Category Archives: News

Boot camp at the SEG Esports Training Centre

Are you a fan of LAN parties, but is it always just too much of a hassle to get everything working? That's now all in the past as you can boot camp together with your friends in the SEG Esports Training Centre within the Rabo Esports Stadium!

The old maths room now houses 12 high-end gaming Desktop PCs with the latest monitors, racing chairs, mouse, keyboard and headset. There are lockers, lightning fast internet and all kinds of catering possibilities to make it as comfortable as possible for the gamers. Currently, one of the best League of Legends teams in the Benelux, the Lowland Lions, is playing here on the Campus. So the first weeks of the SEG Esports Training Centre are immediately booked with esports talents!

Rowan Stroo, Sports Entertainment Group's Esports Director, said:

"With the SEG Esports Training Center, SEG wants to enable teams and players of all levels to train under optimal conditions and also help to further develop the Dutch esports scene in cooperation with H20 Esports Campus."

Rowan Stroo - Esports Director of SEG

Now that the SEG Esports Training Centre is complete, several professional and amateur teams can train here.

"Bootcamps are essential among esports players for all game titles. We are proud to now be able to offer a full boot camp room to top international and local teams. Teams can train here for half a day, full day or days. Esports is top sport!"

Sjaak Kuil - General Manager H20 Esports

It is now possible to book the SEG Esports Training Centre with your friends!

Netherlands' largest gaming centre restarts with various summer activities

Are you not going on holiday this year and are you looking for a fun group or family activity? Or do you still need to celebrate your son's or daughter's children's party? Then the Rabo Esports Stadium on the H20 Esports Campus in Purmerend is certainly worth a visit. This is the largest gaming centre in the Netherlands. After a period in which the campus was forced to close its doors, the largest Esports Gaming Centre of the Netherlands will reopen on Saturday the 4th of July. The official opening will follow later. For families we designed special Esports Experience Tours, for children we organise Gaming Holiday Camps and of course the best children's parties.

Sjaak Kuil, manager of esports gaming activities: 'We've been itching to reopen for weeks, but it has to be done in a responsible and safe way. June we found too early. At this location we are quickly up to 30 people, so this relaxation was not enough for us to open the doors. Saturday 4 July is still under reserve. The government has yet to confirm that we can receive 100 people from July onwards, but in the meantime we look forward to this with confidence.

Special birthday parties for children between 16 March and 30 May

A lot of children's parties will have been cancelled in recent months. For those who had a birthday between 16 March and 30 May, we have a special offer! The birthday boy or girl will receive a cool gift that of course has to do with gaming. Fortnite children's parties, Minecraft Masters, flying with drones, Virtual Reality or interactive sports, or a combination of all this, for boys and girls from 7 years of age there is plenty to do. Our range of children's parties is growing every week and can be seen at www.h20.gg. 

H20 Gaming holiday camps

The H20 gaming holiday camps are intended for boys and girls aged 7 to 12. During the summer holidays, children can compete with their peers in a lifelike gaming arena in various games such as Fortnite, FIFA 20 and Rocket League. In addition, they can race like Max Verstappen on a Formula 1 circuit in one of our racing seats. 

Besides gaming, we also pay attention to sports and games. We think it is important to get a lot of exercise during the day. We have interactive gaming walls where you are challenged to get the best out of yourself. That means running and flying as well. Children can register for one or more days. 

Unique day out with the Esports Experience Tour

The H20 Esports Experience Tour is a unique tour through the largest esports & gaming centre in Europe. During the tour participants will get information about the history, the present and the future of esports. During this tour one looks through the eye of the gamer, the viewer or parent, but also through the eye of the child. The H20 Esports Experience Tour is a unique experience for young and old! In about 1,5 hour you will learn more about all the activities that the H20 Esports Campus and the Rabo Esports Stadium offer. 

