Rix.GG is the agency creating and developing esport talents

Jamie Lewis spoke to Andy Martin about how he went from journalism to Rix.GG, an agency that helps put together esport teams

Lewis: ‘We want to be better than each other – it’s evolution’ (Jamie Lewis)

In the burgeoning realm of esports, they’ll soon be having a “masters” competition for anyone over 20. Jamie Lewis, who runs Rix.GG, building esports teams, and is known fondly to his players as “Boomer”, is worried about hitting 30 – and he’s already had a couple of careers. Including a stint of several years working for The Independent, so I guess there’s hope for me yet.

He grew up in Hornchurch, Essex, where his single-parent Mum was a hairdresser who drove around in her Corsa giving perms to former East Enders. Lewis spent a lot of his teenage years “bunking off” school. He was one of the first generation of digital natives who found his friendships and communities online. “All my interactions with girls at school came through messaging,” he recalls. In those days it was MSN, or MySpace or Piczo.

“The internet is on rails now – it’s curated,” says Lewis. “But back then, it was a very different beast. It was the internet and the dark web all rolled into one. There was no one telling you where to go. You just dived in and hoped for the best.”