Back in November, we announced that ClanBase’s Managing Director,

Mads MadUSA Ehrhardt was interviewed by the

Belgian gaming magazine “Chief”. Today, we bring you the translation of this interview, for all of our users to read.
The interview below is a direct translation from the December issue of Chief magazine.

Welcome to the biggest clubhouse in the world

When the league website ClanBase was founded in the Netherlands at the end of the nineties, it was considered the first step in the direction of eSports for many European gamers.

Youd challenge a Polish clan, play a laggy slide-show-like game for twenty minutes or so, and youd return to the ClanBase website to report your match, and whine about how the internet was so slow.

Since then, ClanBase has merged with the American GGL (Global Gaming League), often linked to MTV, and has grown to one of the biggest gaming communities, with over one (now two ed.) million active users.

The cosy clubhouse feeling hasnt disappeared though.

We spoke to Mads Ehrhardt, Managing Director aka Big Chief of ClanBase and GGL in Europe!

Chief: What can gamers find at ClanBase?

MadUSA: Players gather and challenge each other. You see how other teams are doing, you participate in tournaments or continuous competitions (ladders ed.) and you can read about any news in regards to multiplayer games, including players and their results. Just like the sports section in a newspaper. Everyone can compete, but we also organise a prestigious OpenCup and EuroCup, where players can often win prizes in excess of 30.000, distributed across various games. ClanBase is completely free to use and a big team of volunteers ensures that the wheels keep turning.

Chief: Which games are the most popular?

MadUSA: Were currently supporting 67 different games and some are more popular than others. We have the biggest Call of Duty-community in Europe. Medal of Honor is also very popular, just like the Unreal Tournament and Counter-Strike series of course. Weve also got a solid footing in Quake due to our history with the game, seeing as ClanBase was founded in 1998 as a Quake II community. Each month, approximately 70.000 matches are played on ClanBase.

Chief: You have a financial background, how did you end up in eSports?

MadUSA: I used to work in investments. I ran the foreign sales team of a Danish bank in New York. Unlike many others, I ended up in eSports from a business perspective. At the end of the nineties, I realised there were many challenges in the world of eSports. I developed the concept Colliseum Games and sold it to a Danish ISP. They adapted it into what people now know as Boomtown, a chain of internet cafs with an online community. It still exists today. While studying the gaming communities you find out how gamers act and what they want. I learned a lot that way. I often got kicked from games because Id rather interview a player than actually play the game.

Chief: What does a regular day at the office look like for you?

MadUSA: I start my day by checking my e-mail. ClanBase is a part of the GGL, based in California. Thats a time difference of nine hours and while Im asleep, a lot of things happen. I then read our sites to keep track of whats happening, and then spend some time on the intranet with the rest of the ClanBase crew. ClanBase has 316 admins, volunteers who maintain the website, run the competitions, post news and read the forums. I make the guidelines, aid in the decision-making and evaluate the improvements or new features our crew proposes. Im 40 and the crew calls me The Old Guy, but their motivation is what keeps me young. I also meet with sponsors and advertisers. Around 6 oclock I arrive home and spend some time with my wife and two children. When the kids go to bed, which is around 9 oclock, I go online again, because thats when most of the gaming takes place. I also have to remain in constant contact with the management in the US and China. I work 12 to 14 hours a day and often during the weekends too. Working in the gaming industry means being available 24/7, but I love my job!

Chief: Event organisers often slip up, and very few gamers can actually make a living from gaming. How can eSports become more professional?

MadUSA: Thats a subject that is very close to my heart. I see the players themselves as the biggest problem. They have to act in a more professional manner, be presentable to the audience and clearly state their ideas and ideals in interviews. At the moment, you see them talking random crap with a coke bottle and a pizza on their lap far too often. The WCG (World Cyber Games) has done a lot to change that. Furthermore, advertisers are often afraid of the anonymity of the gaming community. They fear that their products will be slated (flamed ed.) and decide to sponsor other, non-gaming events. ClanBase can help in that aspect. We know the players, and we know how to communicate with them. More mainstream companies should get involved in gaming as well Coca Cola, Levis, banks, airlines, … Professional gamers need a wake-up call and embrace commercialism with open arms. That would lead to a revolution similar to the one that helped drag Xtreme Sports from the gutter in the nineties.

Chief: Recently, some unusual games have been popping up in competitions, like Tony Hawk titles and Guitar Hero. Will eSports keep its diversity in the future?

MadUSA: I see the games featured at events change quite often, but some franchises remain present throughout the years. You can never lose sight of the commercial aspect though. Developers and publishers mainly want new titles to be featured, so they can sell those. Valve still supports Counter-Strike, but theyre putting a lot of effort into converting players to Counter-Strike: Source. I must admit I like that trend. Players need to partly start over again, and that creates a window of opportunity for new stars to reach for the heavens.

Chief: Will eSports ever reach the status of other popular sports?

MadUSA: No doubt about it. Our generation grew up with computer games and its now become their main source of entertainment in many cases. A significant part of a persons budget is spent on gaming. People buy consoles, upgrade their computer and buy multiple games each month. eSports may never become as popular as football, but the TV ratings are slowly but surely decaying. The pc is the most important medium in a home for many people. If TV producers want to regain a connection with this demographic, theyll have to bring eSports into the picture. Gaming is a social event where both men and women, young and old, are involved. Theres still an older generation who believes gaming is just a bunch of nerds playing from their parents basement though.

Chief: Do you find time in your schedule to play some games yourself?

MadUSA: : I mainly play racing games and first-person shooters, but not at the same skill-level of the average ClanBase player, of course. At the moment Im hooked on Team Fortress 2 and I always pack my PSP when I travel. Call of Duty 4 and Unreal Tournament 3 are also looking promising. I just came back from the European launch of UT3 and it was fantastic.

If you can understand Dutch, you might prefer reading the article in it’s original form. For your leisure, we have scanned the two pages, and they can be found below:

Page One
Page Two

Bullet() Source:Chief MagazineBullet() Related:ClanBase’s MD interviewed in Chief MagazineChief Magazine interviews ESWC CEO Dallon

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