Marc Berthold – World eSport – The (e)Social Network

05 December 2016

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Marc Berthold, World eSport

Bored of Linkedin? You’re not alone. As both the wider gaming industry, and esports specifically, grows there remains a void between potential employees and the companies seeking talent. Aiming to fill this space is Marc Berthold and Alexandra Merz with World eSport, a new social network that Marc describes as a ‘combination of Facebook and Linkedin’. 

It’s a social and professional network focused on both the gaming and esports industries, with, for instance, individuals able to embed their stream into their profiles.

Riot Games was recently named company of the year by Inc., and with Blizzard and Super Evil Megacorp having made major announcements in the past month regarding plans to push on with new league formats in 2017, the immediate future for the industry is bright.

We asked Marc, a former pro gamer, some questions about the plans for World eSport.

Esports Insider: You’re building a social network dedicated to the esports and wider gaming industries? Why is it needed? You’ve described World eSport as ‘a combination of Facebook and Linkedin’…

Marc: Absolutely, World eSport is the professional social network dedicated to the esports and gaming industries.

Casual, semi-pro or pro gamers, teams, associations or companies, we want to become an esports hub for all the actors in the market. Just like on Facebook, you have the possibility to share news on your timeline, and to post pictures and more. And just like on LinkedIn, you can create your profile and display your esports resume.

We felt that a platform like World eSport was missing. As a gamer, you had no real possibility to share with everyone the teams you play and played for, the LANs and competitions you attend and have attended or the results you achieved. We believed that gamers needed this platform on which they can share everything about their passion (and feedback has proven us right).

As a gamer, it’s also quite complicated to find and join a gaming team when you don’t know where to look, amd when you don’t have contacts. With World eSport, you now have the possibility to grow your esports network, connect with people from the industry and find the team that fits your needs.

As a team, the problem was always to find new talented players, and not be limited to the same old pool. With 100 million monthly players on League of Legends for example, there is clearly a lot of talent. But without a dedicated platform, there is no easy way to find and connect with them. For the teams, this is where World eSport comes in. 

“Companies have an issue finding employees with the right skill-set, who have the knowledge and experience in the gaming and esports industries”

Esports Insider: What specific features will it have to cater to those working, and wanting to work, in these industries?

Marc: We hear more and more people wanting to work in both the gaming and esports industries. But without any contacts or a convenient place to find them, it’s really tough to get a job or even internship. Companies are understandably reluctant to offer a position based simply on the fact that you love gaming. But at the same time, companies have an issue finding employees with the right skill-set, who have the knowledge and experience in the gaming and esports industries.

By providing a platform offering all the different services (company page, job listing, player statistics and skills etc.) in one place, we believe that we will help both the employees and the companies find each other. Especially when the companies are able to review at-a-glance the esports focused resumes of the applicants.

Esports Insider: What is your own personal and professional background in esports, and the core team involved?

Marc: I was a pro gamer for more than 10 years in the Call of Duty series (PC). I’ve played for some of the best French and European teams and traveled Europe to take part in competitions. I have been lucky enough to be the French champion, the European champion and the World champion (as winner of the ESWC). Esports has therefore been anchored in me for a long, long time and I’ve had the opportunity to live my passion.

Alexandra (the other co-founder) is focused on the casual side of the project. While I see everything from the more competitive side, she is there to add her input to satisfy the casual gamers, which are for us as important as the competitive gamers. Amongst other genres, she really enjoys playing fighting games, but also and more importantly FIFA!

As for the rest of our team, we believe it is important that we all have this gaming and esports mindset. This is why both our designers and developers are also from this world. They both play in teams and attend offline competitions.

“If we feel that our users are willing to attend networking esports events, it will definitely be an option”

Esports Insider: Will you be putting on in-person meet up and networking events?

Marc: We are currently putting our efforts in developing the additional features we want our users to enjoy on World eSport. Our priority is to make the online platform the best place to visit for every esports enthusiast. However, we will of course expand and offer additional services for people to enjoy esports and to make it more professional. If we feel that our users are willing to attend networking esports events, it will definitely be an option.

Esports has brought so much to every member of our team, we will be doing everything we can to give back to the industry and to help the young players enjoy their passion as much as possible. We want them to be able to play and be entertained, while having the opportunity to use this experience and use it professionally.