Gen.G's Jordan Sherman: With U.S. Fortnite Squad, Team Completes Bridge From Korea
byAndrew Hayward
Clash Royale, Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch
Samsung Galaxy, Seoul Dynasty
It's been a busy first year for the organization formerly known as KSV Esports. After launching in 2017 with home bases in Korea and Silicon Valley, the team quickly established the Overwatch League's Seoul Dynasty and then acquired last year's League of Legends world champion roster, then under the name Samsung Galaxy. This May, KSV rebranded to Gen.G (Generation Gaming) and then recently signed two-time NBA champion Chris Bosh as a player management advisor.
Gen.G isn't done making news. After a year of focusing exclusively on the Korean market, Gen.G announced today that it has signed its first U.S.-based team: a pair of Fortnite players, both women, who will lead the charge for a planned all-women squad. Gen.G will also establish a U.S. headquarters and training facility, and representatives have suggested that more U.S. teams will follow in time.
It's another bold step for a company that's already made several big splashes during its short life in this industry. According to Jordan Sherman, Gen.G's head of partnerships who joined this June following stints with the Los Angeles Clippers and Major League Baseball, the moves are key to their vision of establishing a "gold standard" of professionalism and excellence—and completing the bridge from Gen.G's initial push in Korea towards hopeful success in the U.S.
Credit: Seoul Dynasty
Building the Bridge
Competing first in Korea was a unique approach, given Gen.G's Western co-founders. CEO Kevin Chou and COO Kent Wakeford previously held the same respective roles at North American mobile gaming giant Kabam, before selling the company and deciding to take on a fresh challenge in esports.
[perfectpullquote align="right" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]The company's original name, KSV, stood for "Korea – Silicon Valley."[/perfectpullquote]
The company's original name, KSV, stood for "Korea – Silicon Valley," with the first part of that moniker signaling the organization's initial chosen front. After studying the Korean esports scene and seeing both the skill of the players and cultural acceptance of competitive gaming, Gen.G decided to try and build momentum there first, and then work on bringing it back West.
"Our original theory and philosophy was: If we can create a foothold in Korea with the best teams and best players, then we can create this bridge between East and West where eventually, fans in America can become fans of Korea," said Sherman.
"We saw an amazing opportunity to bridge the gap between the two," he continued. "We think it could be a new generation of esports entertainment throughout the world. When you think about being a global brand, just like all the traditional sports want to be, we think esports is best positioned to be that—because we compete on a global scale against teams and franchises from all over the world."
As Sherman suggested, Gen.G sees a future for esports in which an organization and its brand don't have to be tied to one region or continent. Gen.G already expanded outside Korea by establishing a Shanghai office and fielding a Chinese Clash Royale League team, but eventually entering the U.S. market has always been a goal once the organization found its footing out East. Now that expansion is underway.
"A bridge needs to have two sides to it. We feel really good about what we've done in Korea and the teams we have that represent Korea," he said. "Now we need to build the United States teams, and once those start going, then we can start talking about cross-pollination—where if you're a Gen.G fan, you're liking a mixture of Korean and American teams across our portfolio."
"A Different Take"
That North American push starts today with Gen.G's entry into Fortnite. Gen.G has signed Tina "TINARAES" Perez, who finished 4th in the Fortnite Fall Skirmish Week 3 tournament earlier this month, and partner Maddie "Maddiesuun" Mann as a duo. They will compete in this weekend's Fall Skirmish live tournament at TwitchCon, where they will represent Gen.G for the first time.
Credit: Gen.G
Sherman said that Gen.G studied the Fortnite scene all summer, but "wanted to have a different take on it." Their research suggested that 35-40% of all Fortnite players are female, making it an untapped market in the mostly male-dominated competitive scene. With Perez and Mann, Gen.G believes that it has found a duo that can compete at a high level with anyone, regardless of gender, while providing a unique narrative angle to hook fans and sponsors alike.
"We found duos partners that we thought could be the best in the world. We actively recruited them and we signed them, and we decided to make our whole Fortnite team a female-only Fortnite team," said Sherman. "It's about female empowerment, but it's also about this whole untapped part of gaming and storytelling that we don't think exists yet—which is that females are just as good as guys, and in some cases, better than them."