Inspirational breakfast session organised at H20 Campus

Breakfast session at the H20 campus
At H20, SearchUser, QStylez and Dunion organised a breakfast session on Friday 24 January with a large turnout. H20's catering took the time to prepare a breakfast for the participants. Those who participated in the breakfast session could follow three inspiring presentations and of course there was time to network and ask questions. 
Matthijs Vink, co-founder of H20, opened the session with a short intro. He explained H20 and its vision: To become the number one ecosystem in Europe for the development of the next generation through gaming, esports and creative technology.

A future-proof website

Ron Steur gave a presentation from QStylez about the process needed to build a future-proof website. The presentation showed, among other things, how a website should function and which web design trends are relevant. QStylez recommends using WordPress as a tool and content management system (CMS).

E-commerce & Marketplace Marketing

Randy Duin gave a presentation from Dunion. E-commerce is the online sale of goods at B2C, B2B or C2C level. During the presentation he explained how to generate traffic via the right channels. How to monitor campaigns based on data analysis and what the best way is for website optimisation. In addition They explained Marketplace Marketing. This is selling products and services by using an external B2C, B2B or C2C e-commerce platform. Randy explained the advantages and disadvantages of using Marketplace Marketing.

Marketing Automation

Patrick Schokker gave a presentation from SearchUser about Marketing Automation. It allows you to speed up the sales process and automate marketing processes with the right message at the right time. During the presentation the advantages of Marketing Automation were explained. Patrick explained how the software exactly works and how it contributes positively to the customer journey.
Would you also like to organise a company event? Then mail to info@h20.gg

We thank all visitors to the event.
Thom Hagenhoek of 24 liquor,Liquor stores in Volendam

H20 Esports organised the first teambuilding event in December!


Friday the 13th of December the first gaming related teambuilding event was organised by H20 esports. During this event, 15 team leaders of Peopleware IT got a presentation of H20 with the following objective: Applying esports in teambuilding and making the bridge to business clear.

Esports as team building

Anyone who plays esports knows that teamwork is the most important thing in winning a team game. Coming up with strategies and adapting your way of working according to the situation is very important. Switching and communicating with your teammates happens at lightning speed. It is therefore crucial that you understand each other and have an understanding for each other's decisions.

Presentation

The players of Peopleware IT received a presentation from H20 esports about gaming and the bridge to business. By means of a cooperation with Fariko Gaming the day was completely filled. It was explained how Esports can be applied in the business world. Also, by means of some examples of psychology, it was explained how you can predict certain actions of others. This claim was again supported with examples and videos from real Esports matches.
The aim of this presentation was to encourage the participants to think differently. By means of Esports, the participants were taken into the picture of team gaming and how this can make a team more powerful and efficient. Of course there was also gaming! Namely a few games of team-deathmatch in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare!
After a number of matches, an analysis was made of the teamwork within the game. These findings were then linked to teamwork issues that recur in the business world and how to solve them faster and better. The day ended with a delicious drink and snack on the H20 Campus.
 

Would you also like to experience a teambuilding event?

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H20 welcomes Sjaak Kuil as General Esports Manager

 
H20 Esports Manager Sjaak Kuil
"We are extremely happy and proud to announce that Sjaak Kuil is joining H20," said Dirk Tuip. "At H20 we are taking a step further every day towards our goal: To become the coolest esports venue in all of Europe! The past few months we received about 80 applications for the various jobs. Several interviews with different candidates were the result. With Sjaak we think to have found 'the right man for the job'. With pleasure we therefore introduce him. 
That Sjaak is someone with ambition and passion soon becomes apparent when you start talking to him. He has loved his hobby for many years and, like many on the H20 campus, has made it his job. Sjaak also has the necessary experience and knowledge to make the H20 dream come true. This becomes quickly clear when you look at his years of experience within esports. To name a few experiences:

  • Building Esportswall (an esports platform), which within a few months grew into a platform with thousands of users playing daily.
  • Starting The City League (TCL), an online league based on physical esports locations, such as H20 in Purmerend. Esports venues across Europe joined up, allowing teams to play physically on location, but play online against other venues. This way we had matches like the Antwerp Lions VS Reload Prague, or Milan Titans VS SP Thessaloniki. This concept was very much focused on traditional sports, with matches taking place once a week. All matches were broadcast live and provided a live link between all esports venues in Europe.
  • The WESG Benelux qualifier is organised with a prize pool of $10,000.
  • Festival Director, at Blammo Media, known from Gamekings and the Firstlook Festival. The latest edition of the biggest gaming festival of the Benelux was organised by Sjaak. 

