What esports fans often don’t realize is that a lot goes on behind the scenes of a professional esports team. Arrangements need to be made, flights need to be booked, and players need to be taken care of. Most of these tasks fall into the hands of the Team Manager. We spoke with Eric Khor who manages Fnatic Dota and asked him what it’s like being a Manager in one of the biggest esports organizations in the world.
1. Hi Eric, thanks for taking the time. People know you as Fnatic’s Dota 2 manager. Can you tell us a bit more about your job for those of us who don’t know what you do on a daily basis?
Basically my job is to handle everything outside of the game itself so that the players do not have to worry about anything and are able to fully focus on the game. Some of the daily work includes scheduling, media, travel arrangements, as well as housing situation and contracts.
2. How does your job change when there’s an event going on?
During an event, my work changes slightly because we will most often be in unfamiliar territory. In any case, I will have to make sure the players are still playing in comfort or at least try to make it as comfortable as possible for them. This can be achieved via hotel arrangements, flight selection and most importantly, food.
3. Esports Managers often have a background that is a mix of gaming and their education/professional experience. What personal background do you have that helps with your job at Fnatic?
Yes, I agree. Managers for esports tend to be the oldest person in the team because they would need a lot of life experience to handle ever changing things. Personally, I came from a casual player and esports writing background. While writing, I was exposed to what a manager should do in terms of player care and marketing. Regardless of which, when I first became a manager, I was still rather bad at it but it’s a learning process. I think that I am able to do quite a good job right now. I studied biotechnology at university and that has little to do with what I do now, unfortunately.
4. How did you end up at Fnatic?
I have been friends with Mushi and Ohaiyo since my writing days. They approached me in February last year to be their manager for the then unsponsored Team Malaysia, out of nowhere really. I got curious and didn’t think I could pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity. I took it and haven’t regretted it since.
5. What’s the favorite part of your job?
I guess the job is fun because I’m managing this bunch of guys, who are fortunately not troublemakers. Staying together with your close friends and having fun together is the best part about this job.
6. How do you like travelling the world for events?
I think travelling is fun for the first few months but it gets really tiring quickly. Especially them 20 hours plane ride to America. I have a really tough time adjusting to jetlag too, so it is especially bad for me. Usually when we go to tournaments, we would have close to no time to walk around and it is just training, tournament and more training. We hardly ever leave the hotel and venue haha.
7. Esports is growing and new elements are introduced rapidly, do you feel like your job has gotten more difficult over time?
Yes, definitely. There are more things to consider when I make a decision. Everything used to be so simple before, so black and white. Also knowing the inner working of a company will affect the decisions you make a lot.
8. Regardless of difficulty, the results were there at TI6, with the team finishing top 4. It must be a great feeling to see all the hard work of you and the players end in this kind of results. How did you experience The International from a manager’s Point of View?
Finishing 4th at TI was bitter sweet, I suppose. After a disastrous group stage, I was really glad that they managed to compose themselves heading into the main event. Really not an easy thing to do. Personally, I think that I was okay with a 4th place finish in the tournament but after going that far, it is still disappointing to know that you are so close yet so far. Still cried after we lost though haha.
9. Dj, 343 and MidOne expressed a desire to do something else moving forward. How do you handle such a request to find the best possible solution for the team and the players?
A day or two after our defeat, I had a personal talk with them about their future in the team. They expressed that they would like to leave and I don’t think there is a point forcing a player to stay when they don’t want to. So after that, I guess I started asking for rumours on which other players want to leave their teams as well and try to approach them. Giving a few hints here and there to see their expression. I think you can tell if they are keen or not from just that.
10. When players leave, the team has to go looking for replacements. How much of this process is in your hands and where does the Fnatic Pro Gaming department come in?
The decision to add who into the team mostly came down to the remaining players. I gave a few suggestions of my own and I will approach somebody if the players approve. Fnatic is taking quite a hands off approach when it comes to this, which is nice, and they will only come in to offer our potential player after they are confirmed.
11. Where do you usually start looking for new talent?
I think I will usually start looking for someone in an established team before moving to local talents and unproven players. People from established teams will tend to be more mature. It’s hard to find matured and unproven players
Thank you very much, Eric!
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