ESFI World have interviewed John “alien” Clark, the tournament director for the National ESL. Launched in July of 2010, the new league is the Electronic Sports League’s first major venture into the North American competitive gaming world. Clark speaks on a number of topics, including the goals and expectations the ESL has set out for the North American branch, his working relationship with Trevor Schmidt (original founder of GotFrag), plans for entry into the competitive console space and more.

 

The National ESL is a major step for the organization towards expansion outside of Europe and into North America. As the tournament director, what are the goals or milestones that have been set for you and the league

ESL is a business and the bottom line is always numbers and revenue, but when I was asked to be a part of the National ESL, one of the reasons they liked my approach was that it was about the ‘base’ and building a community of e-sport minded gamers from the ground up. The heads of ESL had even made it clear that their approach with North American expansion was about the “from the bottom up” approach. The goals set forth are a mix of creating numbers and revenue along with building a true e-sports presence in North American through building a solid base.

 

Read the complete interview at ESFI World.