It was not a difficult choice for H20 to hire Sjaak as esports manager. Our team welcomes Sjaak to the team! Together we are going to have a phenomenal opening!

How did H20 come your way?

"After the projects Firstlook Festival and DreamHack Rotterdam 2019, I started looking for the next assignment. With the idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to stay active in esports and not let go of production yet, I ended up with a select group in the Netherlands and some international challenges. I knew the idea of H20, but I was still sceptical about the size of the project. At the next meeting, I saw everything come to life and it all really happened. An esports stadium in the Netherlands! The chance to be there and experience everything from so close is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Because of a good click with Matthijs Vink and Dirk Tuip, founders of H20, it all went pretty fast and as of January 2020 I am working as General Manager of H20 esports BV!". - Sjaak Kuil.
 
H20 is slowly becoming the place to go for anyone who wants something to do with gaming. Esports, Game Design or Application Development will be the focus, but also the latest technology. We asked Sjaak why he chose H20 and how he sees the future.
Sjaak kuil Esports Manager
I wish we had something like that when I was a student!" - Sjaak Kuil

Why did you choose H20?

"I chose H20 because this concept has a lot going for it in different areas, with a central focus on youth around the age of 20 (H20 stands for 'age twenty', among other things). There will be something for everyone, from the latest competitions in VR gaming to Minecraft children's parties. Because what we are going to do is quite broad, this attracts my interest. All aspects are interrelated and ultimately scream out one central topic: esports! We are going to work hard, with the help of H20, to make students excited about the future and help them make the right choice for their career. I wish we had something like that when I was a student!"

How do you see the future of H20?

"Personally, I would love to see the esports club structured like a traditional football club. We then look very much at the structure of football, such as training once a week and a match at the weekend. Plus the division of juniors and seniors with coaches, trainers, etc. I tried this concept before under the name The City League. We organised the competition between gaming centres throughout Europe. Now we have the opportunity to set up our own gaming centre and I think it would be great to work on the future structure of esports. The top talents are mainly scouted at local esports clubs, like H20. Next to the gaming club I am most looking forward to the Rabo Esports Stadium and the VR area, both are unique in the Netherlands and will provide the ultimate experience for the visitors".

The next five years at H20

"In the next five years, I hope firstly that we can compete as a stadium with the fast-growing international esports market, creating a well-filled agenda with unique events. Secondly, I hope we can bring structure to the general esports landscape, especially looking at traditional sports. The esports club should run lively with perhaps a national league. Finally, I hope we can keep up with all the rapid innovations in VR, AR, gaming and robots. These technologies are being developed at a rapid pace and at H20 we need to keep up. All aspects of H20 must be rotated and structured. Perhaps then we can think about opening more locations like this in the Netherlands, or Belgium, or elsewhere in Europe?! "
 

"I am very much looking forward to taking up the adventure at H20, to establish Partnerships and manage events from large to small!" - Sjaak Kuil, Esports Manager H20.


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The Twaanlab clubs have moved to H20.

TwaanLab is the breeding ground for digital technical thinkers, creatives, makers and wizzkids. Schools and boards are increasingly recognising the importance of modern techniques such as programming, robotics and 3D printing in education. Yet many schools continue to struggle in their search for an implementation of modern technology in education. The TwaanLab helps and guides schools in their search for an appropriate implementation of modern technology in the classroom.

The TwaanLab wants to give all young people in the Netherlands the opportunity to develop themselves in technical and creative fields and, in doing so, give them an insight into the work fields of the future. Currently, there is a large gap between the future fields of work and education; there is little or no incentive to promote 'digital crafts' in education and beyond.

