2018 -> 2019


Hey everyone,

I am usually not the person to tweet a lot, but I’ve been radio silent the past few weeks. So, I thought it a good idea to reflect on 2018 and explain a little about what’s going to happen 2019 in longer form.

2018 was a good year for me personally. I started the year off with my fourth World Championship Final as a coach/manager, this time in Paladins. I travelled across the world again for my job, met new people and had a lot of great experiences overall.

Most prominently for my professional growth, I started to work in senior management and handled more processes across the board in Fnatic than just in the two teams I looked after this year. Now, I couldn’t be happier with where I am personally in my career and especially with the people with whom I work. I need to say a thank you to Patrik (cArn) and Wouter (Fnatic’s CEO) for trusting me, believing in me and for pushing me in the right direction.

My girlfriend finished her exams in her teacher trial period and got accepted at a school in our hometown this fall. We got a great apartment (really big and we even have a fireplace in our living room) close to both our parents’ and officially moved in on Tuesday! Not everything is done yet in terms of moving, but we’re getting there and the new place just feels good.

Of course 2018 ended a little bit weirdly. Early in 2014, I started with this game called Heroes of the Storm. I enjoyed playing League of Legends before, but HotS had all these characters I loved from games like Warcraft and Diablo, so I switched straight over. At first, I didn’t plan to really be involved in the competitive scene. But at some point I just couldn’t stay away from it and got the call from Fnatic in early 2016 to join them as Coach and Manager. With Fnatic and professional HotS, I had some of the greatest experiences in my life, an awesome group of players and I made a dream come true by making the step towards a full-time position in esports.

Last month, Blizzard decided to discontinue the professional league and move developers away from the game. This is a huge thing for the competitive scene, my players and friends, who are now asking themselves what to do. I feel very sad for my friends and will continue to try to help them however I can. HotS is still an amazing game and I will continue to play it. But, as the business moves on, so must I.

I wish nothing but the best to Breez, SmX, Quackniix, scHwimpi, Wubby, Mene, Benny, Athero, LastHope, Kala and Blumbi. I hope you will find success in your future endeavours and know that I will continue to support your professional career forever as one of your biggest fans. I am sure our paths will cross regularly and we’ll keep each other updated. Everyone else I met in the past three years in the professional HotS community: good luck in whatever is next for you, it was a pleasure getting to know you, competing, bantering, and spending time with you.

Looking at Paladins this fall, we came to the conclusion to not continue in the new format that HiRez presented us for the Pro League, which meant again to say goodbye to my players. Players I shared so many laughs with and who I will miss working with on a daily basis. I wish them nothing but the best and am sure we’ll stay in touch and I will cheer for them wherever they end up. Thiel, Gerrah, Bugzy, Fisheko, Tenner, Unbe: All the best to you!

So as we close 2018, both the teams I was mainly responsible for during the past three years at Fnatic are gone. As mentioned, I already started to work in Fnatic’s senior team management this year, taking over operations and leading processes for more than just the games I was involved in. Looking towards 2019 (my 4th year with Fnatic), I will continue to do the same and will most likely work more on overall operations. However I couldn’t let go of player/team management as a direct manager with full involvement on the ground just yet.

As I am writing this twitlonger, I am sitting on a train travelling to Berlin, as I expressed my wish this fall to work more closely with our League of Legends team. On top of my operational duties, I am starting 2019 as Fnatic’s Team Director for League of Legends. Nothing is better to learn more and grow further than accepting this position to work in the biggest esport title of them all. I am looking forward to work with our players and help them as best as I can to take the next step in their own career and hopefully repeat and build on the success our roster already had in 2018.

2019 will be a lot of travelling again, but I am really looking forward to all the challenges ahead. Thank you for reading, and see you on the Rift.

Jan ‘Careion’ Hoffmann
#ALWAYSFNATIC

TL;DR:
2018: good year personally, done with living in North-Rhine Westphalia. New home is old hometown and close to my family.
Sadly I will no longer be working with HotS and Paladins, nothing but the best to all my players and friends I made along the way.
I will mainly be managing the League of Legends team and do general operations at Fnatic in 2019, therefore part-time moving to Berlin.

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