I've been with PC Gamer since 2011, and was the Deputy Editor of the UK magazine from 2013-2015. I was bitten by the Dota bug in 2012 and began a column about the game, Three Lane Highway, last year. I've always wanted PC Gamer to expand its competitive gaming coverage, and it's really exciting that we're finally getting to do it.
Twitter @cthursten
Twitch exitwarp
PC Gamer Pro is a new channel on PCGamer.com dedicated to esports and competitive gaming. We’ve covered this aspect of PC gaming for years, but always in an ad-hoc manner: a column or interview here, an event or giveaway there. Today, that changes. Competitive play now has its own wing of the site, its own full-time editor (hi!) and a plan to make our coverage better, more frequent, and more accessible than it has ever been. While you’ll find all PC Gamer Pro content on the front page of the site, you can also bookmark the channel at www.pcgamer.com/pro.
If you already follow competitive gaming, we’re here to offer you exciting, informative and funny articles about the games you care about. We don’t aspire to replace Reddit, LoL Esports, TeamLiquid or TempoStorm in your daily browsing habit: the esports community has always done an incredible job of providing itself with the material it needs. Instead, we see ourselves as a lighter alternative. We’re going to use our access, our experience in magazine journalism and our sense of humour to entertain you and make you excited to get home and play. We’re here to keep the combo going.
If you don’t follow competitive gaming or find the scene intimidating, we’re here to help. After all, I never expected to find myself in this position. Four years ago, I thought of esports as something that other people understood, but not me. If I hadn't been given the opportunity to cover the third Dota 2 International for PC Gamer, I might never have discovered this brilliant aspect of my hobby.
My dream for PC Gamer Pro is that it'll help other people to make the same discovery for themselves. We’re going to seek out the best, funniest, most exciting moments in professional gaming and present them to you in a way that helps you enjoy them. We're going to work to help you to achieve your own competitive ambitions, too, whether that's climbing the Hearthstone ladder or simply enjoying Dota 2 a little more. As the site grows, I want PC Gamer Pro to support the idea that esports are for absolutely everybody—and to work towards a future where that is inarguably the case.
You can expect new features from us every day of the week. Today’s slate of articles represents the seed of something that we’ll be nurturing for a long time to come—and that’s where you come in. If you think we could be doing something better, we want to hear from you. If there’s a game you’d like to read about that we’re not covering, let us know. If there’s anything we can do to make competitive gaming easier for you to understand or enjoy, we want to do it. You can leave your feedback in the comments or email us at pcgamerpro@pcgamer.com.
Right. I’m not going to take up any more of your time: you should be using it to check out our first Dota 2 Q&A featuring PyrionFlax, our massive preview of the League of Legends World Championships group stage, or our interview with North America's best Hearthstone player (he's 14!)—find it all on the homepage. Later in the week, look forward to an in-depth look at the past, present and future of professional StarCraft by Emily Gera; an exclusive look at how Riot design LoL champions by Shaun Prescott; Emily Richardson's ace beginner's guide to watching professional Counter-Strike, and more.
This is just the start. We're playing for the lategame.
GL HF!
Chris Thursten, Editor
A note on community
Comments on PC Gamer Pro articles will be expected to follow the same community guidelines as those anywhere else on the site (short version: ‘don’t be a dick’.) That said, there’s one particular rule that needs reiterating in the context of competitive gaming:
"Meh" is not a valid sentiment. If you don't care, don't reply.
We’ve created PC Gamer Pro for people who care about competitive gaming and for people who want to care about it. If you simply don’t like competitive games that’s fine, but we have a zero-tolerance policy for people who belittle the enthusiasm of others. Comments of this kind will be deleted.
