The Esports Awards Digest - Meet The Esports Personality Of The Year
Welcome to the final newsletter of 2023! What a year it has been. We launched The Mobies and The Scholars and put on our biggest show yet with the 2023 Esports Awards presented by Lexus. There were also countless top-quality panels and discussions across multiple PWR UP events and quite a few rounds of golf!
We hope that, if you aren’t already, you will be able to enjoy a much-deserved break over the coming days. 2023 has not been the easiest year for the industry and it is important to sometimes step back and look at what you did achieve over the year and give yourself a pat on the back.
For your final bit of Esports Awards content of the year, we chat with the winner of the Esports Personality Of The Year presented by Logitech G award, who has made waves in the esports scene over the last year, but has also struggled with the economic realities of the industry.
The entire team at the Esports Awards would like to wish you a happy holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you at even more of our events in 2024.
Meet The Esports Personality Of The Year - Disguised Toast
Every year one of our most anticipated awards is the Esports Personality Of The Year, which in 2023 was presented by Logitech G. The award celebrates someone with a large following who has contributed significantly to the esports industry over the previous 12 months and has pushed the industry forward in some way.
Previous winners include some of the most recognisable names in esports, such as Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag, Bruno "Nobru" Goes and Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere and the list of finalists only becomes more stacked each year. This year was no exception, with the likes of Ludwig, MoistCr1TiKaL and Mortal all up for the award.
But the winner was someone who has entered the esports scene in a big way, founding and funding his own org that is supporting players in some of the smaller esports. He may not be a veteran of the scene, but the impact he has had already has been significant and he is helping to bring some stability to the industry at a time when that is sorely needed. Your 2023 Esports Personality Of The Year is Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang.
“To be honest, I wasn’t even expecting to get nominated,” said Wang after winning his award. “This year’s category was incredibly stacked - you had creators who represent a whole country like Kameto (France) or Mortal (India). There are so many personalities in the esports scene and I don't consider myself super esporty, I just own the esports team, I'm not like an esports player. But it's still a huge honour.”
Wang got his start in the world of Hearthstone and quickly grew to be one of the biggest personalities in the scene. He bounced around a few similar-style games and found massive success as a content creator and streamer, building a loyal fan base who supported him in everything he did. After years of being a top content creator, he was looking for a new challenge and decided to launch Disguised, an esports organisation that he would self-fund.
“Honestly, I felt like I kind of did all the things I wanted to do as a streamer,” said Wang. “I just remembered all the opportunities offered to me when I was really young and being able to do that for the next generation was just an exciting thing. When I hear their raw emotions, like when they win or when they lose, it's something that I remember feeling back in my day when I was playing competitive card games. To be able to bring that to the next generation was something I really wanted to do.”
With Wang’s popularity and some smart player signings, Disguised has quickly built up a large fan base and has teams across multiple games. Being self-funded by Wang means they aren’t competing against the biggest names in the top games, but some smart scouting has seen the org find success in slightly smaller games such as Apex Legends and Teamfight Tactics.
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However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing, with Wang stating multiple times, including on stage when accepting the award, that he has lost over a million dollars on the Disguised venture so far. It shows how difficult it can be to get started in the world of esports and turn any kind of profit, as even a major influencer with a built-in fan base is struggling to make any money from a venture that the community is seeing as successful.
But for Wang making a load of money from his esports journey was never a major goal. For him, it is a way to give back to the industry that has provided him with a lot in previous years. Disguised may never become a massive org at the top level of every esport, but what it has achieved in just a few months is impressive and it will hopefully continue for many years to come.
“I've just kind of been trying to do the best I can and do right by these players, and I'm just glad they're having a good time,” said Wang. “Honestly, being recognized for [an Esports Award] is a huge honour to me, I’m beyond honoured to receive the award. I’ve learned a lot in the past year, not just about esports but about running a sustainable business. I really appreciate the entire esports community for welcoming DSG so wholeheartedly this year.”
Cloud9 has acquired the BLAST Premier spot of Evil Geniuses to become a permanent member of the BLAST CS2 circuit. Evil Geniuses appears to be dropping as many assets as possible after a poor year and its BLAST partner slot is no exception, with Cloud9 picking it up after a “competitive bidding process.” However, with franchised CS2 leagues outlawed from 2025, it would appear this will only be in place for a year before more changes hit.
English organisation EXCEL has announced a merger with Spanish organisation Giants to form GIANTX. The team will retain talent from both organisations and will be headed up by the flagship LEC team that EXCEL has had for many years and the partnered VCT team that Giants owned. Giants were previously a mainstay in the old EU LCS, so a return to the top league for a legacy brand is certainly welcome for fans.
Data from Esports Charts has revealed that once again the most watched esports tournament of the year was the League of Legends World Championship. With 6.4 million peak viewers it easily beats any other tournaments and sets a new record in esports. Taking second and third palaces were the Mobile Legends Bang Bang M5 and M4 tournaments. In fact, five of the top 10 tournaments of the year we Mobile Legends Bang Bang competitions, showing how popular the game is.