KontrolFreek has relied on console eSports pros to help sell its controller peripherals for the past seven years. Now the company is investing in the next generation of pro gamers through a new Collegiate eSports Scholarship program. The company will distribute $20,000 across 10 recipients over the course of the 2016/17 academic year.
This program is the first of its kind, as it’s available to any player in the U.S. or Canada, at any school, competing on any game. KontrolFreek’s scholarship is not a prize that players can win in a tournament or a tuition grant given to players by the school. It’s a merit-based award available exclusively to competitors in the collegiate eSports space. In order to be considered, applicants must prove that they are members of a collegiate eSports team and plan to continue their education for another year. Other considerations include grade point average, extracurricular activities, awards and honors, and personal goals.
Ashish Mistry, president and CEO of KontrolFreek, discusses this new program and explains the company’s game plan for eSports in this exclusive interview.
What impact have you seen college scholarships offered by universities and developers like Riot and Blizzard have on eSports to date?
Organized collegiate gaming and associated scholarships are relatively new, so what we’re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of the scholarship programs are gaining a lot of attention, and there’s still a long way to go to create opportunities for players and brands. However, we are seeing some traction.
For instance, Heroes of the Dorm is a very well-known collegiate eSports competition because it is shown on ESPN. Broadcasting the competition on a mainstream sports network validates the industry and the competition itself, and also exposes the tournament to new audiences. Additionally, brands have a chance to sponsor and see real ROI from participation, because of these expanded audiences.
What were your goals in launching this eSports scholarship program?
Our main goal with the eSports scholarship program was to provide a truly merit-based and publisher-agnostic scholarship to student gamers. We saw that there wasn’t anything like it on the market, and the other scholarship offerings severely limited students’ chances at receiving financial support for gaming. To win a scholarship in a tournament, they have to beat out hundreds of other student gamers, and universities are only giving out scholarships for players of particular games, specifically League of Legends. We looked at existing programs and thought, “What about the DOTA 2 players? What about LoL players going to community colleges?” We saw a need, and we stepped up to fill it.
How does it differ from other scholarship options available through eSports?
Before our program, there were only two types of scholarships available: tournament prizes or university team grants. All of the competitions and scholarships available were game-specific. We wanted to create a scholarship that cast a broad net over gamers, so that virtually anyone playing college eSports could apply.
Our scholarship is purely based on merit, not off of how well you can beat other teams in one specific game or what university you go to. Students competitively gaming for any accredited university in North America are eligible to apply to our scholarship. This opens up the opportunity to a huge amount of students who previously couldn’t be recognized for their contributions to their school and to the industry.
What impact do you hope this program has on the greater eSports ecosystem?
We hope the KontolFreek scholarship draws more attention to the what’s happening en masse. It’s one thing for a game publisher to put up money for winners of a competition. But it says something about the opportunity and validity of the collegiate eSports industry that a brand is willing to award academic scholarships to any type of gamer.
We also know that the gaming industry tends to hire from within the gaming industry. Ex-pro gamers retire and work for gaming brands or publishers all the time. But the industry is growing almost faster than anyone can keep up. Our hope is to keep students active in the eSports space and focused on academics at the same time. It might open up doors for students to funnel into eSports businesses. Most of these players are sharp, smart and motivated. Those are the kinds of people we want to support, and those are the people we want with us in the trenches of the gaming industry.
How does investing money now in these players open up opportunities for your brand down the line?
Having spent the last seven years building authentic relationships with millions of gamers, KontrolFreek knows that providing gamers with opportunities and a voice can have a direct impact on our brand. And we hope this resonates with other large brands and pulls them into the sport.
Are you looking at this as a new annual investment or a one-off experiment?
We are committed to this program as part of our corporate giving strategy moving forward, and based on initial interest from applicants, we are also looking at options to expand internationally in the coming years.
How has KontrolFreek used eSports to market its brand over the years?
We’ve been involved in eSports since our inception in 2009, and have strong relationships with pro teams and individual players alike. The core of our involvement stems from our tournament-sanctioned performance gaming gear that truly helps gamers improve their results. Obviously, that’s been great for KontrolFreek from a marketing perspective, because top players use our products to compete and win.
What impact are the increased prize pools across games like Halo, Call of Duty, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat having on your business?
Increasing prize pools are a direct result of the greater awareness and attention that gaming communities are currently receiving. We know firsthand that the industry is growing, and that our budgets will increase as the opportunity increases. We also know our place in the gaming world, and intend to continue our partnerships with leading brands like Activision and Bungie to further grow these prize pools and opportunities.
What do you feel console eSports can learn from the much larger PC eSports community?
The console community can learn immensely from the groundwork and history in PC-centric eSports. While there are differences in how we compete, the “why” of competition is universal—and so too are many of the tactics required to scale. Specifically, I believe team and league structure are critical, as well as having a structured “farm system” and athlete management. I also firmly believe that the inclusion of large brands and their ability to effectively deploy marketing dollars at scale will be critical to a sustained eSports community.
