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New Global Head of TFT Esports Bryce "esportslaw" Blum (Full Interview) — Transcript

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0:00If you guys missed the news,
0:02Bryce is the new global head of TFT
0:06Esports. TFT is saved
0:10TFK
0:122026. And she's right. I'm back, baby.
0:15As of last week, I'm the new global head
0:18of TFD Esports at Riot Games. Words
0:22can't properly express how excited I am
0:23to return this game and community I love
0:25so much with the opportunity to make
0:26things even bigger and better. If you
0:28guys don't know who Bryce is, this guy
0:29used to be my co-host for Don't Talk If
0:32You Don't Know. When I commentated at
0:33TFT, he was my co-host as well. He was
0:37the man. Uh he's also founder of ESG
0:41Law. ESG Law represents all of the top
0:44orgs in gaming and esports. You're
0:46talking about TSM when they were
0:48relevant. Uh 100 Thieves, Cloud9, Team
0:51Liquid, uh they rep a bunch of EU
0:53organization. Uh he was the guy that
0:56actually stood opposite of Riot,
0:59opposite of the players, right? Because
1:01he represents because someone has to
1:02represent Steve, you know, when and and
1:04Nate shots back when he car cared about
1:06esports. I mean, he's probably still
1:07does, but he's got bigger prior these
1:09days, but you know, back in the day,
1:11Bryce was the guy who was helping them
1:14get started. So, he's been at the at the
1:16very ground floor, ground zero of gaming
1:19and esports since about 2013, 2012. He's
1:23also a hardcore gamer. He's climbed to
1:25challenger at TFT. He almost got rank
1:27one. He's competed at qualifiers at TFT.
1:30And of course, like I said, he was part
1:32he's a personality that helped make the
1:33podcast of Don't Talk If You Don't Know.
1:35I was actually watching some of the the
1:38podcast episodes we did. Uh the last
1:40episode we did was the one of Jedisaur.
1:41You might remember me and Bryce
1:42reuniting to talk about the pause
1:44incident with Jedosaur. And this is us
1:46catching up about life. This is also why
1:48he stepped away because he had three
1:50kids under three years old. They're
1:52adorable. His family's awesome. And he
1:53had work life responsibilities. And TFT
1:55was also starting to take a direction
1:57that I think ultimately Bryce was saying
1:59like, you know what, I'll just come back
2:00in some years. Bryce is not only one of
2:04the sharpest minds, he's been around for
2:05a long time. He's he's been part of
2:07advisory groups, founding fathers of a
2:10lot of different things. He was he was
2:11there at the beginning of TFT. He's also
2:13one of the best hypemen that TFT has
2:15ever seen. Okay, with that being said,
2:17with that being said, let's go ahead and
2:18call Bryce. So, uh, hopefully that was a
2:22good break. I think ads are over. So, we
2:24have Bryce here on call with us. Bryce,
2:26welcome back to TFD. Let me be the first
2:28to say it. We missed you, buddy. Uh,
2:31your time away was for what, a couple
2:33years now. When was the last time you
2:34were involved in TFTing?
2:36>> Yeah, it's been almost two years since I
2:38retired. I didn't go back and look at
2:39like when I officially I think it's like
2:4118 months to 20 monthsish.
2:43>> Okay. 18 to 20 months. So back then, I
2:47think it was set tw 11. You said 11 was
2:50ending. And you I remember you had done
2:52some like light work and prep for the
2:55set 11 regionals, but I knew that life
2:57was really busy. Part of it because you
2:58had your your family had twins. You went
3:01from one to three kids. Work was picking
3:03up, right? You were still trying to do
3:04everything at your law uh your law
3:07practice. And on top of the other things
3:09you do, right? You've done Can you Can
3:10you give for people who never met you,
3:12can you give a brief background your
3:13pitch on your involvement gaming esports
3:16and TFT over the past what 15 years or
3:18so since you've been involved?
3:20>> Yeah, for sure. So, it's I mean they're
3:22they're parallel tracks, right? I mean,
3:24I had my career in esports and then TFT
3:27was my passion and hobby for six years
3:29or whatever from basically the inception
3:31of the game until when I retired. So, on
3:34the career side, I was the first ever
3:37esports attorney. Um, for people who
3:39were OG League of Legends, you might
3:41remember me from making a bunch of
3:42Reddit posts on uh like our League of
3:45Legends or if you were into other
3:46esports, like I was all over like
3:48everything from Counter-Strike to Call
3:50of Duty to Dota, you name it. Uh talking
3:52about all sorts of uh different legal
3:54problems in the space. I the the esports
3:58player contract uh that is used by tens
4:00of thousands of players worldwide is uh
4:03something that I wrote from scratch like
4:06way back in the day. Uh I did I I in the
4:09very beginning I had clients on both the
4:11team side and player side. So I like
4:13interviewed a bunch of players and a
4:14bunch of team owners and just said hey
4:15don't even worry about the law. Just you
4:17tell me how you think this should work.
4:19Like what is the relationship between a
4:21player and its esports team? And then I
4:23wrote something that at the time was
4:25like 15 20 pages and it's now 40 pages.
4:28Uh and it's used it's so it's so
4:30detailed and it's really purpose-built.
4:32People take this for granted but you
4:34know esports this is a random aside but
4:35like in professional sports everything's
4:37collectively bargained. So most of the
4:39legal ease is covered in this giant
4:41agreement and everyone's on the same
4:42thing. In esports they're not or at
4:45least they haven't been to date. And so
4:47everything has to be figured out
4:48contractually. So when you know creating
4:50concepts like restricted free agency or
4:53you know trade approvals or all this
4:54different type of stuff we just had to
4:56make it all up. So yeah I was the guy
4:57that made all that up and then you know
4:59launched a bunch of franchise leagues or
5:01the you know the publishers did and I
5:03was the guy that negotiated all the
5:04teams negotiate on behalf of all the
5:06teams on the other side and you know all
5:07these big brands started pouring into
5:09esports and I was the guy that did the
5:11deals with Chipotle and McLaren and Dr.
5:13Pepper and Coinbase and I mean you name
5:16it all the different folks. Yeah.
5:18actually well that was also consulting
5:19work too. Uh there was like a whole I
5:21had a I had my law practice and then I
5:23also built and sold a couple consulting
5:25businesses along the way. So for my
5:28consulting businesses all of my clients
5:30were non-endemics. So it was anyone from
5:33the world of traditional sports media
5:35entertainment who wanted to take
5:37whatever it was that they did and come
5:39into esports. So it was a lot of
5:41billionaires, a lot of sports team
5:42owners basically that wanted to buy a
5:44team, build a team, invest in some other
5:46businesses, um media companies, other
5:49investment vehicles, big brands like
5:51McLaren was a consulting uh consulting
5:53gig for a couple of years. Um so just
5:56anyone kind of from outside the world of
5:58esports that wanted to enter and
6:00navigate the space successfully was a
6:01prospective client. So yeah, so I did
6:03all that stuff and it was great. I mean,
6:05I I loved the first chapter of my
6:06career. It was so much fun and I feel
6:09like I was the guy. There's a lot of
6:10people who were deeper in a particular
6:12aspect of esports than me, but I don't
6:14think anyone matched my breadth. I
6:16worked on every major esport. I worked
6:18on them primarily in the west, but
6:20globally on some level as well like
6:22definitely some of my business touched
6:24Asia. Um, and yeah, I did it I did it as
6:28a lawyer. I did as a consultant and it
6:30was really fun to be an adviser. Um, but
6:33now it's going to be cool to build
6:34stuff. And then for TFT journey,
6:36I well, it was actually you Dan. Dan was
6:39the start of my TFT journey in a lot of
6:41ways. I like started playing I started
6:43playing TFT uh at the World Series of
6:45Poker the year that that that TFT came
6:47out with a bunch of poker pros and
6:49immediately fell in love with the game
6:51and started grinding. And then the TFT
6:55TwitchCon tournament got announced and I
6:57was friends with Dan's wife Taylor and I
7:00uh reached out to her I think and she's
7:02like, "Yeah, just message Dan and see if
7:04you can get a spot in the open bracket."
7:06Um that I remember do you remember the
7:08exact form of that, Dan? It was 32
7:10players. I can't remember how many were
7:11invited. Was it like 24 invited?
