Award Criteria
Any individual covering the international esports industry, exclusively for a media outlet, an esports organisation or freelance.
Scuf Gaming®, global leader and innovator in esports and winner of Esports Industry Awards “Esports Hardware Provider of the Year” Award for 2016, provides tactical gear for elite gamers where over 90% of the top professional gamers in the world use SCUF.
Selling high-performance customized gaming controllers and accessories for PC and console, SCUF offers a number of functional and design features custom built to increase hand use and improve gameplay. Built to specification, SCUF controllers cater for competitive and casual gamers who recognize that one size does not fit all.
Today, SCUF Gaming’s® innovations are covered by more than 90 granted patents and designs, and another 50+ pending patent applications that protect 4 key areas: back control functions, trigger control mechanisms, thumbstick control area and handles, and side action controls.
Scuf Gaming is the official controller partner of major gaming leagues, including CWL, MLG, ESL, UMG, Gfinity and EGL. With operations and production in North America and Europe, Scuf Gaming also provides a variety of accessories and apparel specifically designed for elite gamers.
Duncan is CEO and co-founder of Scuf Gaming. He oversees the company’s overall business operation, vision, product design, and growth. With over 15 years of experience in telecom and technology, Duncan decided to pursue his passion for video games and made a switch to the gaming products space when he founded Scuf Gaming in 2011. At the time, professional gaming was still in its infancy, and Scuf effectively created a new market for professional, feature rich, customized gaming controllers. He developed key relationships within the professional gaming community to advance controller design and deepen Scuf’s presence in the growing esports market. He is named on over 100 controller patents and has leveraged Scuf’s intellectual property to expand the business through key partnerships with other major gaming peripheral companies.
Ryan oversees three businesses at YouTube, which includes Gaming, Telco and Tech, as well as the growing Virtual Reality business. Ryan leads a team from around the world to manage global Gaming Publisher partnerships, Top Gaming Content Creators, live streamers and Esports Leagues. In addition to his Gaming role, Ryan leads the VR/AR and Telco & Tech businesses overseeing global strategy, content and partnerships, budget development, P&L, and cross-functional work for these respective businesses.
Ryan joined YouTube in 2014 to create the Gaming vertical, and has since lead Gaming at YouTube to be the most watched Gaming content platform in the world, and has also done the same for the Virtual Reality video business on YouTube.
Previously, Ryan worked in senior roles with major gaming industry companies, including Vice President of Programming with Major League Gaming and Head of Live and eSports at Machinima. As a prominent Esports personality, Ryan is known for his strategic contributions in growing the Esports scene while in his former roles, and as a New York Times Best Selling Author for his work on OpTic Gaming: The Making of Esports Champions. Ryan also was listed on Forbes 30 under 30 in 2014 for his work in the Gaming industry.