In the TwaanLab, young people learn to work with (the latest) digital techniques such as programming, digital design, 3D printing and online TV-making. Young people who join the TwaanLab: Code Club, Art Tribe or YouTube Squad work and train weekly with other programmers, creative people or online TV makers on their digital talents. With the move to H20, a big step has been taken. In this way, H20 becomes the breeding ground for young talent and Twaanlab surrounds itself with our target group. Young talents, programmers, gamers, streamers, are all located on and around the H20 campus.

Toine Rohner, Twaanlab:
"We are extremely excited about our expansion to H20. After several successful years in Purmerend Library, the TwaanLab has grown enormously. From giving small programming workshops and courses, we now have three different clubs and we give lots of lessons in secondary education in Purmerend. With our move to H20, we want to take our first steps outside the region and hopefully soon much further. We are busy developing our own e-learn platform. In this way, we want to bring the whole of the Netherlands into contact with the unique TwaanLab vision and teaching methods. For us, H20 immediately brings the synergy we were looking for, a partner who supports our mission, the contact with the business community and the educational facilities that are so lacking everywhere."

Great progress in construction and furnishing H20 Rabo Esports Stadium


Positive news for all followers of H20 regarding the construction and design of the H20 Rabo Esports Stadium. The past weeks several setbacks have been turned into breakthroughs. The date for the official opening will be announced before the end of the year. A number of components will be delivered before the end of the year. Early 2020 a number of pilot tests are scheduled.
"Compared to a few weeks ago, we are now in a good position," says Johan de Punder on behalf of the H20 team. We have now started to furnish it. Both the stage and the LED screens have been ordered and the preparations for their construction started a fortnight ago. Before the end of the year, a gaming studio and a streaming studio will be ready for pilot testing. The Purmerendse Scholengroep has also resumed gym lessons."
De Punder continues: "The entrance to the entire campus from both the inside and the outside has been completed. At the beginning of December, the renovation of the outside of the H20 Rabo Esports StadiumThe roof will be taken care of (it was leaking in several places), windows will be replaced all around and new panel walls will be installed so that it will look great again. The roof will be taken care of (it was leaking in several places), the windows will be replaced all around and new panel walls will be put up so that it will look great again. Emergency power has been installed and we are now waiting for extra electricity capacity to be installed. This will happen early next year."
Before the end of the year, the exact planning will be known. H20 will then announce when we will organise the official opening. The first brainstorm with the taskforce has taken place. H20 hopes to put the H20 Rabo Esports Stadium immediately on the map.
Meanwhile, stay informede of all the progress surrounding the construction and fitting out of H20 Rabo Esports Stadium.

Companies miss many opportunities for marketing in esports

Esports Battle

A handful of large, international companies are actively and visibly promoting themselves to tens of millions of gamers via e-sports. Still others are not doing so at all. "There are a lot of opportunities," says Jeremy Jackson of market analyst Newzoo.
Advertisers and sponsors seem to be ignoring audiences of millions internationally. There are people all over the world, young and old, who play games occasionally or more often. From entertaining pastime to competitive team play and everything in between. Yesterday Jackson told Emerce Performance in Amsterdam that few companies hardly use this channel for communication.

Almost everyone gamed.

"It's a misconception to think that only young boys up to age 23 are sitting at home in the basement gaming." He shows demographic figures, which indicate that every age group is represented from about evenly between the ages of 10 and, say, 60. Even the split between men and women is about 50/50. He does note, however, that engagement can vary greatly. One group prefers to watch games on Twitch or YouTube and another is casual gamer at night on the couch. Yet another gamed in teams or is more interested in the hardware.
Newzoo estimates the total gaming audience worldwide this year at 443 million. That's 100 million more than in 2017, but 150 million more will come by 2023.
"What companies need to do now is: orient themselves to this area and the audience in particular. In doing so, they should ask themselves what they can contribute contextually relevant. The public is open to approaching companies. Do you then want to bring your brand into the game or do you integrate a game into your brand and compare products?"
Jackson does indicate that there is still much to be gained for the gaming world in terms of onboarding advertisers. This is because it is difficult to measure the effect of campaigns in real time from the game environment.
Research by Newzoo shows that in 2019, there were 253 brands that were sponsors or advertisers in international esports competitions. "Sixty-one percent of them are not substantively affiliated with the game. Last year it was 55 percent." Most of the companies are general advertisers, not game-related parties. "It is especially striking how many gaps there are in our matrices. Empty fields that illustrate how many commercial opportunities go unfilled."
Source: Emerce.