7:14>> There there were some people who were
7:15invited, but there was also an open
7:17portion of TwitchCon. And it was funny
7:19because part of the people who were
7:20invited were a lot of famous streamers
7:22at the time. It was like
7:23>> Tides of Time, Dog Dog, uh, Hau,
7:26Disguise Toast, right? People who played
7:28strategy games. I think was St. Vicious
7:31invited as well back then.
7:32>> Yeah, he was, I think. Yeah.
7:33>> And and then, uh, and then at the time,
7:35no one really knew who he was. He was a
7:37100 streamer Andy back then, but he was
7:40an upand cominging player, formerly
7:42retired from League of Legends. Name was
7:43K3 Soju. He was playing at TwitchCon. He
7:46was streaming to less than 100 viewers
7:47at that time.
7:48>> And it was really funny cuz that was uh
7:50when we all met. I met Soju for the
7:52first time there. Bryce was competing.
7:53This was back in the day, the origins of
7:54Soju. All right. So, continue.
7:56>> It was.
7:56>> No. No. So, anyway, that the format was
7:58basically all invited players. So, the
8:00open bracket was a little bit of a
8:01fool's errand, but somehow someway I was
8:04uh blessed by the TFT gods and made it
8:07through the open bracket and into the
8:09finals, which was three games, 32
8:13players, only the top eight advanced.
8:14So, it was a pretty aggressive cut. And
8:16I was actually tied for eighth after two
8:18games. And for anyone who's a set one
8:20enjoyer, I played Imperial and went
8:23level eight with infinite gold and I
8:25could not find my five cost. Uh which
8:28is, you know, a tale as old as TFT time,
8:30I guess, since this is the very
8:32beginning. Yeah. So I so I so I bombed
8:34out that game, never never got fully
8:36online. Um but it was but I was totally
8:39hooked. I mean I was completely in love
8:40with TFT after that and then just kind
8:42of kept going. I played I I made
8:44Challenger for the first time in set
8:45two. I think I made challenger every set
8:47from two through 10 and competed a lot.
8:50Eventually, I didn't really have like co
8:52ended and I didn't have the time to play
8:53and compete. And so that's when uh Dan
8:56was like casting with a couple other
8:57people and we were becoming better
8:58friends and uh he said basically was
9:00like look you can say words well and you
9:04know TFT if you want I'll teach you how
9:06to cast. And I said yeah that sounds
9:08lit. Let's do that. So then he taught me
9:09how to cast and we launched our podcast
9:12and the power rankings and the rest was
9:14history. Um yeah, so anyway, being back
9:18here in a lot of ways just it feels like
9:20coming home. I I don't know how else to
9:22say it. I'm just so my heart is so full
9:24right now. I'm so so happy and the
9:26outpouring of love even though the
9:27announcement's only been live for like
9:28two hours has just been kind of
9:30overwhelming. So I'm so so happy to be
9:32here chat. I I missed you dearly and I'm
9:35really really excited to talk about all
9:37the cool stuff that we can do for the
9:38future of TFT.
9:40>> Yeah, that's right. So, uh you mentioned
9:43in your tweet, I pulled it up here.
9:45You're back. Uh and not only you back,
9:48you back you took this job and I I just
9:50want to peel back to Kin a little bit.
9:52Bryce could have stayed at his job. Um
9:55and he is like by all means he's like a
9:57founder and you you talk about like all
9:59the different things he could do. This
10:01would this is effectively I'm speaking
10:02for Bryce. This is effectively taking a
10:04smaller role uh and like kind of a
10:07downgrade to what he could be doing at
10:09other companies, but he took this job
10:11because in his words, I believe in the
10:13future of TFT. Uh and I mean, you also
10:16acknowledge that right now, especially
10:17because after 18.4, a couple of many
10:21things actually have been kind of going
10:22wrong with TFT's launch at 18. But you
10:24told me that you're really optimistic
10:26about TFT and you also said TFT is the
10:27best strategy game ever made. That was a
10:29conversation for my chat for this
10:31morning. [laughter]
10:32uh doubling down and you say our best
10:34days are undoubtedly ahead of us. Then
10:37you kind of talk a little bit about I'm
10:38just going to read your entire thread if
10:39you don't mind.
10:40>> Sure. Yeah.
10:41>> Bryce says, "I I want to hear from you.
10:42I already met with a bunch of community
10:43members throughout the world to hear
10:44their feedback. I'm eager to cover as
10:46much ground as I can. If you're a pro,
10:48streamer, organizer, etc. Please reach
10:50out. What about a chatter, Bryce? If
10:52they're a chatter, do you want to hear
10:53from them as well?"
10:54>> Yeah, I mean, I guess you can, but I
10:55will say that you're going to probably
10:57fall on the bottom of my list if you're
10:58a chatter. And my list is already
11:00insanely long. Sorry live for two hours.
11:04>> Okay. Okay. Appreciate the honesty.
11:06>> I I'm [clears throat] interested in
11:07questions, right? Like we're going to do
11:08a whole Q&A. If chat wants to if chat
11:10has topics they want to cover, let's
11:12cover it in this context. I still want
11:14to create a world in which everyone
11:15thinks they could reach out to me on
11:16Discord and get an hour of my time cuz I
11:17pro I probably can't swing that.
11:19>> Okay. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. Uh
11:21Bryce says, "I'm eager to incentivize
11:24TPC players to stay invested." This is
11:25your goals. One, want to incentivize TF
11:28players stay invested. Two, create more
11:29opportunities in tier 2. Three, invest
11:31in co- streams. Yay. Four, make the
11:33compete TFT site epic or or you know,
11:36functional would be a good start. Uh,
11:38and then I'm going to take me it's going
11:39to take me a beat to implement changes,
11:41but I'll be grinding to make it happen
11:42for you all ASAP. Stay tuned. Last but
11:45not least, huge shout out to Riyot
11:47Sherman. He's been an incredible
11:48advocate for and steward of T esports
11:50for the past four years. We wouldn't be
11:51here where we are without him today.
11:54Everyone in the scene, please give him
11:55some love. So, this is your speech. Uh,
11:58and the first thing that I want to go
11:59to, Bryce, is your goals. So, what do
12:02you see currently as the landscape of
12:05TFT esports? And why are these things
12:08specifically your goals? I mean, I have
12:10my own understanding of where TF is as
12:12well, but I want to hear it straight
12:13from the horse's mouth.
12:14>> God, [snorts] how do I even begin
12:16answering that question? I like uh
12:18actually, can would you mind repeating
12:20that question? I was trying to respond
12:22Meeks really fast. Ka, can you give me
12:24my uh Discord or something? Uh, yeah.
12:26Sorry. Fire away. Okay. Okay. Cool. So,
12:28>> I'm I'm locked in. I'm locked in.
12:30>> Where do you think TF Esports is
12:31currently? And uh what are things are
12:33you happy with and what are things you
12:35are unhappy with? We'll just start with
12:36that.
12:37>> Okay. Okay. Uh big big question to start
12:40with. Okay. So, where do I think it is
12:41currently? I the way I think about it is
12:43we have created like V1 stable state of
12:47TFT esports. And actually, I want to
12:49start by just giving a lot of love to
12:50Sherm. I know I did that in the last
12:52tweet, but I just I I would be remiss if
12:54we didn't start there. This is a guy
12:56that was not a big TFT person, but he's
13:00someone that has been at Riot for a
13:02really long time and he has created a
13:05lot of great things at Riot from
13:07scratch. Like when something doesn't
13:08exist at Riot Esports, he's a guy that
13:12you want to start with, right? He he was
13:14the person that built their entire
13:15collegiate program from scratch, for
13:17example, like that was the starting
13:18point. And I think what he did for TFT
13:21was so meaningful. He he legitimized it
13:23internally at Riot. He created this
13:26giant overarching spectacle in the open.
