British Esports Association Chair Andy Payne is today’s guest on The Sporting Blog Podcast, and it’s a cracker

Andy Payne has been in the video game industry since the 1980s, and has seen this once niche world explode over the years into the gargantuan industry it is today. We sat down to discuss the world of gaming and esports from top to bottom.

On this week’s Podcast Andy and Oli talk about…

This might well be known as the ‘Oli Rant edition’ as we get onto some fairly emotive points, but as always it is very easy and great chatting to Andy. Amongst many other things we cover;

The gaming industry in the 80s and the rise of the home computer & coding at schools

The tipping points that changed the way we approached video games in the UK

The huge amount of innovation in the UK, including the invention of some of the worlds most popular games such as GTA and Red Dead Redemption

The rise of esports and the professional era

Why South Korea is ahead of the curve in esports, and why the UK is not investing enough in infrastructure (Rant 1 from Oli)

Data gathering in esports and how it protects against third party actions that have affected other sports

Comparisons with football (Rant 2 from Oli)

We could have probably talked for hours as we covered so many super interesting topics, and esports is still in its infancy, as is the gaming industry when compared to other forms of entertainment. But it’s only going to get bigger, which means there will always be something to talk about!

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