China big winner of the League of Legends World Cup, the biggest esports event in the world.

League of Legends winners

The Chinese team FunPlus Phoenix has just won the final of the world championship of the video game League of Legends. More than 100 million people are expected to have watched the live stream of the final match. The match was played in a packed arena with spectators.

The Chinese won 3-0 against the European team G2 Esports. Not entirely a surprise, say the experts.

"The hope was that the European team would win, but actually that was against our better judgement. The level of the Chinese teams is just that little bit higher," says Ward Geene of the website Esports Club. "The competition in that region is very strong. A lot of talent is being developed there. For a long time, South Korea was at the top, for example."

The final of the League of Legends World Championships is the biggest event in the world of esports in terms of viewers. Last year, 99.6 million people watched the final via the livestream. The Chinese team Invictus Gaming won. In comparison: the Super Bowl - the final of the American football season - was watched by 114.5 million people last year.

Geene expects that with this afternoon's final a new ratings record has been set. "League of Legends has been the biggest game in esports for years and in terms of viewing figures it hasn't reached its peak yet. There was a European and a Chinese team in the final again this year, so both in Europe and in China a huge number of people will have been watching."

FunPlus Phoenix gets to share a few million euros after winning this afternoon. The team also receives a trophy with an accompanying case, specially made by the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton.

Source: Nos.nl

Esports: Top sport with a keyboard


Source: Volkskrant
Anyone who has had anything to do with gaming lately will know that Fortnite is a worldwide phenomenon. The game, in which 100 men on a virtual island fight until only one remains, has proven time and again to be a huge success. For the very best players, gaming is not a frivolous pastime, but top-class sport with a corresponding income. Dave 'Rojo' Jong (21), the most successful esports player in the Netherlands, is well on his way to his second million.

Dave gets out of bed around noon. The top athlete lives on American time. And as befits a top athlete, he starts each day with a protein- and fibre-rich breakfast: oatmeal and hard-boiled eggs. A bite to eat, an hour of fitness, and then it's time for the workout. Dave likes to make comparisons with professional football, a future that the athlete also considered when he played meritoriously at the youth team of football club Hollandia in Hoorn. Training three times a week, and matches against the youth teams of Excelsior and Ajax.

It's like holding the high ground,' says Dave, taking a seat in the game room next to his bedroom, where an ultra-fast computer hums softly to control his equipment: three widescreen monitors, two keyboards, two cameras, a radio microphone and a mixing desk. 'If you practise that for a few minutes a day, you won't be as good at it as if you were doing it for a few hours a day.'

