Serious Gaming
Encyclopedia
Serious Gaming is a professional gaming team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Bas Peeperkorn. Serious Gaming is known for their achievements in First Person Shooter Deathmatch
tournaments, most notably those by Quake Series
players Maciej Krzykowski
and Alexey Yanushevsky.
and following van Tilborg the following players were signed and represented Serious Gaming throughout the tour: Fredrik Edesater & Stefan Timmermans. Highlights for the team included a ninth place finish at the Chile stop and two players being among the 32 players in the world tour finals.
division consisting of Finnish players. This division would disband shortly after their stay in Seoul.
. Andersen would develop into a champion player at the national level but never take the step to international competition. Kryzkowski quickly established himself as a major contender in international competition, being recognized as the newcomer of the year in all of eSports in 2006
. Kryzkowski ended up winning the Quake competition at ESWC 2007
without losing a map, becoming the youngest Quake and ESWC world champion in history.
division, originally signing Oskar Rudberg and Jos Buijvoets. Rudberg would retire shortly after joining and Buijvoets transitioned into a managerial role. The team signed and released a variety of players including (now) professional gamers Benjamin Baker and Daniel Spenst. Eventually a stable line-up of players would emerge that represented the team for several years including Kevin van der Kooi, Nikolaus Cassidy and Hjalmar Högberg.
teams, the first of which disbanded several months after joining and the second of which disbanded after unsuccessfully trying to transition to Call of Duty 4.
the focus of the Deathmatch scene switched back to Quake III in 2008. Serious Gaming signed Alexey Yanushevsky in July, 2008. Yanushevsky would win the 2008 Electronic Sports World Cup
with Kryzkowski being unable to defend his title due to his visa being rejected. Yanushevsky would later also win the professional tournament at QuakeCon 2008
which was the first time QuakeLive was used at a major professional gaming event, this game would quickly become the standard for professional Deathmatch competition and remains to be till today. The two would compete in various Quake competitions throughout 2008, 2009 and 2010 and in Tek-9 Network's inaugarul QuakeLive ranking (February, 2010) Yanushevsky was ranked the world's number one QuakeLive player with Kryzkowski taking a third place. Also signed November 1, 2009 was Adrien Denis "in full harmony with the teams philosophy of converting young talented players into tournament winners".
while both still filling a role in the WarCraft III division. This year van der Kooi would leave Serious Gaming to lead a Heroes of Newerth
division for professional gaming team fnatic
.. Added in 2010 would be Lennart Roest in order to ensure the team's viability in team competitions.
On May 21, 2010 van der Kooi re-joined the Real Time Strategy roster as part of the Starcraft II squad. He would be joined by Dlovan van den Bosch on June 14, 2010 and Alexander Hein on August 11, 2010.
division in 2008. Several months after announcing the team the Electronic Sports World Cup
announced the inclusion of DotA at their main event. Serious Gaming DotA ended up winning the French championship and qualify for the 2008 Electronic Sports World Cup where they would take 7th place.. Following this tournament the Serious Gaming organisation and its DotA division parted amicably.
, 2006–Present (Quake Series) Alexey Yanushevsky, 2008–Present (Quake Series) Nikolaus Cassidy, 2007-2008 / 2009–Present (StarCraft II) Adrien Denis, 2009–Present (Quake Series) Kim Dong Hwan, 2009–Present (StarCraft II) Lennart Roest, 2010–Present (StarCraft II) Kevin van der Kooi, 2007-2010 / 2010-Present (StarCraft II) Dlovan van den Bosch 2010-Present (StarCraft II) Alexander Hein 2010-Present (StarCraft II)
) Stefan Timmermans, 2005–2010 (Deathmatch manager and player)
Deathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
tournaments, most notably those by Quake Series
Quake series
The Quake series is a line of first-person shooter video games produced by id Software.-Overview:The Quake series is somewhat unusual in that its focus changes frequently; the story of Quake II has nothing to do with Quake, and Quake III Arena has little to do with either of its predecessors...
players Maciej Krzykowski
Maciej Krzykowski
Maciej Krzykowski , who also goes by the pseudonym av3k, is an active professional player of the first person shooter series Quake. He has Polish nationality and resides in Ostróda. He has been activily competing in international Quake competitions since March 5, 2006 and is signed to Dutch...
and Alexey Yanushevsky.
Deathmatch
Serious Gaming was founded in 2004 by Bas Peeperkorn, the team's first signing was Painkiller player Niels van Tilborg. Painkiller was the game used for the $1,000,000 USD 2005 CPL World Tour2005 CPL World Tour
The 2005 CPL World Tour was a year-long gaming competition held by the CPL. This competition took place throughout 2005, with a total of 9 international stops and a finals event held in the New York City, USA and televised by MTV....
and following van Tilborg the following players were signed and represented Serious Gaming throughout the tour: Fredrik Edesater & Stefan Timmermans. Highlights for the team included a ninth place finish at the Chile stop and two players being among the 32 players in the world tour finals.
