"Approaching Esport Management Creatively": An Interview with Forevr Founder, Marc Ogihara

Esports management company “Forevr” has launched with some of the biggest names in the business, showcasing a diverse cast of players and content creators. Founded by Marc Ogihara, Forevr aims to “do management the right way with its 360° approach.”

Esports is a billion-dollar industry, according to Newzoo. Not only is it generating cash, but the spread of its rapidly growing success is reaching countries worldwide. Esports titles, professional players, and organizations are popping up rapidly to meet the demands of the market. To ensure everything works cohesively, esports management companies help sort through the needs of professional players and organizations.

Today, Forevr tackles the industry with a creative approach to esports management. The company launches with some of the biggest names in competitive gaming history, aiming to “do esports management the right way.”

TheGamer was lucky to get an interview with the founder of Forevr, Marc Ogihara, to expand more in detail about Forevr and himself.

Jazzing Up Esports

Before Forevr, Marc had spent eight years in the music industry managing artists. During that period, he managed Denmark’s most prominent artist, Martin Jensen, and more. But as time grew, Marc wanted to explore new territory, specifically within esports and gaming.

 I got thrown into the music industry and loved everything about it. But I always wanted to do something with gaming. And I’ve been thinking about doing something with gaming for I think since I started the music industry, but I never really had the angle.

Since his younger years, Marc was an avid gamer. By the age of ten, he would play nonstop – even to the point that it would cut off his parents’ in-house calls.

Marc has always had a deep admiration for gaming in general, and after learning so much from management in the music industry, he set out to accomplish different goals. A determined Marc got in touch with Frederik Byskov, one of the founders of Astralis, and brainstormed. From that point, Forevr started its journey.

It took one year of careful planning to reach its launch. When asked about Forevr’s direction in the esports industry, Marc said:

Forevr is a new management concept in the esports world. And our goal is to manage esports players, streamers, content creators, talents in what we call like a 360 vision. We take care of them from their day to day tasks to their branding, to their marketing, to their legal stuff. We don’t just do one thing. We strive to do everything for them […], So they have everything in one central hub.

Forevr not only aims to be unique, but positions itself to be the esports industry’s one-stop-shop in terms of holistic management.

Many agencies are doing a fantastic job, but they’re taking care of [single solutions, like legal, branding, and marketing]. And the players have all their partners in all these different places. And I believe that a management company should provide the full solution. So what sets it apart with Forevr [in terms of other competing esports management companies] is we take a more creative approach, but we offer all the services that a player could need.

Built On Strong Foundations

Forevr is well-supported, covering for the best professional players in the world. The OG legends and highest-paid esports players in the world, Johan “n0tail” Sundstein and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen, help comprise the current Forevr roster.

Additionally, one of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players around the globe, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, has taken a seat at the table.

But the table consists of more than just players; Zxuan “ZX” and Genflix Aerowolf, who are both streamers, have joined the team. Subsequently, brand ambassador Sherlin ‘SherlinTsu’ Susanto (a.k.a. Baby Shark) joined up too.

Lastly, Frederik Byskov, founder of Astralis, accompanies Marc as the investor and adviser of Forevr.

Striving To Be The Best

Currently, Forevr is working on campaigns and technological merchandising; It has its eyes on the prize – being number one in its league. When asked about where he sees the company in five years, Marc replied:

Five years from now, [we’ll be] striving towards being the biggest and best esports management company. And that’s the one thing that we’re aiming for. We want people to talk well about the company. We don’t want to become the biggest corporation ever, but we want to be the best in the market. We want to be the best out there. So when people think about esports management, they think about Forevr.

The new project is on the course to success with its wealth of support and experience. It seems undeniable that Forevr will meet expectations (and even exceed them) with the passion, strive, and assets it has as a whole.

TheGamer would like to thank Marc for taking time out of his schedule to make the interview happen. You can follow Forevr on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or check out the Forevr website.

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