Gaming
Games
Gaming podcasts just got a level up courtesy of Frankie Ward
The brand-new Save Your Game podcast sees big-name guests talk through the three video games that shaped their lives. We caught up with host Frankie Ward to find out more.
Video games can be life-changing.
From generating an exciting career-path, helping people through a rough time, or even creating happy memories of times spent on the couch with friends. Video games mean something different to all of us.
That’s why we have enlisted the help of one of the most recognisable faces in esports, host and interviewer Frankie Ward for our exciting new podcast: Save Your Game. Each week, Ward will be speaking with some of the biggest names in gaming and esports to find out which three games shaped their lives before they pick just one to ‘save game’.
We recently caught up with Ward to find out more about Save Your Game as well as her own gaming journey. Subscribe and listen to the full episode here, and check out these podcast episodes Ward has recorded with Creative Rebels and Esports Network for more.
You've been a full-time host for around three years now. In that time what has surprised you the most? Either about yourself or the gaming industry as a whole.
Firstly that there was space for me! I was nervous to go out there and say "Hello, can I be on camera now please?" after years as a producer. Gaming was the first industry to say "yes you can." But also how brilliant the players are – they have very stressful jobs, despite doing something they love, and yet I've had such fantastic experiences getting to know them and telling their stories, particularly in Counter-Strike. I love the game, but they really make the scene for me.
Following on from that, what is your next goal for your career?
I'm not actually sure, which is probably a sign that I'm in the right place for me. I've had such fantastic opportunities and I've been fortunate enough to work all over the world. I think I'd like to finally learn Dota 2 (I've started streaming it once a week with the analyst Purge) in my spare time and also look at working outside of esports. I know I need to find more of a work/life balance because esports is so all-encompassing that it's hard to separate your work and personal life. I need to stop saying no to weddings! That's the goal – get a stable contract that allows me to plan my year in advance! How boring!
Are you an avid listener of podcasts yourself? If so, what are some of your favourites and why?
YES! I love Reply All – the Case of the Missing Hit is my favourite podcast episode of all time. HLTV Confirmed is a CS:GO podcast that has a guest from the scene each week but also talks about additions to the game and the latest tournament results. It's entertaining but essential to my job too because the guests might reveal something they haven't before that I can then pick up on when I'm interviewing them next. I also love Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, aka Wittertainment. I once had an email read out and got messages from friends who also turned out to be "members of the church" [the podcast has a running joke about its congregation of listeners]. It was a proud moment.
Frankie Ward
© Marcus Maschwitz/Red Bull Content Pool
Of course, you have your own podcast, My Life in Pixels, how has that been going? What prompted you to start it and how did you come up with the idea? It might be tough but can you pick a few of your favourite episodes and tell us why?
I started the podcast after my job at Twitch ended in 2018 and it was originally meant to be me talking to developers. Then I realised it was an opportunity to talk to people I already knew from esports and gaming as it made for a more engaging chat. While the concept of guests talking about the games that got them to where they are hasn't changed (it was a format loosely based on a show I created when producing at Twitch called Platform which was a cross of the [BBC] radio show Desert Island Discs and old TV show This is Your Life), it's a lot looser than it used to be.
How different is it conducting interviews in a podcast setting rather than a short talk live on air? Do you enjoy that more as an interviewer?
It's far more relaxed for both parties because there's an edit button. I also rarely do video versions. I prefer the intimacy of an audio-only podcast. I don't tend to interview "on rails" and stick to planned questions as I like to follow threads so for the podcast interviews, it's really just about seeing where the conversation goes, and I really enjoy that. A podcast tends to be a two way conversation where you contribute more to the conversation; when I'm doing interviews in esports, my opinion is not what matters.
And in your own words, tell us more about the Save Your Game podcast and why people should be excited for it? And also, why you're personally excited about it.
Save Your Game is your opportunity to delve into the background of some of your favourite gaming personalities; you may know them for just one game, but maybe there's a totally unexpected title they played, or a game that you missed the first time round that you should really check out based on their recommendation. But as always, it's not just about the games themselves, it's about who they were when they played those games and how their lives have changed since then. That's what I'm most excited about, exploring what people's choices say about them.
That's what I'm most excited about, exploring what people's choices say about them
You've already recorded the first episodes, one with FIFA pro Ryan Pessoa and another with legendary G2 Esports founder Ocelote. Can you give us a little sneak preview of each one and anything that stood out from those two chats?
With Ocelote, I've always admired how utterly shameless he is – and I mean that in a good way. He's embraced his role as a CEO and sets the tone of G2, which is really important given how many teams in different games they have. You might not support one of their teams, but you sure as hell know who G2 are. This was an opportunity to find out who the man behind the memes really is, and how his appetite for competition was formed.
Ryan's episode is great because it introduced me to a Sonic game I'd never heard of before, but also because he's someone known for FIFA, so I wanted to find out if he's always been exclusively a solo player and why that is.
A tricky one now, who would be your dream guest for the Save Your Game podcast and why?
Aisha Tyler who is ridiculously talented and used to run her own podcast. She's known to gamers for frequently hosting the Ubisoft E3 press conferences but she's also one of the busiest women on the planet being a comedian, talk show host, actor and director. She also voices Lana on Archer. I briefly met her at the Game Awards in 2017 when I was filming on the red carpet and she was brilliant.
Finally, it seems only right that we pose the same question to you as you do to our guests. What are the three games that have shaped your life? Can you tell us why those games are important to you and of course, can you also choose one to "save game?"
So we have to kick off with Monkey Island 2 because it was one of the first games I fell in love with when I was probably five or six years old. I remember us buying it in PC World and the several floppy disks my dad used to install it. I was fascinated by it. Then I'd have to say Final Fantasy 10 aged 16. I devoured it in two weeks – I lived in quite a remote area far from school friends at the time, so once my GCSEs were over, it was the ultimate way to spend the spare time I had. I don't think I'd cried over a video game before Final Fantasy 10. It still makes me cry thinking about the ending, I was that invested in the characters. Finally, I have to say Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. There are so many esports out there – League of Legends was the game that made me get into esports when I covered Worlds for the BBC in 2015, but the CS:GO scene is where I grew as a host and is where I've found a home. I play it when I can, but mostly I'm watching it. It's amazing to think of how many other lives it has changed.
Check out the Save Your Game podcast here.