Counter-Strike
This year Serious Gaming also competed in televised competition at the World eSport Games in Seoul, Korea, being represented at the second edition of the event by a Counter-StrikeCounter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
division consisting of Finnish players. This division would disband shortly after their stay in Seoul.
Deathmatch
Following the 2005 World Tour the main focus of the FPS Deatmatch scene switched from Painkiller to the newly released Quake IV and Serious Gaming followed. Contracts with van Tilborg and Edesater ended, Timmermans would take a management position and help guide two newly signed players in the professional gaming scene: Markus Andersen and Maciej KrzykowskiMaciej Krzykowski
Maciej Krzykowski , who also goes by the pseudonym av3k, is an active professional player of the first person shooter series Quake. He has Polish nationality and resides in Ostróda. He has been activily competing in international Quake competitions since March 5, 2006 and is signed to Dutch...
. Andersen would develop into a champion player at the national level but never take the step to international competition. Kryzkowski quickly established himself as a major contender in international competition, being recognized as the newcomer of the year in all of eSports in 2006
ESports Award
The eSports Award is an annual award ceremony held since 2004 by Turtle Entertainment in which individuals, teams and organisations are recognized in several categories for their contribution or achievements to or in the field of competitive gaming....
. Kryzkowski ended up winning the Quake competition at ESWC 2007
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
without losing a map, becoming the youngest Quake and ESWC world champion in history.
Real Time Strategy
2006 was also the year Serious Gaming established a Warcraft III: The Frozen ThroneWarcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real-time strategy computer game developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the official expansion pack to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, requiring Reign of Chaos to play...
division, originally signing Oskar Rudberg and Jos Buijvoets. Rudberg would retire shortly after joining and Buijvoets transitioned into a managerial role. The team signed and released a variety of players including (now) professional gamers Benjamin Baker and Daniel Spenst. Eventually a stable line-up of players would emerge that represented the team for several years including Kevin van der Kooi, Nikolaus Cassidy and Hjalmar Högberg.
Call of Duty
Serious Gaming also signed two separate European champion Call of Duty 2Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 2 is a first-person shooter video game and the second installment in the critically acclaimed Call of Duty series. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It was released on October 25, 2005 for Microsoft Windows and on November 22, 2005 as a launch game for the...
teams, the first of which disbanded several months after joining and the second of which disbanded after unsuccessfully trying to transition to Call of Duty 4.
Deathmatch
Following the collapse of the World Series of Video GamesWorld Series of Video Games
The World Series of Video Games was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. The total prize purse of the season was US$750,000...
the focus of the Deathmatch scene switched back to Quake III in 2008. Serious Gaming signed Alexey Yanushevsky in July, 2008. Yanushevsky would win the 2008 Electronic Sports World Cup
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
with Kryzkowski being unable to defend his title due to his visa being rejected. Yanushevsky would later also win the professional tournament at QuakeCon 2008
QuakeCon
QuakeCon is a bring-your-own-computer computer gaming event with a competitive tournament held every year in Dallas, Texas, USA. The event, which is named after id Software's game Quake, sees thousands of gamers from all over the world attend every year to celebrate the company's gaming dynasty...
which was the first time QuakeLive was used at a major professional gaming event, this game would quickly become the standard for professional Deathmatch competition and remains to be till today. The two would compete in various Quake competitions throughout 2008, 2009 and 2010 and in Tek-9 Network's inaugarul QuakeLive ranking (February, 2010) Yanushevsky was ranked the world's number one QuakeLive player with Kryzkowski taking a third place. Also signed November 1, 2009 was Adrien Denis "in full harmony with the teams philosophy of converting young talented players into tournament winners".
Real Time Strategy
Individual Serious Gaming players won tournaments at the national and continental level. After signing Kim Dong Hwan the team also competed at the highest levels of team leagues, culminating in a third place at the Warcraft 3 Champions League season XVI. Kim was recognized as one of the most impressive newcomers in Warcraft III. In 2010 Cassidy and Buijvoets would transition to form a StarCraft II squad competing in the newly released StarCraft II betaStarCraft II
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A sequel to the award-winning 1998 video game StarCraft and its expansions, the game was released worldwide on July 27, 2010...
while both still filling a role in the WarCraft III division. This year van der Kooi would leave Serious Gaming to lead a Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth
Heroes of Newerth is a free-to-play science fantasy, action real-time strategy game developed by S2 Games for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The game was heavily inspired by the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne custom map, Defense of the Ancients and is S2 Games' first game title in the...
division for professional gaming team fnatic
Fnatic
Fnatic is a professional electronic sports organization based out of Australia, UK and The Netherlands. Fnatic was founded in July 23, 2004. Fnatic is particularly well-known for its highly successful Counter-Strike team, which is the single most financially-successful Counter-Strike team in...
