Simone “AKirA” Trimarchi, the pioneer of eSports in Italy and a “moderator” role between generations of the virtual world: “today I taught other parents what gaming is – and there is a long way to go”!
Yesterday – March 17, 2019 – the Milanese weekend dedicated to the advent of digital ended; national appointment followed by our eSportsActivity.com team
The “Parents Gaming Lab – The fascination of video games” was very important and full of ideas, an in-depth event aimed at parents and teachers on the potential and risks associated with the videogame medium, organized by Vodafone Italia and Esl Italia in order to create a bridge between the various generations.
A success of analysis and debates addressed by the various experts present, assisted by the participation of Simone “AKirA” Trimarchi, moderator of the event and considered the pioneer of eSports in Italy. Initially a player – among others – of Quake, Starcraft, Warcraft, Dawn of War with excellent results, he started writing in the main trade magazines and later became a caster, a professional videogame tournament commentator.
“Today I taught other parents what gaming is – and there is a long way to go”, with these words Simone describes the experience of the Parents Gaming Lab.
1 – Simone, the collaboration between Vodafone and ESL started last autumn, can we take stock of this experience?
I am not the right person to ask this question, I would say that the protagonists of the partnership would respond better, but from my point of view, however, it seems to me that already having brought the biggest sponsor ever involved in an export business since the birth of movement (20 years ago) to date is a good business card for such an activity.
2 – Can eSports represent the entertainment of the future, given the continuous expansion of the phenomenon?
I would say that for some I already am today. In my opinion, the future is not clear to anyone, not even to professionals: it is a liquid market, which changes constantly. The numbers are encouraging and everything seems to be going right. Will Italy be ready? This is already a different question that I would ask myself and that honestly finds me a little more doubtful. We need to understand that exports are a machine that is certainly well-oiled but complicated (and does not show any simplification). Becoming part of it requires a barrier to entry made of time, a lot of time, to understand how the game works and the show related to it. Not everyone seems interested in breaking it, this barrier. It should also be said that the video game market is giving the movement a powerful hand, or so it seems, given that the recent blockbusters (Fortnite and Apex Legends) are designed for competitive gaming.
3 – How do you see the Italian video game tournament market? What growth margins does it have?
I answered a little bit above. Right now the situation seems to me to have events in fantastic fairs and stand alone events organized very well but with which it seems difficult to aggregate so much public. The future, I repeat, is radiant and those who invest now in this sense will have plenty of room for growth. I still need more actors in the field of tournament organizers in my opinion: raising the bar for prize money, television production and community involvement is essential to achieve any result.
4 – What are the strengths of eSports? How to become a champion?
Wow, a 12-word question that perhaps would need 12 thousand for an answer. It is a difficult and complex journey that for me is independent of creating content on the web but rather, at least initially, it should be focused on the game and the training related to it. Start playing, see that you are good, play the first tournament and get noticed, join a professional team, improve more and more, go play abroad: these are the stages to become a pro. Result, unfortunately, not guaranteed.
5- What advice can you give to young people so that you do not overdo it in the game?
I honestly believe that balance and above all reasoning are fundamental goals. If you decide to invest your time, that is the most important resource in your hand, to achieve a goal, you must never lose sight of it. If you play to have fun then in the meantime you study or work to become a professional in another area. If you play to become a professional, then even 6-8 hours a day, then you have to give yourself a time limit within which you can be sure that you have reached your goal by looking in the path of seeing objective improvements towards this direction. If there are not, perhaps it also makes sense to stop and reflect and maybe change course. For example, I was a “professional” at university. Before a tournament I prepared myself maybe a month playing 8 hours a day. Then I returned to university and maybe there was an exam coming up: since my goal was to graduate then I would study 8 hours a day to reach him without playing for months maybe. As I do not see “exaggeration” in studying 8 hours a day before an exam I do not see it in playing 8 hours a day before an event. But if you only play to lose time, you have to realize it and soon, otherwise the future will slip away from your hands.
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