13:29That's this amazing celebration of TFT
13:32annually. He dreamed so big and he was
13:35wellconed enough and knew enough about
13:38how to get stuff done at Riot that he
13:39was able to bring this really big dream
13:41to life. you know, he oversaw the
13:43creation of the TPC, the the changing of
13:47the formats to break us up into four
13:50core regions, the uni like the
13:52universalization of competitive format
13:55across region so it's much easier to
13:56follow and understand. He's just done so
13:58much, man. Um, so I'm just so grateful
14:01to be inheriting this thing that he has
14:03shepherded along. So, I think that where
14:05TFT is at right now is in a very good
14:08stable place. And I'm the guy that then
14:10gets to come in and dream just a little
14:12bit bigger and think about how we get to
14:15uh solve some of what I perceive to be
14:17the core challenges. And we can
14:18definitely talk about that. And I and I
14:19I signal that in my tweet, right? It's
14:22uh these are not all of the things that
14:24I will be diving into, but they are some
14:27of the things that are top of mind for
14:29me that I that I think require um you
14:32know, additional investment from Riot
14:34from this role. Um and so we can
14:37definitely, you know, each of those are
14:38individual topics that we could get into
14:40about like I really want to live in a
14:42world in which TPC, which has done a
14:44great job for creating stability for
14:46tier 1. I want to make it the next
14:49version of that that maybe links tier
14:50one and tier two more. That creates more
14:53opportunity for tier pro players, tier
14:55two players to engage throughout the set
14:57that uh you know matches these people
14:59off against each other more directly.
15:01That incentivizes the tier one players
15:04to stay engaged, right? To be to be
15:06grinding this game that they love, to be
15:08creating content because that's so
15:09important for the health of the game and
15:11the esport. Um, I I know that Compete
15:14TFT is uh it's a good starting point.
15:17It's a place where now everyone knows
15:19they can they can come and and
15:21understand what's going on in TFT
15:22esports. But I have some really cool
15:25ideas about what that could wind up
15:26looking like in the future. So I the way
15:29I think about it is like he gave me V1
15:31and now I get to go create V2.
15:34>> Okay, great. So let's just start with
15:37each of the things that you talk about
15:38then. How about that? Uh so you can
15:40elaborate a little bit more. So when you
15:42say I'm eager to incentivize TB play TBC
15:45players to stay invested uh what does
15:48that exactly mean in your mind?
15:50>> Yeah and actually before I answer that
15:52question I want to do a framing thing
15:53which is I'm in a mode of drinking from
15:56a fire hose of information. I'm getting
15:58a ton of additional context from inside
16:00Riot that I never had before. uh you
16:02know all the data around engagement and
16:04esports and what's working in which
16:06regions and what's not and which
16:08countries are you know growing and which
16:10are not and all that different stuff and
16:12not to mention talking to all these
16:13internal stakeholders right like Riot is
16:15such a big company and so there are
16:17there's a lot of specialization so
16:18there's a lot of people who have a lot
16:20of information they can provide to me
16:21about a number of different aspects of
16:23TFT and TFT esports and simultaneously I
16:26want to do the exact same thing
16:27externally so I reached out to a bunch
16:29of people that I already know and trust
16:32um that I could basically trust to keep
16:33my existence in this role secret
16:35[laughter] since I started it last week,
16:37but we weren't going to announce it till
16:38this week. And I've got more meetings
16:40scheduled um with other folks. I'm going
16:43to go on some of the big co-streams like
16:44I I I haven't formalized all this yet,
16:46but I'm intending to go on a bunch of
16:48the uh EU language co-streams like
16:50Germany and France and Spain, etc. to
16:53try to talk to their communities and get
16:54their feedback. So, I'm I want to
16:56download as much perspective as I
16:58possibly can before I start proposing
17:00solutions. So on this podcast, I'm happy
17:02to talk about what I perceive to be
17:04current problem statements, things I
17:05want to address, which is your question.
17:07And I'm also happy to think out loud
17:09about solutions together, but I'm not
17:10going to commit to doing anything. I
17:12think anyone who would be in this role
17:13for 2 weeks and tells you, I'm going to
17:15do this, this, and this is trolling.
17:17Like that is not how you should approach
17:19a [laughter] job like this. There is a
17:21lot more context that you would need to
17:22have before you would say, "This is
17:23exactly what I'm gonna change." Um,
17:25okay. All that lawyer caveing out of the
17:27way. You can take the lawyer out of me,
17:28but it's never all the way gone, right?
17:31>> Okay. So,
17:33>> what does it mean for TPC players to
17:34stay invested? It means that
17:37>> I don't want TFT TPC players to be so
17:41stable in their existence in tier one
17:44that they don't have incentive to grind
17:47the game to create content around the
17:50game. Um, right? Like there the ladder
17:53is basically non-existent for tier one
17:55right now. And I view that as a problem.
17:57Uh I think ladder is the lowest variance
18:01version of TFT just because you get to
18:02play so many more games. I think that um
18:06it's also a way that we keep all of our
18:09core audience engaged because they when
18:12you're playing those games as one of
18:13these players, you're often streaming
18:15those games. And having those players
18:17stream those games is how we keep people
18:19engaged during the core part of the
18:20week. Right? We know there's going to be
18:24weekend stuff, right? There's going to
18:25be tournaments and the TFT counter is
18:27actually super packed between tier 2 and
18:28tier one with tournaments. Um, but
18:31there's a lot of opportunity to make our
18:34top pros feel like there's a lot of need
18:36for them to continue be playing the game
18:38and streaming the game and I'm very
18:40invested in figuring out a path to do
18:41that.
18:42>> So, where's the balance there that
18:43because we don't want to make it so that
18:45players feel like they just don't have
18:48time to breathe and there's no time off.
18:50So, I think that's kind of one thing
18:51that I think is worth considering,
18:52right? That's kind of the other extreme.
18:54Yeah, burnout of players is definitely a
18:57consideration here and I have to find a
18:59way to have my cake and eat it too. I'm
19:01not sure that it's returning to like
19:03every single week as a snapshot and the
19:05top players are really heavily
19:08incentivized to just be constantly on
19:10the grind. So maybe it's like windows of
19:13time where we care, right? Like instead
19:15of making it a holistic thing, like
19:16thinking about a much more narrow period
19:18of time where you're like incentivized
19:20to play a bunch of games. Um, and maybe
19:23it's giving certain weeks off so that
19:26it's not as black and white as like you
19:28never get a break. Uh, I, you know, one
19:30of the things I'll be doing is getting
19:31out and talking to a ton of pros and
19:33hearing from them about what are the
19:35aspects of the system that were creating
19:36the most burnout and how to try to find
19:38a middle ground here. But we have to
19:41find our way back to the middle because
19:43this culture that's been created around
19:46a lot of TPC players, I'm not going to
19:47use I'm going to use the word lazy not
19:49because that's how I would describe it
19:51because that's how I've seen them
19:52describe it many times. Like this
19:54problem of like tier one creating
19:56laziness where they just don't feel like
19:58they need to be playing at that level.
20:00Um, and so I don't want that to be the
20:04system either. I need to have a system
20:05where there is meaningful incentive for
20:08them to be grinding, to be reaching
20:10their top rank, and where there is
20:11meaningful incentive for them to be
20:13creating content for the community
20:15because that's one of the primary good
20:17things that esports can do is create a
20:19hub for our most engaged fans to be able
20:22to engage with highlevel TFT and that
20:25can't just be a tournament thing.
20:27>> Got it. And uh so you want them to stay
20:29invested. You seem to be pushing content
20:31and streaming. Is that going to be a big
20:33part of the requirement here? Because uh
20:36one thing that really drives a lot of
20:38engagement around certain players is the
20:40fact that they're also like a streamer,
20:41right? You're looking at Soju for
20:43example, uh and some of the other people
20:45related. Although Soju Soju is not
20:46really I mean last you saw, right? So
20:48Sogju was number one ranked player
20:50overall made a world's run, but people
20:52would use him as example number one. How
20:54much is content and streaming going to
20:56be required to be like a TPZ player in
20:58your mind? Like what what are you
21:00thinking about that? I don't want to
21:02think about it as a requirement right
21:04now, although it's entirely possible
21:06that I will create some obligation
21:10around that as part of it, right?
21:12Because I think that creating content
21:15when you're doing things that are
21:17relevant to the overall esports
21:18landscape, like if it's affecting your
21:20qualification, if we decide to give out
21:21world spots for it, if we decide to give
21:23out pro points for it, whatever we
21:24decide to do with it. Um, I think that
21:27there is value in the in the public
21:30being able to to watch that as it's
21:32going on. Um, so I do think that it is
21:36part of my goal. Like when I think about
21:38the good that TFT Esports does, it is
21:41about creating engagement around the
21:44game, right? That's why Riot invests in
21:47it. And so I have to find a way of
21:50marrying the competition side of this to
21:54the content side of this, which is part
21:56of the reason why I'm emphasizing it.
