Competitive gaming and eSports has become increasingly popular in recent years and Ireland has a growing community. We chat to one group, who are leading the way, as we talk to Aaron from AsOne Production about their scheduled events and get their view of the Irish competitive scene.
Brian – Tell us about AsOne. How did it come about?
Aaron – AsOne is made up of Aaron Jackson and Brian Quigley. We’re an organization trying to push the quality of competitive gaming events in Ireland to a new level, as well as providing a place for communities to play together and grow. It’s a long road, but we’ve gotten quite a way along it! It came about when we, passionate fighting game players, decided we wanted to move on from running small scale tournaments and dream a bit bigger!
B – Competitive gaming and eSports are becoming huge, with the likes of sponsored events and televised competitions becoming the norm. Where do you see competitive gaming going in the future?
A – Ultimately, We can see competitive gaming being as large and respected as sports events. Before then though, it’s going to be a disruptive industry, showing up in new places and redefining viewing patterns for younger audiences. You’re going to hear a lot of people complaining about competitive gaming in the next few years- and that’s a good thing! You provide a platform for the competitive community.
B – How does Ireland compare in the large scale of that community?
A – There’s been a huge push for growth in Ireland in the last year or two- and we’re happy to say we’ve been a big part of that. International stars of eSports are starting to come here for the larger events, and we have visibility from some of the producers. We’re not scaring America, but we’re definitely moving up in the rankings. The quality and professionalism of our players increases year on year too. There’s been quite a few Irish sponsorships this year for regular attendees of our events!
B – You have held some big events, but you have the upcoming Celtic Throwdown 2017 on September 2nd. Tell us about the competition?
A – Celtic Throwdown is the jewel in our crown. A large scale competitive gaming event featuring over 15 tournaments in various games. We’re getting a lot of international travel from a lot of the very top tier in the fighting game scene- including Daigo “The Beast” Umehara- and we’ve put a lot of time and effort into production, so whether you fancy your chances at winning or want to watch top tier matches, CT has got it. This year, not only do we have pro tour events for Injustice, Street Fighter, Tekken and Guilty Gear, we also have pre launch builds for Marvel vs Capcom Infinite and Dragonball Fighters Z. Alongside out CS: GO finals, Celtic Throwdown is really evolving into a platform of competitive gaming in Ireland.
B – What do want to achieve with the Celtic Throwdown 2017?
A – Not to sound trite but what I’d love, personally, is that everyone leaves feeling “WOW that was great. Can’t wait for CT2018.” As someone who’s attended hundreds of gaming events, that’s when you know they’ve been good. We also want to grow CT every year to include more titles and more competitions. On a larger scale, I want Celtic Throwdown to become a household name- we’re already part of the European eSports circuit, but Ireland deserves the best!
B – The event will have ranking events for SFV and Injustice 2. How did these events come about?
A – Not many people realise, but Street Fighter is the first eSport, and fighting games the first real competitive genre, with regular tournaments happening as far back as 1991. The Capcom Pro Tour was born out of the SF25 celebration world series for the game’s 25thanniversary. It was such a huge success, they kept it going. Since then other games and publishers have supported the professionalisation of competition and the Tekken world tour and Injustice pro series are the start of that. These tournament series are one way the developers can give back: That’s why we have the Injustice World Series and Tekken World Tour too. AsOne works with these publishers and partners to bring the circuit to Ireland. Our plan is to look at doing this for multiple professional circuits and grow CT to be the sports platform in Ireland. From our perspective, we simply have to provide the best events possible to ensure every developer wants to work with us. It’s a circle, the attendees put their faith in us, we put on a good event, the developers reward the community with their pro series.
B – Do you work directly with Capcom/Warner Brothers and have they been helpful?
A – We certainly do, to the point where community managers are often at our large scale events. I really have to mention Bandai Namco and Nintendo at this point too- who’ve offered equally amazing support to us.
B – How has the build up been for Celtic Throwdown 2017? Has the interest been high?
A – It’s looking like it’s going to be the biggest Celtic Throwdown ever. We have 3 Evo champions in attendance- CT is going to be a stacked international event, and people know it! I’m getting excited thinking about it as an attendee and I’m running it! Tell us about AsOne going forward. Have you more big events planned for the future? We have GXI coming up in the RDS in November. We know there’s been lots of issues with large scale gaming conventions in Ireland, and loads of new cons showing up, but this one is AsOne working with Dublin Comic Con- and we all really know what we’re doing. You can check it out at www.gxi.ie. We are also planning a winter series of tournaments with AsOne and into the new year we have some exciting plans for new events.
B – Is there anything else you want to tell TheArcade.ie community?
A – I’m always meeting people who are fascinated by competitive gaming but let various things get in their way of attending, and I just want to say: if you’re interested, come out to play. You’ve nothing to lose, everything to gain, and it’s a community as well as a competition. The most important thing you’ll ever do for that community is simply be there. Where can we find more information about AsOne and your upcoming events?
www.celticthrowdown.com
www.gxi.ie
https://www.facebook.com/asoneproductions/
B – Thanks for your time and best of luck with Celtic Throwdown 2017!
Be sure to check out Celtic Throwdown on September 2th and the other upcoming events by AsOne Productions, in the coming months.