Gaming
Esports
How Street Fighter star ProblemX rose to the top
For Londoner ProblemX, the opportunity to become a professional player was hard fought. Here's what shaped the esports athlete.
Benjamin 'ProblemX' Simon might be best known as an influential player on the Street Fighter international scene today (not least because of his victory at EVO 2018), but the game has not always been in his heart. He did encounter a few copies of the Capcom series back when he used to work in a shop selling games, but back then it was all about Call of Duty.
It was with Modern Warfare in 2007, specifically, that the 26-year-old Londoner started competing in esports competitions, initially online and then in real life. Then, after hearing a new iteration of Street Fighter 4 was out, he bought it, mostly out of curiosity, and soon became hooked. Like many players of this generation he is an 'online warrior', who climbed the ranks on the internet and then, when they felt legitimate, started slaying at the local competitions.
Early promise
In his first tournament, ProblemX lost against Ryan Hart, an all-round esports OG who once made the Guinness Book of World Records for the amount of tournaments he played and won. As it happened, ProblemX did not know who Hart was, nor did he know anyone else from the English scene. Though it wasn't long before he discovered a whole community of players, organisers and commentators – many of whom he would go on to become friends with on the European scene. During the EVO 2018, some of them even got on the stage to celebrate his victory.
But getting to that moment didn't happen overnight. From his first tournament to winning EVO 2018 took almost eight years of training, tournaments and events. In fact, when he started playing Street Fighter he was still in the middle of his education, studying a course combining economics, chemistry and biology. Balancing esports with study, his state of mind at that time was to multiply the opportunities in the hope to succeed.
I wanted to have an impact on the world of gaming
After winning EVO 2018, ProblemX made his mark on the gaming world
© Robert Paul
He was also keen to make his country proud: "I wanted to have an impact on the world of gaming," he explains. Presently, Europe remains the poor relation of the fighting game world behind the USA and Japan. ProblemX is not satisfied with this situation and wants to make Europe shine, especially the English contingent.
Enter the entrepreneur
In 2014, Capcom unveiled its Pro Tour, a set of tournaments that, so long as they remained independent, would be co-financed by the company. The money, as well as qualifying places for the final, are distributed to the players making the best results throughout the year. You have to accumulate tournament appearances to get points, which logically already favours established players with financial means to travel the world. Highly publicised via Twitch, these tournaments became the best opportunity for players to make themselves known. Even making the top eight regularly at a tournament or beating a big name player can lead to a sponsor.
I ended up in totally dry tournaments, with just a few tickets in the wallet. I multiplied the money match to remake me a little.
And so ProblemX, who faced a Catch 22 situation in needing to go to the tournaments to win money, but needing money to get there, decided to take the entrepreneurial route. He created his own brand, Problem X Promotions, as a way to sponsor himself and a friend so they could travel and share expenses. Just like an entrepreneur, he invested all his earnings and job savings to travel around the world and get noticed by sponsors. In 2017, thanks to his results in several tournaments, he was recruited by mousesports and became a pro player.
Throughout it all, he chased odd jobs, saved money by buying plane tickets as far in advance as possible, and entering multiple local tournaments to win cash prizes from Money Matches.
"It is not profitable but the important thing is that you are there, you are at the tournament. If you are victorious, then everything is arranged. You can be the best, but if you're not here then it does not matter."
ProblemX has had to work hard to get to the top
© Robert Paul
A period of opportunity
ProblemX confesses that his path is not for everyone and can be daunting: "You need a chance and you need to be at the tournaments to provoke it. It's not for everyone, there will be more failures than wins." All this work paid off, of course. He won 2018's EVO and secured a place for the finals of the Capcom Cup in December in the same year.
When asked if his journey would be repeatable today – with competition on Street Fighter 5 extremely fierce, not to mention the hardship it can take to become professional – he believes it is. For him, these hazardous moments of the Street Fighter 5 world are what allows other players to make a place for themselves: "Nobody would embark on an esport career if it was always the same 20 players who win. It would be a bad investment."
Guest of honour at Red Bull Kumite in 2018, ProblemX lost in the final against Fujimura, and returned to the tournament a year later, finishing fifth overall at Red Bull Kumite 2019.
Could 2020 be his year? Only time will tell...
