We spoke with PUBG Turkey Program Manager at Challengermode, Berke Tümay Andıç

We had an interview with Berke Tümay Andıç, PUBG Turkey Program Manager at Challengermode, a platform that provides esports infrastructure to all industry participants, including esports organizations, players, and game developers. Berke Tümay Andıç, a representative of Turkey, informed us of Challengermode’s plans for 2023.

Who is Berke Tümay Andıç?

I am 29 years old, actually a long time (METU NCC and KOU) Chemical Engineering
student. I think that I am a character who organizes events and organizations for as
long as I can remember and tries to entertain people around me based on moderate
communication. As an example, we can show my involvement in the establishment and
management of many societies or organizations in the last 10 years. Just before I
ended my education life at METU, after 2 really enjoyable years I turned to Twitch
broadcasts, I decided to focus entirely on Esports. At the moment, I carry out both
working life and education together.

How did you meet esports?

My acquaintance with esports goes back a long time. With the increase in
computer and internet usage towards the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, I think that I stepped into competitive platforms even though I was not aware of
it at that time. The competitive interaction within both FPS and MOBA games led me to
the industry as time progressed. I think that my biggest breaking moment was that I
started to look at this industry a little differently because I produced VALORANT content
completely during my Twitch broadcasts. As of January 2022, my teammates and I started researching Esports and Esports Management in Turkey. As a result of our
studies which lasted for about 9 months, we thought that we could integrate the efforts
to increase the performance of esports players and that these practices would
contribute greatly to the teams in our country in Europe and the world arena. Due to
some facts, we turned our direction to the MENA region teams and had meetings and
support with some well-known Esports teams in this region. Due to my desire to
contribute to our region as a corporate, I am currently working as PUBG Turkey
Program Manager at Challengermode.

What is your perspective on Turkey as Challengermode? Do you have any
projects you can share for 2023?

Turkey is a great region and has played an important role in Challengermode as
a company as well as provided the global esports scene with pro players and
teams competing on the absolute highest level.

Challengermode is growing rapidly in the region with efforts currently targeted
towards the grassroots scene. Our work together with Krafton on PUBG
NextPro is a great example of that. The project allows players looking to become
the next generation of esports champions somewhere to consistently practice
with like-minded players and gain experience playing in a more serious setting.
It’s really exciting to be a part of that journey.

Working closely with local organizations like FUT Academy and PROTALITY has
also been pivotal to our success in the region in PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS.

Outside of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, we are also looking to increase our
presence in the region together with other games and their communities.
Recently, Challengermode became an official esports partner for PUBG MOBILE.
This, combined with the game being deeply integrated with the platform, truly
enables us to expand our offering for PUBG MOBILE organizers and players in
the region.

We are also putting up a PUBG MOBILE Esports fund open for tournament
organizers in Turkey on the grassroots level. This is an initiative we have done
before in other regions and games, we see help TOs increase the scope of
community tournaments by allowing them to scale up and cut costs.

As far as projects for 2023 go, we have some projects we’re really excited about
but nothing that I can share with you right now. There are definitely things
happening in early ’23, you’ll just have to wait and see.

How do you see the future of esports in Turkey?

Great success is coming. It will continue to come. I know that some
official institutions have activities to raise awareness of families.
Thanks to these studies, the number of players who want to turn to Esports will
increase and the competition among themselves will affect the
performance of the players. Of course, not only that, the support and
encouragement initiatives of the clubs for the players who grow up play
an important role. Until a few years ago, we witnessed the birth
of an industry, now it is standing on its own feet and will probably
move forward in 2-3 years with this acceleration. The trend shows it.
My only regret is the local change in the League of Legends league system. I hope this will be changed as soon as possible.