Fortnite: Build, Shoot, and Set Traps

And just like a professional footballer, training starts with a warm-up. In his case: shaking off the wrists, warming up the fingers, awakening the ability to react. Making Nineties, that is, building structures with ninety-degree angles - floor-slope-walls, floor-slope-walls - at lightning speed to propel your character upwards and above an opponent. He practices on long gangways with walls to the right or left, to move as bullets come from the side, and on platforms to shelter from overhead fire.
But then, through a crack in the door, Mother Mary, just silently appeared on the landing. Dave, do you have time for dinner? Asked a little later if it's not time for her wealthy son to hire a catering service, while Dave puts his fork in a steaming casserole of chicken-potato-french beans, she smiles. I like doing it. When he was still playing a lot of football I had to drive him around and I had a lot more work to do.'
When the chicken is finished, it's time for shooting practice. Red spheres and bars dart across the screen along random paths in a programme called KovaaK's Aim Trainer. Dave has to click on them with the mouse as quickly as possible. There is no embellishment, no beautifully designed game world; KovaaK's is the digital equivalent of a vending machine that shoots endless balls at a tennis player - but with a new ball every second. Training my hand-eye coordination,' says Dave.
Training, training, and training again. E-sportsmen call it 'grinding': making metres to become even faster, even sharper, and even more successful. To shave off a fraction of a second of your reaction time to a specific tactic of the opponent. The margins are small, in top sport, also in esports. Dave studies the recordings of his lost games minutely, like a football coach dissects the replay of a failed attack from second to second.
Suddenly, a target shoots vertically in an arc across his crosshairs, the cross indicating where he is aiming. Pats, hit. A situation like that almost never happens in Fortnite, but I train for hours on it,' says Dave. Only one player in a championship final will jump over you like that. A hit or miss is the difference between zero and a prize of a ton or so.
At Kovaak's, which is deadly boring, Dave trains for an hour and a half to two hours. Every day. Fortnite is about responsiveness, but also about tactics, communication and cooperation; Dave can shoot well, of course, but shooting games are not his speciality. So he has hired Croatian gamer Serious, a top Quake shooter, for 60 dollars a session to coach him. Serious prescribes exercises, discusses his progress in reaction time and accuracy with Dave every two weeks via Skype, and adjusts the training schedule accordingly.
KovaaK's is followed by six to eight hours of Fortnite training every day, in a select company of top global players who are a match for each other. Dave doesn't learn much from playing against ordinary mortals; he makes them up in no time. Sometimes he does it just for fun, a 'public' game. He usually wins, too, against 99 other players. Occasionally, though, someone manages to shoot Dave dead. He chuckles. Sometimes I see them writing on Twitter a little later: 'Wow I just won from Rojo!

Full agenda

Dave's schedule is unfortunately full; he has no room for further commitments at the moment," read the email from Jane Tesar, Communications and Brand Manager on behalf of Team Lazarus, just after their Dutch recruit had gambled away his $1.1 million last summer. Suddenly Rojo was a celebrity in the gaming world, and in the real world David was surrounded by a hedge of managers and PR people.
These have since faded into the background, after the madness of the World Cup subsided, but for Dave, life has changed forever. Not so long ago, he was an ordinary boy from an ordinary family, living in an ordinary village, and like many other boys his age, often gaming. Until he finished high school in 2016, a gap year followed, and another gap year, and he gradually spent more and more time in front of the computer. 'My mother didn't agree,' he laughs. ''Is he now upstairs gaming again?" the neighbours sometimes said.''
top sport with a keyboard
In early 2018, he discovered Fortnite, which had been out for six months. Dave actually wanted to play another video game, but didn't want to lose the 30 euros it cost. So he threw himself into Fortnite; it was free. Fortnite has a system of amateurs, semi-pros and top players. Dave turned out to be a natural. He shot his way to the top level within a year and in 2019, he and his then teammate and 169 other gamers qualified for the World Cup in New York.
'Then we tweeted: hey we are still looking for an organisation. You can email us or send us a message on Twitter,' he says in his usual slightly flat tone, as if explaining how the washing machine works. 'Hold on,' he says, leaning towards the microphone and addressing a teammate in English. 'Yo Savage, they've got us listed against Ewroon, later. No idea who that is. Huh-huh-huh.' He continues: 'Well, and then Lazarus responded and he offered a certain amount and then I asked for a higher amount and they agreed.' Dave does not want to reveal the exact amount in the newspaper, but his salary is well above average.

Top-class sport or pastime?