21:58>> Uh where do you see currently tier 2 is?
22:02Because a lot of people have a lot of
22:03criticism about tier 2. kind of want
22:06like the where you view it or where Riot
22:08views tier 2 currently.
22:10>> I definitely don't want to feel like I'm
22:12speaking for all of Riot because I
22:14haven't even talked to all of Riot or
22:16anything approaching all of Riot. But I
22:18can say that from the conversations I've
22:19had internally and externally, it
22:21actually seems like everyone is pretty
22:23aligned here. We know tier 2 needs some
22:25love. I think there were some unintended
22:27consequences for tier 2 when the shift
22:29to TPC happened. And right now I'm
22:33hearing pretty consistent complaints
22:34across the board. TPC players feel like
22:36it's or sorry, tier 2 players feel like
22:38it's too high variance. They feel like
22:40there's not enough opportunity for them
22:42to compete. They feel like they're not
22:44incentivized to compete for long enough
22:46in the set, right? Like their the their
22:49relevant window is too short relative to
22:51the totality of a set. And I will say
22:54that having been a tier 2 competitor for
22:56essentially my entire time in TFT, it's
22:58very near and dear to my heart. But more
23:01than that, I actually think this is the
23:03tier 2 community is actually like the
23:05centerpiece of TFT esports because these
23:08people are not just signing up for tier
23:112 tournaments and competing. They are
23:13also the people that are by far the most
23:15likely to be tuning into an esports
23:17broadcast, to be tuning into a
23:19co-stream, to be watching streamers
23:20throughout the week. There are most
23:22highly engaged players outside of like
23:24the narrow 00001%
23:27that represents tier one. And so showing
23:30them love to me feels like showing love
23:32to our core audience. And I am really
23:37excited to get into that issue and find
23:39the right way to both have TPC exist and
23:44create stability for our our tier one
23:46players, but also give a lot more
23:49opportunity to tier 2 because they are
23:51uh somewhat unintentionally neglected in
23:53the way the ecosystem works currently.
23:55And I I've already have a lot of ideas
23:57for how to do it. I've also already
23:58started to get a bunch of really good
24:00feedback from some from some uh kind of
24:02prominent tier 2 folks that have done a
24:04really good job. I have to shout out
24:05Kurt Angle. He like went and talked to a
24:08whole bunch of tier 2 pros. He organized
24:10a lot of their thinking. He's building
24:12it into a deck that he's then going to
24:13talk to me. So that I feel like I'm
24:15getting a really good organized handle
24:16on a bunch of different perspectives on
24:18tier 2. And I it's definitely a top
24:21priority for me in my short run. For a
24:24lot of people in tier 2, they think TPC
24:27to them is sort of the the for them they
24:30felt like TFT Esports has has died
24:32because they felt like it was no longer
24:34for me. It's a product that's for
24:36protecting the streamers. It's to to
24:38help the people who already have made
24:40it, but the people who have aspirations
24:42or the people who want to be engaged and
24:43participating with it, it felt like they
24:45were being squeezed out. I couldn't even
24:46play any tier 2 events because they were
24:48going on the same weekends as TPC. Um
24:50and so and and that's a person that's
24:52something that I want to do because I
24:53think that's a big part of the fund that
24:54I get to be part of it. Right.
24:56>> Totally. And yeah, look, I really I
24:58really appreciate you emphasizing that
24:59point. It is it is very much heard and I
25:02am here and I care and I and I am
25:05working on this. I'm not going to
25:06promise exactly what my solutions are
25:08going to be because I do not know
25:10definitively what they are going to be,
25:11but there will be solutions for this as
25:13soon as I can as soon as I can make them
25:15happen because it it really does matter.
25:17And look, some of this stuff it's going
25:19to be harder to solve for entirely. Like
25:21for example, the patch cadence thing,
25:22right? Like if we TF, you all know this
25:24TFT patches all the time, right? And uh
25:27we have to build our tier one calendar
25:29around that. I think that is probably
25:31the highest good. And if we're trying to
25:33not if we're trying to make tier 2
25:36events have their own space on the
25:37calendar so that we can um so that we
25:40can watch and enjoy them without feeling
25:42like it's competitive directly against
25:44TPC. something has to fall on patch week
25:47and there's just only so much that I'm
25:49going to be able to do. But I will do my
25:51absolute best on that front as well
25:53because it does matter. I mean, I've
25:54played a lot of TFT tournaments in my
25:55life. Sometimes I played them on patches
25:57where I felt really good and confident
25:59going in and then other times I've had
26:01like my whole tournament basically
26:02torched because a patch happens right
26:04before and I just don't have the time or
26:07capacity to play enough games to learn
26:11what has changed in order to still be
26:12good. So, like I know I'm better than
26:14I'm able to play, but I'm just not a
26:15knower on the patch. So, I'm deeply
26:17empathetic to that problem, and I'll do
26:19whatever I can um to fix it.
26:22>> Okay, understood. You did say that as
26:26soon as possible. You also wrote in your
26:28post here, I'm just going to bring it up
26:29again. It's going to take me a beat to
26:32implement changes, but I'll no be
26:33grinding to make you all happen. So, I'm
26:36I'm I'm assuming and and partially it's
26:37because we've side conversations. This
26:39is not something that's going to happen
26:40overnight. It's not going to happen. I
26:42mean, obviously it's not gonna happen
26:43this set for sure. Uh, what about next
26:45set, set 19. What about the set after
26:47that? Do you have a general idea?
26:48Because I just want to set the
26:49expectations factor because you said it
26:50takes a beat.
26:52>> Yeah. The reason why I'm vague there is
26:54because I don't know how long it is
26:56going to take me. Riot is, y'all, I
27:00mean, you would not believe what it's
27:01like to actually be working internally
27:03at Riot. It is such a massive machine.
27:05There are so many stakeholders. I sit on
27:08the game leadership team for all of TFT.
27:11Um, so I'm there with all of the most
27:14senior people that are responsible for
27:16everything related to TFT. So I'm in a
27:18position to have influence, but I don't
27:22have influence yet because I haven't
27:24actually built relationships with
27:25people, which is core to having
27:26influence in any situation. And that's
27:29just within the TFT team to say nothing
27:31of all of the different folks that I
27:33would need to leverage in order to make
27:35these changes possible. Not just in
27:38North America, but globally because I am
27:40a global stakeholder, right? I oversee
27:42global TFT esports. So I have reports in
27:44the other major regions. They have their
27:47own bosses and stakeholders and folks
27:49that are kind of core to those regions
27:50as well. So there's a lot of folks that
27:53I need to kind of bring along for this
27:55ride. So, even if I knew exactly what I
27:58wanted to do, and I don't because I want
28:00to collect a lot more information before
28:01I do that stuff, I still have a lot of
28:04work to do to actually get it across.
28:06And I I like all I'll say is no one will
28:10do it faster, right? Like I care so
28:12deeply about this. I am so invested. I
28:15would run through a wall for TFT and I'm
28:18now in a position to do that. And so,
28:19I'm going to run through walls for y'all
28:21in order to make this as good as it
28:22possibly can be. If I can make that
28:24happen immediately for set 19, great.
28:28Then I'll make changes for set 19. If I
28:30can't, then set 20, right? Like as what
28:33I'm trying to communicate is as soon as
28:34anyone could possibly do this, that's
28:36the how quickly it will happen. And I
28:38just don't know what is a realistic
28:40timeline for that. So I'm in being
28:42intentionally vague about my about my
28:44time.
28:44>> Uh you said you were interested in
28:45exploring ideas.
28:47>> Are you at liberty to share what because
28:50because you you have you you said that
28:51you're collecting ideas. cuz you want to
28:53hear more people, right? And you even
28:54said that the people you asked are also
28:55collecting ideas to make sure they're
28:57presenting. But has there been anything
28:59or suggestions that inspire confidence
29:02or creativity just to get people get the
29:05wheel spinning potentially something
29:06that people are looking forward to? Are
29:08you at any of that? Do you want to talk
29:10about like the the biggest ideas I have
29:12like the crazy like Yes. You know, I
29:14want something you can give us in terms
29:16of creativity or ideas, inspiration and
29:19and I at least I will make sure that
29:22this part of Twitch won't necessarily
29:25hold you accountable 100% to it, but I
29:27just want to hear some of the things
29:27that get you excited.
