Meet our multi-faceted talent, Dávid Červenec. Since his earlier career as a professional esports player, he has gone through quite a few roles at QORPO Game Studio. Having a solid insight into gaming industry and games as such, Dávid ended up as an apt game designer and overall, fun guy to hang out with. Check out his interview!
Hi, David! It’s not a secret that you used to be one of Slovakia's most prolific esports players. How did your path toward professional gaming start?
Honestly, I was always interested in being better than others in things I do. Since my childhood was firmly tied to gaming, I guess there had to be games.
My early starts date back to the times when I was about 9 years old. That was the time when I ditched all the traditional sports and focused fully on League of Legends when I got my new computer. I spent with it about two or three years. When I was around 12 years old, I’ve hit the Diamond 1 division in 3rd season and was already a TOP 10 player in Slovakia.
But slowly, it started to get dull and too repetitive. So I moved on by downloading Counter-Strike.
What did your CS journey look like from the beginning?
I started with the Silver 3 rank in matchmaking. It took me about 50 hours of gameplay to even realize that there is something like a competitive mode. Ever since then, I have been hooked on competitive playing. I spent over 10 000 hours playing it, glued to the screen until I made it to the global scale.
Right after reaching the Global Elite in matchmaking, I joined faceit.com, a global platform where I started to play alone, honing my skills, leveling up, and winning matches. That’s how it works. And just like in any game, as your skill grows, you start to meet people.
So you met your first team in-game, right?
Yes, that’s basically how the teams come together. You socialize with your peers in the game, you start to form sort of game-mates, and if you’re good, perhaps, you will beat some better teams, get noticed, get picked up, and subsequently make it to the big league.
It always goes like this. You meet fellow gamers, you realize that you’re better than others, and you’re able to beat rivals, so you go on. This way, I have become one of the few Slovak Counter-Strike players that had the opportunity to practice against the best teams in the world, such as Navi, Astralis, or Ninjas in Pyjamas, which drastically improved the quality of our team on the local and international scene.
Congratulations! Please, shed light on the course of your professional career.
To tell you the truth, at that time, Slovak esports infrastructure was not very developed. Not many organizations, not much money going in. Yet still, my first noteworthy experience is with the Majestic Lions gaming team in 2016. This organization, for instance, raised players such as Frozen or Styko.
But there was no big buck involved yet. My first notable income from esports started to pour in no sooner than in 2020 when I joined Gunrunners, a Czech esports organization. Well, after the streak of overly successful events, I landed my first professional contract with Enterprise Esports. Moving upwards, probably my biggest esports achievement was 2nd place at Sazka eLeague in 2021, losing to Sinners Esports, which has placed as high as the TOP 20 team in the world.
What was it like to be signed under a professional esports organization?
It was certainly a great feeling, but also had some severe obligations. Once you become a professional player, you are slowly losing the joy of the game, and it’s becoming a real-life job with a daily schedule and goals to achieve. The main goal is obviously the results, so you need to deliver 110% every single time to become better. A professional contract is a tool that allows you to fully dedicate yourself to the main purpose of becoming better. This is where the road begins, but most people decide to stay on the level and enjoy the circumstances.
So what made you quit it?
I have been contemplating the decision for quite some time before, as I’ve sacrificed a lot of my personal life, friends, and school to fulfill my dream. Competitive gaming is an extremely demanding activity that requires at least 10-12 hours a day. You must always be fully in it to keep your position at the forefront. I’ve had about half-year breaks, which certainly affected my results. Esports is an extremely tough industry mental-wise, and you need to be absolutely confident in all of your decisions.
The biggest issue for me was the mental side, as I started to doubt my skill and went into a decline, which I had no control over. In my opinion, I’ve been extremely good compared to regular players, but I’ve lacked the 1-2% to bridge the gap of other people that were simply more dedicated. Therefore I thought the best decision would be to hang my career and move on, finish school, and live a social life that I’ve sacrificed in the past.
What is the biggest challenge in professional esports playing?
It’s more complex than it might appear. Counter-Strike, if taken seriously, is not just about fooling around and shooting. Sure, you can absorb the entire game dynamics in about 4000 hours of focused gameplay. But that’s not where it ends. It’s mostly about sharpening your senses and reflexes, deep thinking, and team synergy. Every match calls for a suitable strategy. You have to think and act quickly. It simply takes 100% of your concentration and mental capacity to outplay your enemies - the adaptation is the greatest aspect that’s required. The perfect tactic might work against some but won’t work against others because everybody has a different playstyle.
Do you still benefit from your experience as a professional esports player?
Absolutely. As you can see, I’m still professionally bound to games and gaming. Working at a game development company, I can still benefit from the knowledge and industry experience I gained in competitive gaming.
I know many people and related companies, I have a better understanding of how the industry works, and most of all, I have an edge in a deep comprehension of the game dynamics.
How did you get to QORPO Game Studio?
After I quit my professional esports career, I focused on college studies in economics and finance. Around the third year of my studies, I got to know Sebastián, who was attending the same studies at that time. He always had his laptop at hand with all those baffling graphs and charts. I was very interested in what was going on on his screen. After some conversations, I got hired by QORPO Game Studio.
How did your role evolve?
Initially, I was officially a market maker, a guy in charge of administering the QORPO Market. I was hired to be the guy responsible for managing the market as I already knew technical analysis and understood crypto well. As time moved on, I was still getting still more involved in game design since my professional background makes me a perfect fit for it.
Do you have any special plans for Citizen Conflict Alpha 2.0?
To meet all the players that have ambitions for esports and encourage them to make their dream come true :)
