we say in the office thinking and planning on what to do. I had a lot to learn quickly to make sure the things we do are worth doing. We agreed to work together at the end and the first thing we wanted to build was a team house. Who would have known that Neolution E-Sport is now a hardware producer, a gaming café franchise and a heavy sponsor for teams in Southeast Asia? That was our dream, we never thought we would achieve it."
-"Well there were many reasons, some were very unfortunate. The management of MYM was not bad but when the financial crisis came, investors just pulled out. I learned that we need to backup the company's income in many different ways. So when one leg gets shot, you have still another one carrying you. Besides that, I learned that purely living off partnership money is not a good way to be doing business."
What was your best memories in MYM?
-"I would say attending big events. I had a lot of nice memories with my old players and management, we had so much fun travelling the world and playing competitively against teams such as SK-Gaming, World Elite, Fnatic, and many more. The best events I would say were ESWC 2007, where the crowed went bananas at the Counter-Strike Games, but also PGL and WC3L in China. Those events had such a big live audience. It was a time when there was not much of Twitch or other streaming platforms. It was so nice to see all those happy faces in the crowd. Also I was honoured to be in the movie of our old Dutch friend and producer, which he shot about Madfrog, Grubby and Sky."
What did you do post MYM bankruptcy and why did you decide to return to Esports?
-"Well, at first I was angry and shocked but Micha from Freaks4U actually gave me a new opportunity relatively quickly, so it was not that big of a deal. I went to Berlin, Germany – and did ZOTAC Cup, CM Storm the Front, Razer StarCraft II Domination and many other tournaments. We had a great year in Berlin and I had a good time with my old colleagues Vash, Micha, and Knochen. We were quite successful, but my brain was flirting with the idea of a desk change, which I did."
How did you came up with the idea of Neolution? What was the hardest part of starting up an Esports company?
-"The hardest part is no doubt, getting income and we would not have been able to do anything without the help of my friend, Satean. He is a young, very business-oriented guy with a big heart for gaming. Therefore, I have to applaud and thank him for the huge opportunity he gave South East Asia and gaming in general.
As mentioned earlier, we wanted to support teams, and build a team-house. We did not end up doing that because it would support too little people, so gaming cafes with high-end machines are much more suitable to support a larger audience. Well, we do it like most other companies, we connect budget to sales. To open a market, you need a good pile of cash to get your product out there, but then after some time, we need to make sure that we at least cover the costs and in best case scenario also make a little bit of a profit."
Out of all the places in the world, why Thailand?
-"First of all, I am half Thai. I can speak the language and I see Thailand as a pretty developed country. If you look at Bangkok, you will not believe how far ahead we actually are. The lifestyle here in Bangkok suits me well. I love to live in a city which never sleeps. In Europe, the shops are mostly closed on Sundays but here, they never do.
Thailand is an interesting country. The people here are wonderful, the technology penetration is high, gaming is appreciated and in Thailand, the sky is the limit. When you grow up in Germany, you can only grow over generations. Your dad is a teacher, maybe you will become a professor or you sit in the same field as your parents. Here in Thailand? You can go to the top quickly, just like in America. In addition, Thai food is freaking amazing."
...Check out: IMAGE
We are just in love with gaming and the industry, so we are ready to suffer for a while more following our passion and giving the community what they deserve
Was it hard learning the Thai language? When did you start picking it up?
-"I never really spoke when I was growing up, my mother does still not like me being here too much. As a parent you want your kid to be in Singapore, safe and clean country. However, I am stubborn and wanted to make it here. When I go out, I just talked to the locals, taxi drivers, security guards and many more. Fortunately for me, Thai people would always correct me when I made a mistake. So it is not that hard, just the intonation of the language gave me headache. I also speak German and a little bit of French."
Neolution is quite successful now, owning the Neolution Stadium, and also producing some gaming gears for the fans. What do you think is the difference in business models compared to other companies that is making Neolution so successful?
-"We just do not want to live from partnership money, we still need it in order to finance teams, but we just went out there and created a model which is sustainable. Meaning, everything besides the team drives an income. We will not become rich by doing that and we never intend to, but when working full time for the gaming industry, we also have to focus on us getting a salary. First we try to pay everyone around us, and then we take a cut. At start that was not easy, now I can survive in Bangkok on a decent level."
Neolution is known for sponsoring many gaming teams all across South East Asia. Many think that sponsoring teams are just a tool for promotion and marketing. From your perspective, are there any more reasons as to why you sponsor teams?
