How it works? Some users of online games do not have enough time or a constant team to go through complex game content, so using our platform they hire PRO gamers (buddy) who go through difficult places in different games with them. Thus, we open up the opportunity for gamers to monetize their professional skills, earn money doing what they love, and help newcomers.
Over the past year, our pros (of which there are about 1500 people) have conducted more than 400 thousand game sessions with clients (each of which lasted at least 1 hour). We are used by pro players and clients from 46 countries around the world.
And here we are, on Habr, we begin to maintain our own blog, where we will talk about how we work, what is happening in virtual worlds now, and why we are sure that a gamer is the profession of the future!
This article is an intro about us, why and how we suddenly began to create new professions in esports, and why we went to Silicon Valley. We hope that our experience will be useful to our readers and will be useful. Well, go to the party!
The essence of the project
We are looking for professionals to help gamers with online games, while pursuing our 3 main goals:
- to give the opportunity not only to play with a top gamer, but also to make friends with him, to have a good time, while swinging very strongly himself;
- teach all the intricacies of the game, transfer valuable knowledge that has been accumulated over the years;
- help to get cool gear / achievements, while saving the gamer more than a dozen hours.
A total of nine games have now been launched on the platform, in which our coaches - pro players help the players to achieve various goals. The company is focused on the Western market, the main target audience is men of 27-40 years old, often from the USA, who want to play, but who cannot afford to immerse themselves in the gaming universe for more than 1-2 hours a day.
A gamer who, due to his employment (work, family, etc.) spends a little time in the game, often suffers from the fact that he does not understand some of the nuances of the game universe, he may not be taken seriously by other players who spend 8- 10 hours daily.
Accordingly, such a game brings less pleasure than it could. And here the pros come to the rescue, who quickly train their ward, tell and show him everything he needs and sometimes help him get some kind of artifact that is really needed. The role of the professional is to explain the tactical subtleties, the player is guided through the quest steps and helps in battles. And then rock begins.
The structure of the company
1,500 professional gamers are freelancers, and the number is growing steadily and globally.
The headquarters is located in San Francisco, the operating systems are in Moscow, Akademgorodok and Singapore - a total of 85 people distributed around the world.
The company is headed by Alexey Belyankin, LegionFarm founder and chief visionary, ex pro gamer.
By the way, during the quarantine, our work did not change in any way - he could not influence either our product or the processes, since we already practiced remote control and approached the quarantine fully armed. Moreover, there is an active recruitment of new employees during this period.
Once a quarter, we hold bootcamps - this is when all the company's employees come to one of the offices (Moscow or Novosibirsk Akademgorodok) and work together for 1-3 months. A fun carnival is going on here - we have time to work, play, discuss the latest news in e-sports, go for a walk and organize karting competitions.
Novosibirsk office a couple of weeks before quarantine
Why an office in the USA?
Our choice fell on this country for a reason, because from the very beginning we focused on the audience from the USA and Western Europe. The games and related products are primarily developed by companies based in California.
In general, when we had just started to grow, it became clear that it was necessary to open an office in the USA.
Here we are pumping networking, because Silicon Valley has the maximum concentration of talented entrepreneurs and developers per unit area.
We also ended up at Y Combinator, so that was another reason to go to the US and start working there.
By the way, now we are actively helping those who plan to apply to YC and who are generally interested in it. We provide help absolutely free of charge in the Y Combinator in Russia group .
The main idea is to make sure that more and more entrepreneurs from the CIS and Russia get into YC. We will never charge money for this. This is what we once borrowed from others for free and now we are giving back unselfishly in a larger volume.
About the future
We want to develop and be useful - both for business and for players. Andrey Doronichev, Google Product Director, said the following about us in an interview with Forbes: “Legionfarm is creating the profession of the future - a game trainer and guide practically from scratch: it is somewhat like a fitness instructor or a ski guide, only LF provide an opportunity for talented guys with around the world to realize their gaming potential and skills wherever they are. "
And this is really so - after all, now more and more people work and play on the Internet. Because of the crisis, millions have lost their usual income. We've already helped a huge number of gamers get their dream job, where they do what they know and love.
Well, GGWP ! That's all for now.
What would you be interested in learning about in our next article? We will be happy to tell you about moving to the USA, the peculiarities of the gaming legislation of different countries and how to become a gamer in LF!