.. Added in 2010 would be Lennart Roest in order to ensure the team's viability in team competitions.
On May 21, 2010 van der Kooi re-joined the Real Time Strategy roster as part of the Starcraft II squad. He would be joined by Dlovan van den Bosch on June 14, 2010 and Alexander Hein on August 11, 2010.
Defense of the Ancients
Serious Gaming also signed a French Defense of the AncientsDefense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients is a custom scenario for the real-time strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft...
division in 2008. Several months after announcing the team the Electronic Sports World Cup
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
announced the inclusion of DotA at their main event. Serious Gaming DotA ended up winning the French championship and qualify for the 2008 Electronic Sports World Cup where they would take 7th place.. Following this tournament the Serious Gaming organisation and its DotA division parted amicably.
Management
Bas Peeperkorn, 2004–Present (Owner) Jos Buijvoets, 2006–Present (Real Time Strategy)Players
Maciej KrzykowskiMaciej Krzykowski
Maciej Krzykowski , who also goes by the pseudonym av3k, is an active professional player of the first person shooter series Quake. He has Polish nationality and resides in Ostróda. He has been activily competing in international Quake competitions since March 5, 2006 and is signed to Dutch...
, 2006–Present (Quake Series) Alexey Yanushevsky, 2008–Present (Quake Series) Nikolaus Cassidy, 2007-2008 / 2009–Present (StarCraft II) Adrien Denis, 2009–Present (Quake Series) Kim Dong Hwan, 2009–Present (StarCraft II) Lennart Roest, 2010–Present (StarCraft II) Kevin van der Kooi, 2007-2010 / 2010-Present (StarCraft II) Dlovan van den Bosch 2010-Present (StarCraft II) Alexander Hein 2010-Present (StarCraft II)
Notable former players and management
Hjalmar Högberg, 2007-2010 (Retired) Benjamin Baker, 2006-2007 (signed with Four Kings) Daniel Spenst, 2006 (signed with SK GamingSK Gaming
SK Gaming is a professional German electronic sports organization founded in 1997 by a small group of Quake players living in Oberhausen. SK Gaming retains teams across different genres and are particularly known for their success in Counter-Strike tournaments...
) Stefan Timmermans, 2005–2010 (Deathmatch manager and player)
2010
- 1st -
ASUS Summer - Yanushevsky (QuakeLive) - 1st -
QuakeCon 2010 professional tournamentQuakeConQuakeCon is a bring-your-own-computer computer gaming event with a competitive tournament held every year in Dallas, Texas, USA. The event, which is named after id Software's game Quake, sees thousands of gamers from all over the world attend every year to celebrate the company's gaming dynasty...
- Yanushevsky (QuakeLive) - 2nd -
Electronic Sports World Cup 2010Electronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Krzykowski (QuakeLive) - 1st -
DreamHack Summer Kaspersky QUAKE LIVE ChampionshipsDreamHackDreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record ...
- Kryzkowski (QuakeLive) - 2nd - DreamHack Summer Kaspersky QUAKE LIVE ChampionshipsDreamHackDreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record ...
- Yanushevsky (QuakeLive) - 1st -
ESL Electronic Pro Series Benelux season 4 - Denis (QuakeLive) - 1st -
ASUS Spring - Yanushevsky (QuakeLive) - 3rd -
ESL Intel Extreme Masters IV World Championship Finals - Kryzkowski (QuakeLive) - 4th - ESL Intel Extreme Masters IV World Championship Finals - Yanushevsky (QuakeLive)
- 1st - ASUS Winter - Yanushevsky (QuakeLive)
- 3rd - WarCraft III Champions League season XVI - Real Time Strategy division (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
- 1st - ESL Extreme Masters IV European Championship Finals - Yanushevsky (QuakeLive)
- 2nd - ESL Extreme Masters IV European Championship Finals - Kryzkowski (QuakeLive)
- 1st -
XP League VI - Dong Hawn (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
2009
- 4th - International e-Sports Festival - van der Kooi (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
- 1st - Dreamhack Winter professional competitionDreamHackDreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record ...
- Kryzkowski (QuakeLive) - 2nd - ESL Electronic Pro Series Scandanivia season 1 - Högberg (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
- 1st - ASUS Autumn - Yanushevsky (Quake III)
- 3rd - QuakeCon Masters TournamentQuakeConQuakeCon is a bring-your-own-computer computer gaming event with a competitive tournament held every year in Dallas, Texas, USA. The event, which is named after id Software's game Quake, sees thousands of gamers from all over the world attend every year to celebrate the company's gaming dynasty...
