What did your family or friends think about you becoming a pro? I was one of the first guys to really break out in these sports. It launched my career making products for gamers, pushing the esports. I was training, travelling the world playing video games, winning on the biggest stages. New friends and people that had the same dream that I had. So I wanted to put all my effort, energy, training, diet to one goal and be the best gamer in the world. I was good at everything but never the best. I felt I never got the chance to dedicate all my energy to one thing. But a part of me deep down wanted to see if I was talented enough to play with the best players in the world. Playing sports every day, hanging out with my friends and my girlfriend. I think I ended up making over 110,000 dollars my first year as a professional gamer.Īre there things you think you missed out on? As an 18-year-old kid I lived a very full life. I had prize money coming in, all my travel and food expenses were paid for. So I ended up leaving school and focusing 100 percent on gaming. I basically found a way to make money playing video games very quickly. ![]() I’d always try to learn what I did wrong and use it to my advantage so I wouldn’t make that same mistake again.ĭid you still go to school while practising and travelling to tournaments? I’d just graduated from high school and I was going to college part-time. Whenever I lost, I would throw away my shoes, my shirt, my pants. After that, I was on a mission and went on to win almost every tournament I entered that year. I should have waited my spawn out, but I don't think it was in my playbook yet. I was the dark horse and everyone knew to watch out for Fatal1ty. One of my demos got very popular before the tournament. What do you remember from your first pro tournament? We had all seen demos of each other playing. Oh, you're Devour and you're Culprit? Dude, I play with you all the time!» It was so much fun. So every time we met each other it was like: «Oh you're Fatal1ty. Hanging around with my friends, getting to meet everyone for the first time because no one knew what the others looked like. At the same time, it was like a massive LAN party. In 1999, 25-thousand-dollar prize money was a different deal. Before that it was just small prizes, internet subscriptions and such. So I consider this the moment I went pro, because I actually won money. They were flying in from all around the world. But I think everyone agreed that all the best players were there. It’s hard to tell what was pro back then. Then I entered the big pro tournament Frag 3 in 1999. I started playing tournaments at 11 or 12 years old and won every tournament I entered for about three years. How did you become the first pro gamer? Johnathan Fatal1ty Wendel: «Quake 1» was my first contact with first-person shooters. ![]() In an interview via Google Meet, Johnathan Wendel, which is his real name, looks back on his career, talks about how he predicted the Battle Royale genre and explains why he wants arena shooters to return. His gaming tournament days are also a thing of the past – with a few exceptions that is. The game is called «Quake III Arena», the tournament is Frag 3 and the year is 1999.įast forward more than 20 years, and it’s rare for Fatal1ty to play «Quake III Arena». Although he «only» takes third place in this tournament, it will be the start of his career as a professional gamer. The camera follows the player called Fatal1ty. When one hits the other with a futuristic weapon, all that remains is a squishy red pile of polygons. The movements of the two players are so fast that watching them makes you dizzy. ![]() A huge pentagram adorns the floor in the middle of the level. Two players chase each other through a futuristic yet medieval-looking fortress.
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