COLUMBUS, Ohio — “It's crazy how far it’s gone from when we started to where it is today,” said Adam Apicella, the CEO of Esports Engine.
Apicella is always thinking about what's next, even in his college days at Ohio University before the dawn of Esports.
- Esports Engine is a global success, and it’s based out of central Ohio
- Former Executive VP of Properties at MLG Gaming Adam Apicella started the business with former MLG Tech Production Director Ryan Thompson
- The Esports industry is expected to generate $2 billion in revenue by 2022
“I started playing video games with some of my local friends, original Halo on original Xbox and you couldn't play online then. And I ended up renting out a ballroom in Wheeling, West Virginia, borrowing 20 TVs and Xbox's and we made a website and hundreds of people showed up, we had no idea,” said Apicella.
While he had intentions of attending law school, little did he know word got out and Apicella was offered a job by Major League Gaming.
17 years later, Apicella made quite the impact with MLG and later Activision Blizzard, leading nearly 300 sporting events.
But last year he made the decision to start his own company and paired with an old friend and former MLG employee Ryan Thompson to form Esports Engine.
“It was our insight that, bring able to combine our experience across production and broadcast and creating these products for what an Esports program would look like for a video game, we saw a great opportunity for us to start Esports Engine, to be that partner,” said Apicella.
Esports Engine and its 28 employees focus on original content, production and live broadcasts.
While their primary headquarters is in downtown Columbus, most of their productions are on the road.
Esports Engine runs live events for Call of Duty League and Call of Duty Challengers events.
“Almost every single weekend we're in different cities across the U.S. This weekend we'll be in Atlanta, next two weekends we'll be in Paris and Houston at the same time,” said Esports Engine Co-founder, Ryan Thompson.
“From the franchise side, we have a lot of these teams coming to us saying hey, how do we activate market? How do we build a local fanbase? How do we produce these big events?” said Apicella.
The popularity of Esports and gaming has skyrocketed in recent years, and annual revenue is expected to reach nearly $2 billion by 2022.
Apicella says Columbus has been one of their most successful markets.
“Every time we operate an event in the Columbus area, it's massively successful. We've sold out Nationwide Arena twice for Esports and every time we come to Columbus it gives back, so it's definitely ready for something like this,” said Apicella.
Apicella and Thompson say they hope to work with central Ohio colleges on an internship program to provide a direct pathway for a student to earn a degree, then a job in the industry
More information on Esports Engine can be found on their website.