- Yanushevsky (QuakeLive) - 2nd -
Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge - Yanushevsky (QuakeLive) - 1st - ASUS Summer - Yanushevsky (Quake III)
- 2nd - BlizzCon Regional ChampionshipBlizzCon"BlizzCon" is an annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their major franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo...
- Cassidy (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) - 2nd - European Nations Championship - van der Kooi, Buijvoets [as part of team Netherlands] (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
- 2nd - ESL Electronic Pro Series Benelux season 2 - van der Kooi (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
2008
- 1st - ASUS Autumn - Yanushevsky (Quake III)
- 1st - Dreamhack Winter professional competitionDreamHackDreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record ...
- Kryzkowski (Quake III) - 2nd - ESL Electronic Pro Series Benelux season 1 - van der Kooi (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
- 3rd -
Electronic Sports World Cup Masters AthensElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Kryzkowski (Quake III) - 4th - Electronic Sports World Cup Masters AthensElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Yanushevsky (Quake III) - 1st - BlizzCon Regional ChampionshipBlizzCon"BlizzCon" is an annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their major franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo...
- Cassidy (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) - 3rd - BlizzCon Regional ChampionshipBlizzCon"BlizzCon" is an annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their major franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo...
- Garneau (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) - 1st - Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Yanushevsky (Quake III) - 7th - Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Defense of the Ancients division (DotA) - 1st - QuakeCon QuakeLive ChampionshipQuakeConQuakeCon is a bring-your-own-computer computer gaming event with a competitive tournament held every year in Dallas, Texas, USA. The event, which is named after id Software's game Quake, sees thousands of gamers from all over the world attend every year to celebrate the company's gaming dynasty...
- Yanushevsky (QuakeLive) - 1st -
GameGune - Kryzkowski (Quake III) - 2nd -
Warcraft 3 Premier League VIII - Real Time Strategy division (WarCraft III) - 3rd - Electronic Sports World Cup Masters ParisElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Kryzkowski (Quake III) - 5th - Electronic Sports World Cup Masters ParisElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Defense of the Ancients division (DotA) - 1st -
World Cyber Games Pan-American championshipWorld Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
- Cassidy (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne)
2007
- 2nd -
Multiplay i32 $20.000 Quake IV Cup - Kryzkowski (Quake IV) - 2nd -
Stars War IV - Karev [As part of team Romantic Elves] (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) - 2nd - DreamHack WinterDreamHackDreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record ...
- Högberg (WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) - 1st - Electronic Sports World CupElectronic Sports World CupThe Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship.Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals...
- Kryzkowski (Quake IV) - 1st - World Series of Video Games, LouisvilleWorld Series of Video GamesThe World Series of Video Games was an international professional electronic sports competition. It held its first season in 2006, with competitions in six different games and six events held around the world including the finals of the event. The total prize purse of the season was US$750,000...
- Kryzkowski (Quake IV) - 3rd - Wonderbase - Call of Duty 2 division (Call of Duty 2)
- 1st - Crossfire Prize Challenge 2 - Call of Duty 2 division (Call of Duty 2)
- 1st - Samsung Netgamez - Call of Duty 2 division (Call of Duty 2)
- 1st - Multiplay i30 & Belkin Tournament - Kryzkowski (Quake IV)
2006
- 3rd
World Cyber Games All-stars 2on2World Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
- Kryzkowski (Quake IV) - 5th World Cyber Games All-stars 1on1World Cyber GamesThe World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
- Kryzkowski (Quake IV) - 2nd Digital Life Expo - Kryzkowski (Quake IV)
- 4th QuakeCon professional competitionQuakeConQuakeCon is a bring-your-own-computer computer gaming event with a competitive tournament held every year in Dallas, Texas, USA. The event, which is named after id Software's game Quake, sees thousands of gamers from all over the world attend every year to celebrate the company's gaming dynasty...
- Kryzkowski (Quake IV) - 1st Samsung Netgamez - Kryzkowski (Quake IV)
- 1st Samsung Netgamez - Counter-strike division (Counter-Strike 1.6)
2005
- 9th
CPL World Tour Chile2005 CPL World TourThe 2005 CPL World Tour was a year-long gaming competition held by the CPL. This competition took place throughout 2005, with a total of 9 international stops and a finals event held in the New York City, USA and televised by MTV....
- Edesater (Painkiller) - 9th World e-Sport Games IIWorld e-Sports GamesWorld eSport Games is a competitive, international video game league with elite amateur and pro gamers from around the world battling to be crowned world champions...
- Counter-strike division (Counter-Strike 1.6) - 1st World e-Sport Games II European qualifierWorld e-Sports GamesWorld eSport Games is a competitive, international video game league with elite amateur and pro gamers from around the world battling to be crowned world champions...
- Counter-strike division (Counter-Strike 1.6)