29:29>> Yeah. Yes. I I will I'm happy to think
29:32out loud about this. Um but I I will
29:36caveat with what Dan just said. Y'all
29:38are going to get me in real trouble with
29:40Riot if you start being like, "Ah, Bryce
29:43promised this to happen and it didn't
29:46happen within six months and so now I'm
29:48angry." Right? So, if you if you want
29:51someone that is as deeply invested in
29:53TFT as I am in this role, then you need
29:57to be responsible with me, chat. I
29:59believe in you. We can do this. I will
30:00dream big with you about TFT so that we
30:02can get excited together and think about
30:04the type of stuff I'm thinking about. It
30:06is entirely possible that the words that
30:08are about to come out of my mouth are a
30:10terrible idea and that I will learn that
30:12from talking to other stakeholders. It
30:14is entirely possible that they are great
30:16ideas, but it doesn't make sense
30:18financially. It is entirely possible
30:20[laughter] that many are great ideas and
30:22they don't come together for one of
30:25dozens of other reasons. Okay. Are we
30:27all on the same page?
30:28>> Yes. Okay, cool. All right. So, now
30:31let's talk about the fun stuff. I have a
30:33lot of random big ideas that I that I
30:35want to do. Um, one big idea that I have
30:38thought about is the idea of like a
30:40tournament of champions, right? Like a
30:42true crowning of the goat in TFT. We're
30:45talking about a single lobby where we
30:47have a land and we invite two players
30:50from each region and they are the best
30:52players in each region. I'm going to say
30:54some names, which is not my way of
30:56saying these people are going to be
30:57invited. I'm these are just names that
30:59are in my brain right now that if I were
31:01to hold this event tomorrow and only I
31:04was picking these are some people that
31:06might make sense. So for example from
31:08North America we could have dish soap
31:09and wan Iverson.
31:10>> Those are great players.
31:12>> Great players players.
31:14>> Yes. Uh yeah not biased at all. Uh TFT
31:17Academy. Uh [laughter]
31:19the there are uh great players in APAC
31:22for example YBY and title. uh if if
31:25we're doing the goats then obviously
31:27Juan May has to be invited right there
31:29is no world in which you would do that I
31:30think and not invite Juan May um you
31:33know if from EU I think that it's a
31:36really interesting landscape from from
31:38my understanding of the scene right now
31:40I think it'd be hard to not invite
31:41Jedaur he seems like the most consistent
31:43performer in a for a really long time um
31:46and I could I I think it'd be hard to do
31:48this double is the other name that
31:50obviously comes to mind like when I when
31:51I think about the TFT goats I think dish
31:53soap I think uh title I think Juan may
31:56and I think and I think uh double but
31:59double isn't playing right now right so
32:02or not playing in tier one right now so
32:04if I were doing this it would have you
32:05know I would I would want to make sure
32:07that I feel like I'm inviting the best
32:10players two players from every region as
32:13close to arguably as I possibly can
32:14certain regions make that easier than
32:16others in terms of like where the cut
32:17off is at tiers so that's like one big
32:20idea another big idea is for me the
32:23summit the original summit for for
32:25anyone who was here, you know, back in
32:26the day. That was that was my all-time
32:29favorite esports event, not just TF TFT
32:31event. It was uh a true celebration of a
32:34lot of things that I that I loved about
32:37this game and this community. And I
32:39would love to find a path to do that.
32:41And and in my head, I like the idea of
32:44trying to come up with like an
32:45international version of that. Right.
32:46The Summit one, we had everyone from NA
32:49and then Baby actually.
32:50>> Oh my god.
32:52baby to come back for the summit.
32:54>> Yeah, I don't know about that.
32:55>> Did you see his post recently like two
32:57months ago?
32:58>> Pie in the sky version of this for me
32:59would be like for any golfing fans,
33:01there's a major international event that
33:03happens every other year called the
33:05Ryder Cup which is like all of like it's
33:07a European team against a a a North
33:10American team. They also do the
33:12President's Cup which is like the less
33:14hype version mostly because the rest of
33:16the world team isn't nearly as good as
33:17the American team or the European team.
33:20So, I'm envisioning a world of this
33:21where you could have like a rest of
33:22world team and an NA team and you could
33:24create like a really cool uh you know
33:26suite of rivalries and fun formats um
33:30that would you know get people really
33:32excited and have 1 v1 and 2v2 and 4v4
33:34and cool stuff
33:37from you could have pairings from a
33:39country that like one player plays stage
33:42one while the other player is like in a
33:44room and can't see the game and then you
33:46swap them in between stages and you keep
33:48swapping them so you have to get air
33:50dropped into a game and play without
33:51context, right?
33:53>> TFT,
33:53>> lots of random [laughter] fun things,
33:55right, that you could do in a format
33:57like the [clears throat] summit that I
33:58think is really hard to do in other
34:00contexts. I I would love to see a world
34:02in which we could do a a really big buy
34:04in TFT tournament and go even higher
34:06stakes than what the open has been and
34:08then do satellite tournaments into it.
34:10So, you could have like a big tournament
34:12of players that are playing in a small
34:13buyin thing to theoretically call into
34:15the bigger buyin thing, right? There's
34:17look the re the end of the day I could
34:19probably just talk for the next hour
34:20about big cool things that I want to see
34:24happen for TFT esports doing those
34:26things is going to require a lot of
34:29lifting to make them happen to figure
34:31out the logistics to figure out the
34:33budget to then bring them to life. I do
34:37not know which of these ideas, if any of
34:40them, will ever come to fruition, but I
34:42think it's fun for us all to kind of
34:44dream for a second about what, you know,
34:47TFT esports 2.0 could look like, and
34:50these are some of the things that I am
34:51dreaming about.
34:52>> Awesome. Uh, let's do some Q&A. I think
34:55those are like my big topics. I added
34:57some other small questions that you
34:58answered in the explanation of things
35:01kind of like, you know, what does RIT
35:02TFT support? You you answered that. Um,
35:05so let's do if you guys have a question
35:07in chat, drop them for the next few
35:10minutes so we can go through them. In
35:11the meantime, I have one question that
35:12people are asking right before this
35:13started. Someone asked, "Is it possible
35:16for don't talk if you don't know to come
35:18back as a podcast with Frodan and
35:20Bryce?" I already gave them my answer,
35:21but I want to hear your answer if you
35:23were if they were asking you directly.
35:26>> I honestly don't even know if I am
35:28allowed to do that. Uh what I will say
35:32is that I will be very in the know in
35:35TFT esports. Again, a very fun uh you
35:39know benefit of all of this is I I now
35:42have a very clear business reason to
35:44watch every TFT esports tournament to be
35:46in streams to be playing the game. So
35:49I'm going to become a knower again as a
35:51starting point. Uh,
35:54I actually have no I don't know that
35:55there's any precedent for [laughter]
35:56like a Riot esports person running or
35:59like co you know co-hosting a podcast
36:01with a community member. But I mean
36:04obviously you know how I feel about DTY
36:06DTI YDK it was probably of all the
36:09really fun stuff I got to do in TFT. It
36:11was probably the thing that was most fun
36:12for me. It was the space that I felt
36:14like I got to be the most myself and
36:16just kind of yap with reckless abandon
36:18and it seemed like people really enjoyed
36:20it. So, I would love for some version of
36:22it to come back if I am if I it's
36:24something that I'm allowed to do and if
36:26you want to do it again.
36:27>> Okay, let's get some questions in. Thank
36:28you for answering that. Uh, anything
36:29about double up in TFT esports? And
36:31someone also asked about 44. So, let's
36:33combine both of those. What do you think
36:34about double up and TFT uh 44 and TF
36:36esports?
36:37>> I think that finding paths to
36:40alternative formats being part of TFT
36:43esports is something that I'm interested
36:44in. It's very hard for me to see how
36:46this lives within the like main
36:49competitive ecosystem because TFT is a
36:511v one v1 game and it's clearly the most
36:53popular game mode by far. Um, but I will
36:57say that while Double Up seems to have a
37:00core group of people that really enjoy
37:03playing it, I from a just a buzz
37:06perspective have gotten the perception
37:08that 4v4 is the mode that seems to have
37:11higher demand. I what I would say is I
37:14feel like my job here is to give the
37:16people what they want on some level. So
37:18if competitors really want double up or
37:224v4, then I will be invested in making
37:25that happen. If the fans really want
37:27double up or 4v4, then I become more
37:30invested in making that happen. I don't
37:31think it's a decision that should be
37:32based on my personal interest in either
37:35of those modes.