-"We use sponsorships to promote our brand, but we also sponsor out of passion. We have teams from many different countries such as Malaysia, Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. We want to support the gaming scene and our sponsorships are very individual, we support gamers on their direct needs. For example, Neolution E-Sport International team members get to train together in Singapore, where they also get computers and hardwares supported by us. So we do not just go out there, throw a big pile of cash at people’s face and expect them to win. We try to be smart, invest wisely and then sit at home watching Twitch and hope to see good games. Hopefully one of our teams.
We are just in love with gaming and the industry, so we are ready to suffer for a while more following our passion and giving the community what they deserve."
How do you think the Dota 2 teams are doing recently. Who do you think is doing the best?
-"I think all the teams have stepped up their game and their professional behavior. The money from sponsoring them is doing them good. Of course I always cheer for my teams but my main interest is to watch nice and entertaining games.
In Asia, Neolution Orange is doing quite well. I love the raw talent from the Asian players. I have to say that Pinoy DotA is also insanely nice to watch. So, I am not sure who is the best or who will dominate but that doesn't matter much. I just want the community support all the teams out there, they really deserve it.
I do expect a lot from Pacific, TnC, Neolution International, Orange, MiTH. I could name more, but as previously mentioned, just show me some nice games and good strategies and I will be happy."
We understand that you are also working for TwitchTV currently. What do you do for them exactly and why do you work with Twitch? How do you juggle your time between the two jobs?
-"Yes, I do work for Twitch as well. I am taking care of the South East Asia region for Twitch. Along with my colleague, Sing Chi (dpm), we are trying to educate the industry on the benefits to stream games. I attended a lot of events to make sure their infrastructure is okay and our partners are equipped with what they need.
For me it is no problem to juggle between the jobs. I love Twitch and the teamwork is really really amazing. Guys like James Harding, who used to be my neighbour in Berlin for some time, Ben Goldhaber, Justin Wong and Ernest Le who I really respect. The team works so nicely together and have a mutual interest to support gaming, and I love it when a big CEO or COO of a company takes time to hear every employee out.
Every team and project I have worked on, have these amazing people, who either work actively or closely with the project. For example, I am also involved with SEA League. I got to work with Jaren Gan (DotaTalk), David Parker, David Gorman (BeyondTheSummit) and also John Lim, Andy Song (both Invasion), Herman Ng (Rapture Gaming Network) Ren Vitug and Vange Tan (Pacific eSports). These people are the ones who push you to your limits and make you work harder in order to give the community a better product."
...Check out: IMAGEWe are allowed to be fans of a gaming organization without being labelled Geek or NerdConsidering you have lived in both sides of the world, is the Esports scene in Europe or Asia bigger?
-"Of course we cannot compare that now, we play different games here. So it is a bit more complex. However, we are missing infrastructure here, like good pages writing news about what we do. Yet I see this region in the future to be one of the biggest on a global scale, because our teams can live on lower salaries than in Europe, and we here are passionate about our teams. We are allowed to be fans of a gaming organization without being labelled Geek or Nerd. Give the scene 1-2 more years."
Would you consider expanding Neolution over to Europe or perhaps North America?
-"At the moment we have enough to develop here in Asia, but we are never closing ourselves to all the opportunities out there. Maybe you can see us partnering up with big European organizations in the future."
Will I be able to visit a Neolution Stadium in Malaysia anytime soon?
-"You will see where we will open up in the future. I hope to have one in every major city on the globe, but before we achieve that, I might be gray and not able to pee by myself anymore."
So what’s next for you and Neolution?
-"We just keep on moving and support the industry while I try to take pictures with as many girls as possible. Jokes aside, we just want to do what we do best, support gaming, and connect the dots. I want to see everyone streaming, and take everything we do now to the next level level.
The project I would like everyone to watch out for is Sea League, I hope we can get it financed soon, so that we can all have a nice project together."
Thanks for the interview Matthias. Would you like to give a shoutout?
-"Normally you give a shoutout to your partners, right? I mean I am thankful for all those partners who we have now (ZOTAC, Neolution, XFX, NVIDIA, LG, Razer, GeIL), but I also have to thank those who have supported us all the way to what we are now. Shouting out to companies is lame, not sure if they would read it anyways, I have to bow down to all these busy bees who make gaming big, and all those smiling faces who are happy when watching games. If you ever have something to propose, you can always contact me or my team, we are open to everything you can imagine. Shoutout to all those who stream, I am watching a loooooooooot! To my boys from ELG 2TEAM and Compgamer, keep entertaining me, it is awesome to see you guys grow.
Thanks for the opportunity to speak on such a big community page. Gaming is pure < 3! If I forgot to mention anyone in my name listings, maybe it was no coincidence, but most likely.. it was."
