DRKN (drkn.com)
DRKN is a small Stockholm based fashion/clothing startup with a cool connection to gaming and E-sports. They have several collaborations with E-sport professionals (CS:GO mostly) such as f0rest, olofmeister, znajder etc. But now also with two QuakeWorld players!

I'm very happy about this small partnership because I like the clothes and what the company is trying to do, it's something really new and fresh into the gaming scene. A lot of their clothes is also inspired by games such as CS:GO while still looking fashionable.



Who is RIO?
I realize that even if I've been around for a couple of years I'm still a newcomer to the qw scene compared to many others. Therefore I have decided to tell you who I haven't had the opportunity to meet a bit about myself and how I got started playing QW.

I'm 29 years old from Västerås, Sweden (yes the place Game of Thrones is based upon) and while I did try out Quake 1 in school and some online vs my friends once a week for a brief period it wasn't until the release of Quake III Arena demo (1999) that I really started playing Quake.

I've since then played every major game mode of Quake 3 such as TDM, Rocket/Clan arena, CTF etc.
Trivia: I've played a lot together with Spart1e (the swedish hope for QuakeCon 2016 in Quakelive duel) in both clans and the Swedish national team.

Some time in 2008 I found out that there was a rookie division of a QuakeWorld tournament and that sounded like a fun challenge. I had always been somewhat interested in trying out QuakeWorld, some people I knew from Västerås used to play in the "legendary" clan Tribe of Tjernobyl (ToT_).

So I started playing in that rookie division and improved very quickly due to my past Quake experiences. From day one i started to practice against the best players I could find willing to play me. I played countless of Aerowalk duels vs bps, povs vs lfx and dm4 2on2s with LocKtar, mawe, goblin etc. Not so long after I found myself drinking beer in a park with bps, LocKtar, razor and a bunch of other players and I got dragged further into the qw community.

A bunch of years has passed and today many of them are great friends to me. I mean bps even named his first born son after me

This trip to Texas we are doing right now will surely be added the list of epic travels.

QuakeCon 2016 tournament
This is the first professional E-sports LAN tournament I am attending in a loooong time. The last time was Dreamhack 2004 where I played Quake 3 TDM and finished in 2nd place. Not long after that the focus for professional tournaments shifted entirely to duels and that has never been my thing, I have always been more of a team oriented player, same goes for sports.

A whole lot of things has changed in professional e-sport since then, things I only dreamed about, but was convinced was going to happen eventually.

I'm really glad to see what E-sports has become today and super excited looking into the horizon.
And while I don't play games for a living I get to be a part of the journey in other ways in my profession.

Now QuakeWorld get's to borrow the spotlight, maybe for the last time.
I think we should be really appreciative towards the organizers and I hope as many people as possible follow the games.
I know the participants are going to put up a good show.

To be realistic me and feFFe are considered underdogs against many of the other teams. But I'm confident that if we both bring our A game we are very capable of some interesting upsets. Beware! and wish us luck ffs!

Thanks for reading and enjoy QuakeCon from wherever you are.