The Richard Lewis Show, former desk host of ELEAGUE, "By The Numbers: CS:GO" podcast co-host
Richard Lewis is a British esports journalist and livestream commentator from Wales. Having written technology articles for The Daily Dot[2] and Cadred,[3] he is best known as an esports journalist and as a former desk host of ELEAGUE.[4]
Career
Broadcasting
In late 2015, it was reported that broadcasting conglomerate Turner would be launching a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional league, called ELEAGUE, which would be aired weekly on the American television channel TBS.[5] Lewis was invited to be a host for the league in 2016.[6] In April 2018, Lewis announced that after two years with ELEAGUE he would be leaving as the full-time host to pursue other opportunities.[7]
In November 2015 at DreamHack Winter 2015, police were called following a physical altercation between Lewis and AllianceDota 2 player Jonathan 'Loda' Berg. On Twitter, Berg claimed he was strangled by Lewis, and Lewis responded saying he acted defensively when confronted by Berg who should not have been allowed backstage. Lewis told PC Gamer he apologized to Berg and that the police found it reasonable he felt threatened by Berg's actions. Police confirmed an assault was reported but no charges were filed.[8][9] DreamHack responded saying that Berg "aggressively approached" Lewis, and while the two were yelling at each other, Lewis was the first to initiate physical contact by grabbing Berg's neck when he felt threatened. DreamHack intended to ask both Berg and Lewis to leave, but after apologizing to each other they were allowed to stay, however, DreamHack announced they would no longer work with Richard Lewis. "We cannot condone violent behavior at our events."[10]
In July 2018, ESP Gaming announced that Richard Lewis would serve as Director of Talent and oversee the on-air personalities for a new multi-genre esports tournament series called the "World Showdown of Esports (WSOE)."[11]
In October and November 2021, Lewis was the desk host of the PGL Major Stockholm, the first CS:GO major in two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
In October 2022, Lewis became a contributor to a new esports media network Last Free Nation co-founded by Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles and Duncan "Thorin" Shields.[13] Lewis hosts "The Four Horsemen" podcast with Mykles and Shields.[14]
In January 2015, Lewis broke the story that two professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams, iBUYPOWER and NetcodeGuides.com, were conspiring in a match fixing scandal for financial reward in 2014. Valve, the game's developer, later permanently banned the players involved from any tournaments organized by the company.[16]
In 2015, Lewis reported that moderators of the League of Legendssubreddit had signed non-disclosure agreements and received free swag from the game's developer Riot Games, and that several former moderators were later hired by the company, despite public statements that the subreddit was fully independent from Riot.[17][18] A month later, a moderator for the subreddit announced Lewis's content was indefinitely banned from the subreddit after alleged harassment from Lewis's fans.[19] Lewis disputed the allegations of abusive behavior, and argued that he had never asked his followers on Twitter to harass Reddit users.[20]
In September 2020, Lewis became the first editor-at-large of Dexerto.[21] He resigned from his position in March 2023 citing creative differences.[22]
In 2022, Lewis broke the story that a former TSM coach was soliciting payments from prospective players in exchange for ensuring they would be added to the roster.[23][24] Later that year, Lewis broke the story that TSM was looking to sell their franchised LCS slot,[25] which they later did in 2023.[26]
In March 2023, Lewis broke the news about the imminent launch of Counter-Strike 2.[27]
Other professional activities
In Fall 2021, Lewis began working as a lecturer at the University of New Haven, teaching an online course for student in the school's Master's in Esports Business program, alongside Declan Hill.[28]
Awards
In 2016 Lewis was awarded the "Esports Journalist of the Year" award by Esports Industry Awards.[29] In 2019, Lewis won the award a second time. In his 2019 acceptance speech, Lewis criticized gaming outlets such as Kotaku and Polygon for gatekeeping the games industry.[30] In 2020 Lewis was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Esports Industry Awards.[31] In 2023 Lewis won his third Esports Journalist of The Year Award.[32][33]