Gaming seven days a week, 365 days a year, eight to ten hours a day. Add to that the trips to tournaments in the US or Sweden, the attendance at gaming events that his employer Team Lazarus expects of him, and you could say it is a tough job. But Dave also does it for fun. Although, if he didn't get paid for it, he obviously wouldn't play Fortnite all day, he says. What would he do then? 'Other games.'
Now he gets up at the same time every day, goes to bed at the same time, eats the same breakfast, does the same warm up and the same training games. He drinks no alcohol, no coffee, no tea. Six days a week he works out, on Sundays he plays football with friends. At the latter, however, he does not want any spectators. Dave: 'I do understand that the reader will then see that I also do normal human things. But that is private.
With all that gaming, he has no time for more social activities, nor for further education or a relationship. A girlfriend needs attention, and I don't want to give it to her at the moment.
What did he do the other day when Fortnite was down for almost three days due to an update? Playing CounterStrike online with a bunch of friends.
Is Dave now an addict? A dedicated professional? A workaholic, even?
You don't call someone who plays football all day an addict - certainly not if they're paid to do so,' says René Glas, associate professor of New Media & Digital Culture at Utrecht University. We associate computer games more with frivolous pastimes than regular sport. But there is a limit somewhere where a game becomes just work. If you are under contract to a team, and the goal is to win prizes, then your work is training. esports is somewhere on the borderline between work and play.

Archery, chess and gaming

Much research has been done into the effects of gaming for fun (very briefly: online gaming can strengthen social and cognitive skills, but everything that says 'too' is bad). Little has been done to examine the mental and physical aspects of long-term gaming as a professional player. If there is such a thing as a spiritual mother of academic research on esports, it is Professor T.L. Taylor, a sociologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of several books on the gaming culture and industry.
She laughs when asked over the phone about the sporting content of esports, young boys in flip-flops sitting behind a screen - you can't possibly compare that to cycling or football, can you?
You have now named two of the most physically demanding sports', says Taylor. Moreover, prolonged competitive gaming is indeed exhausting. But there is also a range of Olympic sports that involve dexterity and are considered full. Archery, for example, or dressage. And why should we admire someone who practices eight hours a day to learn to play the violin perfectly, but not someone who can master an extremely complex computer programme?
Still from the game Fortnite, which is enormously popular with tens of millions of players worldwide.
Professional gaming, says Taylor, is a continuation of the age-old collaboration between man and machine to help the former achieve exceptional performance. A cyclist is largely dependent on the bike he is working on, books could be written about the aerodynamics of skating suits, and countless books have been written about the engines of racing cars. Taylor: 'Gaming is also about using technology to master complex systems. A gamer does with a computer what a chess player does with a chess board and a cyclist does with a bicycle.
The pressure is great, because the risk of failure is also great in e-sports: players are usually tied to the game they are good at, and these do not last as long as, say, the sport of 'football' or 'tennis'. If Fortnite's popularity declines in a year or two, your professional career is probably over (although it has to be said that Dave also played the football game Fifa to good effect). And it is already relatively short: at 25, your reflexes are so outdated that it is difficult to keep up at the top. That's why esports is teeming with (very rich) teenagers - you'd better hurry up.

Houses

This is Dave's world, and he likes to live in it. The million won, the tens of thousands of euros he has won in previous tournaments, all very nice of course. A tax lawyer figures out how to pay as little tax as possible on the top prize, and then he has the money transferred. He has no plans to buy his own house with his winnings.
Then I would also sit in a room gaming all day, just like here. Then it makes no sense to leave here. In time, he thinks, he can buy two houses, or three, and live off the rent when Fortnite is over. Maybe a fourth for himself. He has already bought a car, a Golf 7.
Where does all this money come from?
A few thousand euros a month I do put aside, something like that,' he says gapingly, his gaze focused on the screen, when he is asked for the third or fourth time about his income.
Then he chuckles in unison: 'Look, a banana skin, that's super funny when you get killed by a guy in a banana suit, right?' Huh-huh-huh.
Yes, he would love to have a million euros in his account. Especially for later. But the money means above all that he can continue gaming full time, undisturbed. An education - well, that is always an option. Dave's mother Mary raises her hands when asked about it. I sometimes used to say: shouldn't you do something else? But he finished high school. He earns a lot of money. He does what he likes. He exercises and eats well. When Fortnite ends, he wants to continue in the organisation of esports. Or he can still go to university. I believe he will get there.

