About The Load-In

By The Load-In Editor, Paul Delos Santos

The esports media scene – primarily in North America – is broken.

It’s by no fault of the people in the space. Most are fans. Most follow the Bill Simmons playbook of fan-first journalism. Also, the space is heavily conflated with the gaming industry, and it fails to separate the two.

My first rule about The Load-In is that I don’t make my team fandom public. Yes, I’ll make friends in the space, but like Kobe Bryant running through Pau Gasol’s chest at the Olympics, we’re friends, but we both got jobs to do.

I love the sport more than a team, and I tell stories in the most neutral, unbiased way to serve fans of all teams, not a handful. Also, if I openly had a fandom listed on my account, wouldn’t that already harm your view of my content and make you take my takes seriously? Probably not. You weren’t going to anyway, but this gives you an easy out.

It’s what made launching The Load-In important to me.

First, I promise to listen. We may not agree on things. We may not reach a conclusion that makes us both happy, but we’ll need to agree to disagree. Our goals are similar; we want to see this industry thrive and be sustainable.

Second, is there anything you want to see covered? Ask! I’m someone who wants to tell stories and loves learning new things, even at a fundamental level. So, is there an esport you want me to explore? Let me know, and I can see what I can do.

Lastly, none of this is possible without you. So, before we even get started: Thank you. Thank you for supporting this project.

With that said, welcome to The Load-In.