Furthermore, Gen.G has signed content creator Kristen "KittyPlays" Valnicek as the Head of New Gaming Initiatives, and she will support Sherman on a range of tasks, including recruitment and sponsorships. According to Gen.G's press release on the hiring, Valnicek's experience speaking to and empowering girl and women gamers via her "Team Kitty" Twitch streams makes her the perfect fit to help the organization usher in and support this Fortnite squad.
Sherman said that Gen.G believes in the talent of its new Fortnite competitors, but also sees the women-only approach as an opportunity to present an uncommon story along the way.
"We think that's something that fans can really get behind and root for. In terms of a content and distribution angle, we are thinking about bringing it to some different rights holders, whether network TV or large streaming services, and creating a docu-series around the team to talk about their play, the trials and tribulations, their story, and gameplay. We're also hoping to close a title sponsor who will be a naming rights sponsor for the team."
Gen.G also plans to establish a U.S. headquarters and training facility to support its teams, both for Fortnite and in future games to come, with further details to come later this year.
From its Korean esports experience, Gen.G has already taken away lessons on how to best put its players in a position to succeed, and help support them through the highs and lows of a professional gaming career.
"On the player side, I think we're learning a lot about the value of teamwork, coaching, and balance, and how team dynamics play into success in esports," said Sherman. "That's one of the major reasons why we're bringing in Chris Bosh as a player advisor, as he's been through the wringer of what it's like to be in the eyes of the media and the fans, and to be on championship teams and overcoming adversity. We thought it was really important to have an athlete who's been through that, who can talk to our athletes and help them and really relate."
[perfectpullquote align="left" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]Gen.G wants to develop ways to share its players' stories with the world.[/perfectpullquote]
Along with Gen.G's other teams, Bosh will help mentor the Fortnite players as they grow as professionals and adapt to this new, brighter spotlight on them. Additional high-profile advisors could possibly come in the future, although nothing is currently set. "I think it's really possible as we expand that we might, especially with a female team, want to bring in a female athlete too," said Sherman.
Credit: Riot Games/lolesports
Ultimately, whether based in Korea, China, or the United States, Gen.G wants to develop ways to share its players' stories with the world and help them elevate their respective brands. "Not only do we need to be in the best leagues with the best teams, but it's really on us to start telling the stories behind these players and their families, as well as the players' aspirations and their growth and training, and build up their brand," said Sherman.
"That is a part of esports that I think hasn't really been told enough. Everybody wants to do it, and we're trying to do it," he continued. "We have some great players with amazing stories that we think would be helpful to share. We think some of the esports players, in a short time, can be influencers just like you'd see in the NBA and in the NFL. We think shoe deals, apparel deals, and brand endorsements—all of that is coming to our players. We just need to put them in the best position to do it."
Although Gen.G is working to establish Western teams with Fortnite, the organization will also try to raise the profile and celebrity of its Korean athletes in Western markets. Sherman said that an English-based marketing campaign is one of Gen.G's upcoming initiatives to help introduce Korean players globally. Plus, the organization already tweets in both Korean and English to avoid having fans from either market feel left out.
"That's one of the challenges of being a global organization, is being able to communicate in multiple languages without anyone feeling like the content isn't for them," said Sherman.
But ultimately, Gen.G leadership believes that the shared experience of watching and following high-level competition transcends borders and languages alike, much like it does for the NBA, said Sherman—and that can help Gen.G appeal internationally, regardless of where each team competes. "We think that can happen in esports too," he said. "We just need to cultivate it."
Tags: FortniteGen.GLeague of LegendsOverwatch LeagueSeoul Dynastytwitchcon
Andrew Hayward
Andrew is a freelance journalist and editor who has covered the videogame and technology spaces since 2006, with an increasing focus on esports since 2016. In addition to his work on interviews, feature articles, and news stories for The Esports Observer, Andrew has covered esports for such publications as Rolling Stone, Vice, Variety, and Red Bull Esports. He is based out of Chicago.