37:37>> Uh what's your stance on all the
37:38competitive rulings? That's what people
37:40are saying.
37:42>> That is a good question. Can you ask me
37:44that question when ads aren't running?
37:45Because I actually have [laughter]
37:47to say about that and I want to make
37:48sure that when I answer it that everyone
37:50hears me because there's a little bit of
37:51a like wanting to communicate with as
37:53many people as possible on that topic.
37:55>> Okay, understood. Uh
37:58let's see because people a couple people
38:00asked that. Um what do you think about a
38:03path of even outside tier two? I guess
38:05people are asking about tier three.
38:07Yeah, that's I would say that's, you
38:09know, part and parcel of the previous
38:10question. I want there to be like a
38:14leveling up process. I think um in any
38:17game, everyone, if it's a competitive
38:20game, people want to compete in it
38:22regardless of what their level is. You
38:24know, I think a bunch of gold players in
38:26TFT could have a lot of fun playing in a
38:28gold tournament. That's part of the
38:29strength of like what Clash is for
38:31League, right? is people. You just
38:33whatever your level is, you want to feel
38:35like you're having a a fun, challenging
38:38experience where you're trying your
38:40best, they're trying their best, and
38:42everyone is optimizing for winning and
38:44seeing who comes out on top. And I think
38:46that's a really cool thing. You have to
38:48figure out, you know, there's lots of
38:50weird incentives around this around like
38:52making sure you have to have smurf
38:53protection so that if people are playing
38:55in a tournament that's like inherently
38:56lower level, you're not letting like,
38:58oh, it's a gold tournament. this
38:59person's gold with 19 games and a 1.8
39:02average. It's like, all right, well,
39:04they're not really gold, right? Um, and
39:06so you have to figure out how to, you
39:08know, deal with that and and make it
39:10have integrity. But if if you can find a
39:12path to it, then absolutely I like I am
39:14for having as many paths for people to
39:16compete and engage with competitive TFT
39:19as they can.
39:20>> Okay. Uh, you told me to ask this again
39:22after the ads had broken up. So,
39:25>> you were talking about competitive
39:26rulings. So um I guess I just want to
39:29talk about where you are where what was
39:32your stance on things like the
39:34competitive rules in the past and how do
39:35you want to handle them proceeding
39:37forward because you will be at the
39:38forefront of that.
39:39>> Yeah. So,
39:41I think that competitive rulings in TFT
39:44are going to be one of the hardest, if
39:47not the very hardest parts of this job
39:50because TFT, the integ the integrity
39:54landscape of TFT is dramatically more
39:58complicated than for basically any other
40:00sport or esport that I can think of
40:02because of the shared nature of the
40:04lobby and the pool of units. So there is
40:07an ability to profoundly influence games
40:12in a negative way in someone else's game
40:14in in TFT in a way that is much much
40:18harder to do um in other in other games
40:22or sports. And it is also incredibly
40:27hard to prove intent. It's hard to prove
40:29intent in any context, but in a game of
40:32TFT where there is so much pressure on a
40:35player, it makes it very very hard to
40:41actually say definitively this this
40:44happened. I think the only time that I
40:46can remember in the whole history of
40:48TFT, and there are probably other
40:49examples, but there was a time when
40:51Sphinx got really mad at someone and
40:54like typed in chat like basic like I
40:57like I'm going to grief you. I don't
40:58remember exactly what what he did,
41:00right? It was
41:00>> gro executioners.
41:02>> Yeah. Yeah. But he like full he like
41:04fully outed himself. He was like, I am
41:07going to do I am going to [laughter]
41:09brief this person, right? And then did
41:12it.
41:12>> But that basically never happens, right?
41:15Like like almost every time it's going
41:17to be someone that is going to be able
41:20to plausibly deny that they did
41:24something to manipulate the game, right?
41:26that they were they're going to be like,
41:27"I made a mistake. I panicked." Whatever
41:30they're going to say, right? And because
41:33of that, I think that what has happened
41:35with competitive rulings is we have sort
41:37of like split the baby, I guess, is
41:39maybe how I would put it. We have said,
41:42"Hey, we cannot be 100% certain they did
41:45this. We're 80% certain." And because
41:48we're 80% certain, we're going to take
41:50the punishment that we would have used
41:52if it was 100% certainty and we're going
41:54to ratch that punishment down because
41:56we're not 100% certain. Okay? But the
41:59problem with that is then we create a
42:02system where I think that if we assume
42:05all these people did it, right? If we
42:06assume 100% certainty all these things
42:09happen, I think that on average the
42:10punishments have been pretty light
42:12relative to the behavior. And I and I
42:15would really emphasize that in the
42:17context of
42:19part of the value of punishing people
42:21for wrongdoing is deterring other
42:24similar wrongdoing in the future. And I
42:27think that we have not created a system
42:29that is deterring this wrongdoing. And
42:32as a result, I think that there has been
42:35meaningful manipulation of TFT ladder in
42:38a way that bears on esports and TFT
42:40tournaments. And though that really
42:43bothers me and I need to find a path
42:47where this behavior is properly deterred
42:50and where we can therefore hopefully
42:53dramatically reduce the risk that it is
42:56occurring in our esports because when
43:00you cannot trust the integrity of a
43:02competition that kills the the
43:05competition in a lot of ways.
43:07>> Well done. you have uh I believe you
43:09told me that you haven't renewed your
43:10legal license, but you do it does sound
43:12like you could practice law with that
43:14kind of answer. Uh someone talked about
43:16in YouTube chat they're saying the
43:17experience of buying tickets for
43:18convergence test was really poor. They
43:20felt like tickets were scalped or they
43:21think merging with the Riftbound
43:22community really dampered their
43:24enthusiasm because it feels like what
43:25used to be an event for TFT people feels
43:28like it's almost sort of like taken from
43:29them and they can't that actually I I
43:31missed that question earlier but I
43:32remember I think that's actually
43:33important to to talk about. So, I kind
43:36of want to hear your thoughts on that. I
43:38know conversion test is like way bigger
43:40and and quite frankly might not even be
43:42something you are addressing right now
43:44considering how new you are and how it's
43:45merged interest with Riftbound and DFT,
43:48but that is part of like the TFT
43:50experience, right? The fandom of being
43:51able to buy tickets and whatnot. So, I
43:53guess I I wanted to ask about that. So I
43:55am AC, you know, Conversions Fest is a
43:58meaningful amount of my annual budget
44:00and the biggest single event in
44:02competitive TFT by like a country mile,
44:05right? So I'm certainly across it. I'm
44:07in tons of Convergence Fest meetings
44:08right now. I've got a couple of my of
44:11people who work on my team that have
44:13been the co-product leads for it that
44:14are doing a really amazing job behind
44:16the scenes. Uh shout out Marza, shout
44:18out Dylan. Um and shout out so many
44:21other people as well. Like Conversion
44:23Fest is a massive lift. So there are
44:24literally hundreds of riers and and
44:27external folks as well, vendors that are
44:28working on it. Um, so I'm certainly
44:30aware of what's going on. I'm I
44:32apologize for the ticket frustration,
44:34right? That's always tough when
44:36someone's when you're so excited about
44:37something and you have a negative
44:39experience in like the purchasing of a
44:40ticket for that event. It's not good.
44:42And so I'm like really sorry that
44:44happens. I'm also sorry for the people
44:46who like had a positive ticket
44:48experience in terms of all work for
44:49them, but they were unable to get a
44:50ticket because I know that's really
44:52challenging, right? like it's an event
44:53where demand dramatically outstrips the
44:56possible supply. Like there just isn't
44:57enough space at the venue to bring in
45:00everybody that we want, but we are aware
45:02of that and you know the more demand
45:03there is for stuff like this, the more
45:05it incentivizes me to like make it
45:06bigger and better in years in future
45:08years. So um it's good to it's good to
45:10think about. As far as the like linking
45:13of Riftbound to TFT,
45:16I I would love to hear more of that. If
45:18that's a if that's a universal
45:19experience, um, then that's good to
45:22know. I would say let's give it a shot,
45:24right? Like I'm really excited about I
45:25think there's a tremendous amount of
45:26overlap between the Riftbound community
45:28and the TFT communities. I think there's
45:30a lot of synergy there in a lot of ways.
