There are so many paths into the gaming industry, perhaps, as there are gamers in the world. The access points are constantly redefined by gamers’ passion, creativity, and, like in our guest’s case, the urge to build a community. 

Our guest, Jonathon Oudthone, went from hardcore gamer to the Founder and President of Esports Stadium Arlington, the largest dedicated esports facility in the US, moved purely by his desire of building a gaming community. 

In this episode, Jonathon shares bits of his incredible journey, how he discovered, in a time where social media didn’t offer vast opportunities to connect, the existence of other gamers. Plus he discovered that they were also striving for connection. He also took us through becoming a competitive gamer and then deciding to leave competitive gaming and dedicate his time and effort to streaming content. Jonathon also shared the process he went through from deciding to build a community and the details of founding and directing the Esports Stadium Arlington. 

Resources:

Connect with Jonathon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathonoudthone/

or follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/solidxpanda

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Full Episode Breakdown:

1:03 – John and Jonathon remember how they met, and our guest talks about his relationship with video games since he was a kid.

3:15 – A near and dear story for many people in the industry. Jonathon talks about his first foray into competitive gaming.

9:51 – Jonathon shares the details of how he decided to become a competitive gamer.

16:32 – Jonathon describes how it was for him to start pursuing his dream of building a community and the steps he took towards that goal.

21:42 – Being noticed by one of the biggest tournaments organizers in Dallas. Jonathon talks about his first steps into streaming gaming content. 

25:52 – Jonathon takes through his idea of starting organizing tournaments at home.

32:59 – John and Jonathan talk about Esports Stadium Arlington’s wise decision of doing more than mere competitive gaming events.

39:19 – We were looking at the bones of the facility. Jonathon describes the entire process of putting together the Esports Stadium Arlington. 

47:42 – Jonathon remembers the first year after the big opening of the Esports Stadium Arlington and their incredible success. 

50:46 – Jonathon goes back and relives how hard it was for them as a live events organization to deal with the pandemic.

57:16 – Jonathon kindly shares the biggest takeaways from his experience at the Esports Stadium Arlington before and after the pandemic.