Madness

It is important, however, that Dave does not succumb prematurely to the mental pressure. This is enormous in esports. Don't let a football player hear you say it, but Hennes Heijmans even says: 'Esports is perhaps mentally more difficult than physical top-class sport'.
Heijmans manages the gamers of Team Atlantis, one of the smaller esports organisations and until recently representative of Mitr0, the 17-year-old Dutch number 2 in Fortnite. Heijmans himself is 19 years old. You don't get any rest in esports; there is no low season and the game is constantly changing. Every week there is a new update, with new weapons, items, techniques and sometimes even game worlds. If you don't train for a week, you're way behind the competition. That's not the case in football.
Watch the documentary Beyond the Game, which follows, among others, the well-known Dutch gamer Manuel van Schenkhuizen, and you will see the traces of years of professional gaming. The Chinese player Li 'Sky' Xiaofeng threatens to perish from self-doubt. For minutes he stares motionless at the screen when he loses a championship, tears rolling down his cheeks. Swedish champion Fredrik 'MaDFroG' Johansson briefly teeters on the edge of insanity, having come to believe that his online success means he can sense things in real life before they happen.
When you've been gaming so intensely since the age of 13, and nobody talks to you, it's very difficult to return to the normal world afterwards,' he says in the film.

Enormous growth

Beyond the Game dates back to 2008 - since then, the amount of money involved in esports has multiplied, and so has the pressure. At the same time, more attention has been paid to the welfare of the young and therefore vulnerable e-athletes. The biggest teams, which often house their players together in luxurious villas with extensive training facilities, are pulling out all the stops. Mental health coaches who previously worked for Olympic athletes, health coaches, sports rooms, psychologists. Even smaller teams like Atlantis have managers like Heijmans who take away any inconvenience for the players. Ordering taxis, arranging food, offering a listening ear when the parents of a very young player are divorced.
A good thing, says Manuel Schenkhuizen, now 33 years old. Under his alias 'Grubby' he joined the then fledgling esports world back in 2003. For thirteen years he fought as an Orc in the virtual world of Warcraft III, winning six world championships. Meanwhile, in the real world, he travelled for tournaments from Paris to Shanghai, from Los Angeles to Singapore.
It was an intense lifestyle, he says now, but he got a lot out of it. After 12 years of putting everything aside for gaming, he said enough was enough. Now he earns his living as a streamer, someone who plays at a high level but mainly for entertainment, attracting a paying audience with jokes, techniques, stories.
His advice for aspiring e-athletes and today's top players? Decide what sacrifices you think are worth it. If you want a balanced lifestyle with a wide circle of friends, then live accordingly. But if you want to be the very best, then you will definitely go to a few less birthdays. As long as you enjoy your journey to the top, and as long as you can accept it when you don't make it, then nothing is wasted.

A blow of money

Five minutes after the end of the Grand Finals, that Sunday evening in September, Dave is hanging in the semi-darkness downstairs on the sofa with his mother. She has taken a break from Expedition Robinson , calmly waiting to see if her son will come and tell her that his team has won half a million dollars. Dave is wearing sweatpants and thick socks in his Gucci slippers. There are dark lines under his eyes and he looks a bit pale. Because I am hungry,' he says with a smile. Nerves, Dave doesn't do that.
And yes, he is disappointed: his team finished in seventh place. That earns them $19,200, $6,400 each. Well, boy, I think it's a lot of money to sit up there for three hours,' his mother tells him. I don't deserve it. Huh-huh-huh, Dave laughs. It's just how you look at it', he says. 'I was hoping for a top 3. I want to win. And the cash prizes were much higher in the top 3, of course.'
Halfway through the evening, he has played seven hours non-stop, interrupted only by a few bites of food. And now? To bed? He smiles, as he opens the front door and the mouse-quiet night of Andijk slips into his twittering world for a moment. Just one more game. Just for fun.