45:32Dan is literally like the poster child
45:34for this overlap, right? Uh, so if
45:36nothing else, we're making it efficient
45:37for our boy to like do all the things he
45:40wants to do in one location for a few
45:42days.
45:42>> It's going to be like 95% TFT
45:44conversions. I just want to let you
45:45know. But
45:46>> yeah, for sure. Um, but still you'll get
45:48to you'll get to dabble in a little bit
45:49of of Riftbound as well, which is cool.
45:51And so, like, I want to see how it plays
45:54out. I don't come in with a strong I
45:56wasn't the person who made the decision
45:57to put them together. Uh, I'm not the
45:59one who's like running this event
46:01because an event like this has worked on
46:02for such a long time. It just doesn't
46:03make any sense for me to take it over
46:05when I'm joining this late in the game.
46:06Like, so much of this thing is already
46:08cooked or well underway. Um, but I'm
46:10really excited to go and support it
46:12however I can and see how it all shakes
46:14out. I will not commit one way or the
46:16other to whether or not we're going to
46:17do in the future because while I will be
46:20like one of the most senior stakeholders
46:22in the room making that decision,
46:23there's a lot of other humans and we
46:24don't know what we have yet. We haven't
46:26actually done the thing. So, let's do
46:27the thing and then we'll figure it out.
46:30>> Uh this has been asked several times. Uh
46:32thoughts on like lands for regional
46:35events or uh for worlds because we tried
46:38that and uh it hasn't really come back
46:42in a while. Basically, a lot of TFD
46:44feels like it's almost all online except
46:45for China. It feels like China is the
46:47only region still doing lands.
46:49>> Cost benefit. It's my budget. So, if I
46:51want to spend a bunch of money flying
46:53people to a venue and putting them up at
46:55that venue so that they can compete
46:57within a studio to environment together,
47:00then that's great and it's definitely
47:02something I'll think about. I don't
47:04obviously the the range on that uh
47:08varies wildly by like where the event is
47:10held and who you're talking about
47:11bringing out, how many players, etc. And
47:14so I I will say that for me personally,
47:19I'm not sure that the amount of money
47:21you spend to get like all of the world's
47:24players in a single venue is worth it to
47:27the like to the fans. Like I don't think
47:29that the upside of that outweighs what I
47:31could otherwise do with that money to
47:33bring cool stuff to life for TFT
47:35esports. But if it were something that
47:38like the players really wanted and the
47:40audience really wanted, I am open to
47:42changing my mind about that. I think
47:44that there are a lot of questions that
47:46you could ask me that I would say in a
47:49perfect world, heck yeah. Like I would
47:51love to do it. Um, but in a world where
47:55I have a limited budget and it's going
47:57to be a direct trade-off of if I spend
48:00$50,000 here, I do not have $50,000 to
48:03spend over here. Um, it's just tough.
48:06>> Okay, got it. Um, so would like to
48:09happen, but it's really expensive.
48:11Probably not. Uh, any thoughts on
48:12collegiate TFT?
48:14>> I honestly have very few thoughts on
48:17collegiate TFT. That's This is maybe the
48:19first time I've been asked that. I
48:21really love collegiate esports more
48:24generally. And if uh if there's a
48:27meaningful collegiate TFT scene and
48:30there's anyone out there that is
48:33invested in it and wants to have a
48:34conversation with me about what Riot can
48:37do to better support it, I would I would
48:39be very open to that conversation. Like
48:42I want to engage as many different parts
48:44of the community as I can. Like I want
48:46to give tier one some love. I want to
48:47give tier two some love. I want to give
48:48organized play some love. And I would
48:50love to give Collegiate uh some love as
48:52well. So yeah, I don't know who the like
48:54proper spokespeople are for that, but
48:56please hit me up so we can figure out
48:57how to work together.
48:58>> All right. How do you view view the
49:01future of broadcast landscape like co-
49:03streams and traditional esports
49:04broadcast? You actually did talk about
49:05investing in co-stream. So this is
49:07actually one topic we didn't cover that
49:08was on your post.
49:11>> I mean I've talked out loud on this
49:13topic for years. So, anyone who was a
49:17viewer of DTIDK
49:19or like cons, you know, basically
49:21consumed anything where I had these
49:23types of conversations uh previously
49:25knows my POV on this. I think very
49:27highly of co-streams in general. I think
49:30that it's where the ball is moving for
49:33esports content and I think that for
49:36other competitive content as well. And I
49:40want to figure out a way to create an
49:44enhanced version of them where
49:45co-streamers like Dan have support and
49:49integration with Riot to make those
49:51co-streams even better. When I think
49:53about the best world of co- streams,
49:55there were great examples of co-streams
49:57like what Tar was to Valerant for
49:59example where it was just he went live
50:02and he's hanging with his boys watching
50:03Valerant and that was a great broadcast
50:06product and I I certainly enjoyed dozens
50:08of hours of that project in my life. Um
50:11but I when I think about myself in the
50:14role as a writer, I'm really invested
50:16in, you know, Cedral for Law is a really
50:18is a great example. Dan for TFT is
50:21another great example. People that are
50:24pushing the envelope that are creating
50:26something that is somewhere between like
50:28a very lowfi co-stream and a like high
50:32production main broadcast I think is an
50:34example of something that seems to be
50:36what fans want. If you look at the
50:40audience of TFT or the audience of lots
50:43of other esports, right, like having a
50:46fully buttoned up main broadcast has not
50:49always generated the same amount of
50:50eyeballs as other things that would
50:52require less time and investment. And so
50:56I I would love to have my cake and eat
50:58it too and figure out how to give all of
50:59the different audience a place to go to
51:02watch TFT in the way that they want to
51:04watch TFT. And it seems to me like
51:07there's a lot of folks that are voting
51:09with their their feet, their eyeballs,
51:11however you want to put it, that are
51:12that are clearly showing me they want to
51:14watch this on co-streams. And so I want
51:16to figure out how to make those
51:18co-streams better in whatever ways you
51:21want to. And Dan, if you want to dream
51:24big for a second, I would turn this back
51:25around on you and say, "Hey, you know,
51:27you now have a mainline to the guy for
51:30TFT Esports." Yeah.
51:32>> If you What would you What would you
51:33want? What is your dream? what what
51:36could we build together to make your
51:38co-stream product even better than it is
51:40today?
51:41>> Uh well um I don't get asked that very
51:45often. It's more more often like what I
51:47could just basically pull off with my
51:49existing team.
51:50>> Um but I would want to make it a much
51:55more interactive experience. One thing
51:57that I've been trying to do, I start I
51:59started vibe coding my own fantasy TFT
52:02website um to get people invested. I
52:04would like people to sort of be able to
52:06put their money where their mouth is.
52:08Not money necessary, think metaphorical.
52:10I want it to be free,
52:11>> but I want because there's so many
52:12people who think they know who is good
52:15in TFT and they also criticize me for
52:19like not picking players and not putting
52:21them high. Like, oh my god, why did you
52:23put this player so low and this player
52:24so high? So, I want them to just also
52:27enter into and be and feel like they can
52:30follow the players they want to follow.
52:32uh to also feel like they're engaged
52:34with the actual product via like I do a
52:37bunch of things like fantasy and bingo
52:38and like chat, you know, interaction,
52:40voting, things like that. I I I love it
52:42and I want you to keep dreaming about it
52:43and I want to have like formal business
52:45meetings about this and if you're
52:47another co-streamer out there of any
52:50language that's thinking about this
52:51topic and wants to have a conversation
52:52with me about how Riot can better
52:54support them, great. And then also
52:56Meeks, I know you're here and some other
52:57folks from the main broadcast are there.
52:58I also want to think about how we can
53:00make those main broadcasts even better
53:01as well. Um, I just want to keep making
53:04TFT esports better and uh I'm now in a
53:08position where I have unique influence
53:09over that. So, I'm excited to kind of
53:11wield that power for good and see where
53:13we can where we can take it together.
53:14>> Uh, Tanner's talking about liquid needs
53:16some help and support. We only have two
53:17real editors. Is very tough to follow
53:18info scoreeet. Yeah, like uh really good
53:22accounting for the history. I guess his
53:24like finding ways to make sure we can
53:26track TFT because Tanner's putting a ton
53:29of work in. And again, Liquidia is all
53:30volunteers, so it's mainly driven on
53:33passion.
