After having a chance to catch up with the bearded Hellbird, Mega8 decided to catch up with another bearded individual who has been in the eSports scene for quite some time. None other than Kyle “Congo” Wolmarans, a name many of you familiar with South African eSports will know.

Mega8: Hey Congo! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. Easy question first, how did you get involved in the local eSports scene?

Congo: I’ve been into online gaming since about 2006, it started with Dota 1 (the Warcraft Mod) and moved to games like Counter-Strike and Call of Duty 4. Once I got a better computer and internet I got a bit more serious and tried to compete. When that didn’t work out (roughly around 2012) I jumped at the opportunity to try my hand at commentating, since it was quite new at the time, and people seemed to enjoy my work so I never looked back.

I moved into journalism when I interned at MWEB GameZone for a year as it became part of my responsibilities and found that it’s a great way to drive my message and keep the general public involved and informed about the local eSports scene. Since then I’ve tried my utmost to aid the process of both recognition and understanding of eSports in South Africa.

M: How close do you think the SA scene is to competing on the global stage at a consistent and successful level?

C: This is always a tough one to answer. In short, I think we’re really close when looking at the progress our top teams have made in the past few years. Many people will look at those performances and say “yeah, we’re getting there,” but while the Bravados and the Energys are improving with each international performance, the underlying issue is development which is still lacking in my opinion. Grassroots development is the key to the big picture and succeeding in the long run. Our international counterparts have development locked down from a young age in schools, to universities, and so on.

The solution? More tournaments such as this one offering a new source of competition for not only the big teams (who aspire to compete internationally) but for the smaller teams who are up for a challenge and keen to win a few bucks in the process. It all evolves from here.

M: You’ve been very vocal about the fact that you feel that the local eSports scene needs more dedicated people & not just passionate part-timers. Do you think that will become a reality soon?

C: The biggest issue is that work is undervalued and in the long run the passionate individuals who are doing this work for free are actually damaging the industry for those of us who are willing to work, who are “qualified” to work, but are pushed aside because these companies can get people to work for free.

I think it already has become a reality and all it took was the right people at the top. Certain companies in South Africa are still cutting costs, which is understandable, but they’re cutting costs for talent which is never a good thing as some of these people are willing to sleep in their cars for a weekend just to be involved. That should not be happening. We’re seeing a need for more people who are qualified for this kind of work and I’ve told plenty of people to stop working for free and you can see that it’s working if you take a look at some other leagues and competitions in South Africa.

M: People often talk about the quality of games & pro players in the SA scene, but how do you feel the overall quality of shoutcasters are in the scene? Do you feel the importance of good shoutcasters is generally overlooked?

C: This answer is similar to above, and it comes down to passion versus pursuing it as a career. Personally, I think the quality of shoutcasters is improving, when looking at previous years, but it’s still just a bunch of passionate guys. I personally think we’re nowhere near as good as we can be, and there’s so much for us to do to improve but it seems like nobody is willing to put in the time. I often listen to other local shoutcasters and think to myself “Do these guys play the game? Have they ever watched another international shoutcaster?”

It sounds harsh, but it’s true. There is a wealth of information out there; videos, tutorials, written pieces, all explaining and teaching shoutcasting. The issue, as mentioned above, is a lot of these guys do it for the love of the game thus aren’t putting in the required hours to perfect their craft. This is slowly changing and it’s something we’ve brought up time and time again, so we’ll have a look back at the end of 2017 and I think we’ll be surprised at how much we’ve improved.

M: Are you feeling brave enough to make predictions on who you think the final 4 teams will be in Mega8’s upcoming Autumn Cup?

C: I’m going to have to go with Bravado, Energy, DC, WRG. I won’t say which order, yet, but I think those are arguably the top four teams in the country at the moment.

M: Anything else you want to add/say?

C: I’d just like to thank the Mega8 team for inviting me to be a part of this event. The first event of the year is always a big one for me as it sets the pace for what’s to come, and I think it’s going to be a great year for local eSports.

Also, big thanks to you as well, Glenn. Your recent interest in eSports has opened up a wealth of questions and topics other writers wouldn’t have touched with a ten-foot pole and these are important topics which need to be discussed!