53:34>> Yeah, I mean, look, that's true for
53:35Liquipedia across the board. I'm not
53:37sure that Riot is ever going to be in a
53:38position to like pay people to be
53:41editors of Liquipedia, but I do think
53:43that we have this amazing website called
53:46Compete TFT that I have really high
53:49aspirations for what it could be. And
53:51one of the things that it could be is a
53:54repository for the competitive history
53:56of the game and for all of the stats of
54:00players that could be sorted by
54:02individual sets or multiple sets, could
54:05be sorted by region. You could be
54:07tracking, you could be following along
54:08in the scene a lot more uh in a lot more
54:11detail oriented way. You could envision
54:13a some kind of like a broadcast
54:15integration of that where co-streamers
54:17would have the ability to like pull up
54:18stat cards specifically from compete
54:21TFT. Uh you know, you could have a
54:24rolling AVP banner on the, you know,
54:26like ticker like you were talking about.
54:27Like there's a lot of really interesting
54:28stuff that we could do um there. So, I'm
54:31I'm invested in the idea of maintaining
54:34the competitive history of TFT um in an
54:37official way cuz all of that has been
54:40fan projects to date. Uh Dewa brings up
54:43something. He says, "Tier one isn't
54:45sustainable in NA to support a
54:47reasonable lifestyle. Many people in
54:50tier one have alternate jobs. I'm a bit
54:52worried that players who make tier one
54:53under a new rule set require rank and
54:56latter cards that could be harder to
54:57fulfill." So, I guess he's asking for
54:58like the is tier one going to be
55:02sustainable or something for people who
55:04aren't full timing no lifing.
55:07>> I care about this and I am potentially
55:10in a position to influence this on some
55:13level, but I also don't think that this
55:15is my job. I think that the amount of
55:19players that can live a full-time
55:24life off of a game varies wildly by game
55:29primarily based on the viewership of
55:31that game. And I think that if we can do
55:35things to increase the revenue generated
55:38by TFT esports, for example, if we make
55:42this like organized play competitive TFT
55:45product and a whole bunch of people are
55:47like buying into tournaments and we're
55:49generating a bunch of revenue that way,
55:50then there's a world in which we get a
55:52lot more money to pump back into the
55:53ecosystem. Like if I somehow find a way
55:55to generate a bunch more revenue, it's
55:56not like I'm going to like cool I get
55:58like a $5 million bonus. like I'm just
56:00going to reinvest it back into the
56:02scene. Um, so I'm I am I do care about
56:06this and I think that the game is better
56:08for having more players that can, you
56:11know, be allin on TFT and commit
56:13themselves to playing the best TFT they
56:15can, to creating content for the game,
56:17for engaging with the community. I think
56:18that's a good thing. And so it's not
56:20that I'm not interested in that, but I'm
56:22not sure that it's reasonable to expect
56:26there to be a dramatically higher number
56:28of people who are, you know, able to
56:31make a full-time living off of TFT as it
56:33currently stands.
56:34>> Uh people ask about formats. What's your
56:36stance on checkmate? You were a big
56:38checkmate hater when we were doing the
56:40podcast at Start.
56:41>> Yeah, I'm still a Checkmate hater, man.
56:44Uh, but this is a really good uh it's a
56:47really really good Bryce what Bryce
56:50thinks versus what Riot Slaw thinks.
56:54Okay, [laughter] so Bryce thinks that
56:57TFT is already a really high variance
57:02game and that it's we should be
57:06rewarding the best of the best players
57:09for the these big events that are
57:12already high variants and that there are
57:16while overall I think we've gotten
57:17pretty lucky in the history of
57:19competitive TFT where there haven't been
57:20that many world championships where uh
57:23someone with dramatically fewer points
57:25won the event and there have been some
57:27examples of tournaments where that's
57:30happened like Malala winning Vegas but
57:32where it feels like very much in keeping
57:33with the spirit of the event. So I Bryce
57:38would vote to eliminate checkmate
57:40everywhere except
57:42at at the open where it feels very
57:44appropriate.
57:46Riot Slaw
57:48it thinks the opposite of that. I
57:51understand what it's doing for the game
57:53for making events more hype and it's now
57:57a core part of TFT competitive history
58:00and you know strategies have developed
58:03around it and uh it's very clear to me
58:06that if you were to pull the general
58:07audience that Bryce is in the minority
58:10and my job is to create a product that
58:12is the best it can be for the highest
58:15number of our fans and so I have no
58:18intention of eradicating dedicating
58:20checkmate anywhere where it currently
58:22exists. That doesn't mean that I won't
58:24somewhere at some point. I don't want to
58:25again I'm not promising any future
58:27changes of any kind happening or not
58:29happening, but I want everyone to rest
58:31assured that I'm not like coming for
58:33your checkmate. Someone says there was
58:34an amazing national European tournament.
58:36Is there any chance of any motion in
58:38that direction? I definitely think that
58:40we can be doing more like country
58:42specific competition for sure. Uh the
58:45the positive note I want to end on is
58:48that I feel so much passion about this
58:51topic uh because I feel so much
58:54passionate about this game and this
58:55community. I really truly believe that
59:00TFT is the best strategy game ever made.
59:03There are lots of great strategy games
59:04out there, but for me, TFT is this sits
59:08this perfect middle ground between like
59:12variance and skill expression where the
59:14game throws so much at you that is so
59:17hard to deal with and you don't have
59:20perfect information and you don't have
59:21infinite time and you just have to
59:23figure it out on the fly and continue
59:25adjusting to what the game gives you.
59:28And for for me, I feel like we're only
59:33getting better at this, right? Like sets
59:35of TFT are developed year, you know,
59:38year plus in advance. We continue to
59:40learn and get better at this. I think
59:42that the bones of set 18 are actually
59:44phenomenal as a set. And I am really
59:47excited to see what the future of TFT
59:51will be. I know we're all going through
59:52growing pains right now. I feel that
59:54pain alongside you. But our best days
59:57are ahead of us and I am just so [ __ ]
1:00:01excited to be a part of that and to be
1:00:03able to contribute in my small way and
1:00:05make the esport for this amazing game as
1:00:08as great as I can. So, you know, you all
1:00:10know me a and if you don't, hi, I'm
1:00:13Bryce, and I I care as much about TFT as
1:00:17any of you, and I am now in a position
1:00:19to make all of our dreams a reality, and
1:00:22I'm going to be working my damnest to do
1:00:24that. So, I hope that you guys are
1:00:25excited for it as I am, and uh I'm I I'm
1:00:28eager to listen to your feedback along
1:00:30the way. So, hit me up, let me know what
1:00:32you want to see happen. I'll be back in
1:00:34the lab cooking it all up for you and
1:00:35I'm excited to have a lot more cool
1:00:37stuff to share in the future. It's only
1:00:39uh like day eight on the job from here
1:00:42or whatever. So, I got a lot a lot more
1:00:43ahead of me and I just cannot wait to do
1:00:45all of it.
1:00:46>> Yeah. And hopefully not the last of our
1:00:48check-ins. Uh you got to open your Are
1:00:50people open to DMing you? Uh
1:00:52>> yeah. Yeah, by all means. Again, I'm not
1:00:53going to be able to have like an hourong
1:00:55conversation with every single person
1:00:56who DMs me. But if you're a core
1:00:58stakeholder or a streamer, a pro player,
1:01:00an organizer, you know, commentator,
1:01:02whatever it is, if you're someone that
1:01:03has, you know, a deep investment in in
1:01:05this scene and has feedback, I want I do
1:01:08want to hear it and I will take it back
1:01:11uh under advisement and then figure out
1:01:13what if it comes to life in the future.
1:01:15>> All right, sounds good. Uh Bryce Blum
1:01:18from Riot Games, Riot Slaw, appreciate
1:01:21your time. Uh, thank you. Welcome back.
1:01:24Love you, bro. And yeah, hopefully we'll
1:01:26be able to chat again soon.
1:01:28>> Yeah, I love you too, man. Thanks for
1:01:29having me. This was a really, really fun
1:01:31time. So, thank you and thank you, chat.
1:01:34And you'll see me soon.
1:01:35>> All right. Later, buddy. Later.

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