Hey Patrik, welcome back after the American tour and congratulations with the victory at the Extreme Masters L.A. Happy to be back home again?
fnatic\cArn: Hey man, thank you so much! Well, we had an awesome time in LA, living in California for 2 weeks prior the event, had so much fun , going out combined with good food and sightseeing, so I’d say Sweden is boring compared to that, but nothing last forever right?
For the people that do not follow Counterstrike or gaming actively, could you tell a little something about yourself, why you chose CS 1.6 and how everything started?
fnatic\cArn: Sure, I’m 22 years old and have been professional player for the last two years, playing for Fnatic, it has been an exciting time filled with adventure and competition.
I started to play 6-7 years ago, non-professional of course, I just enjoyed playing and turned better and better, eventually i ended up here, a fairy tale story? I don´t know but I’m happy where I am today and looking forward to the future.
What does a typical day in the life if cArn look like, enlighten our readers!
fnatic\cArn: Wow, so hard to just answer, and that’s the beauty of it I’d say. But to make it more clear, during events and travelling due to the gaming we can be anywhere in the world (China,US,Europe) playing tournaments and meeting fans/teams from every corner of the world. The time abroad, and with the team I enjoy playing for the most, without the travelling which comes along with the pro-gaming I wouldn´t enjoy what I´m doing, I really like travelling and I’m in team with a working social-life, we are having lots of fun during our trips.
Of course there is a opposite side to the whole circus, days which just fly by training and preparing for the upcoming tournaments, they are a joy too, but it’s a lot of work behind our success, we train a lot and try to be as professional as we can, there are no short-cuts if you wanna do what we do.
You are currently 22 years old and have what some would consider one of the best jobs in the world, playing games for a living. What would you have done if fnatic wasn’t as successful as it is right now, or if you would not get paid to play at all?
fnatic\cArn: I´ve no idea what I´d have done without the pro-gaming, guess its hard to imagine now, but I really like travels, so a guess would be I would live in another culture learning some cool language!
As you said, I’m 22, and I need to get paid to play, there are bills to be paid and life isn’t free, so my answer would be no, I wouldn´t put this amount of time on the counter-strike without getting paid.
Describe briefly your current living arrangements. Are you and the team staying together at the moment, and if so, how are you all getting on?
fnatic\cArn: Believe it or not, I’m still living with my mum and dad back home in Sweden, it works out ok i guess, sometimes its frustrating, but overall its nice to have a calm place to get home to after the travels, without need to care about food or laundry!
Have you ever been faced with a situation where you had to sacrifice something important, perhaps drop your studies or something on a more personal level, to pursue a career as a professional Counterstrike player?
fnatic\cArn: Hard to say really, without the competitive gaming it’s hard to imagine where I would be today, as I said before.
But I don’t regret anything, I’ve met a lot of nice people all over the world which I wouldn´t if I decided to dedicate my heart and soul into this, I think it’s fair to say I’m very happy with my life.
What do you personally like the most about your career as a professional 1.6 player and do you still love the game after playing it for so many years?. Is it the experience of being given the opportunity to travel across the globe or mainly the ability of being able to get paid to do something you like and are good at?
fnatic\cArn: I really enjoy it at the moment, winning tournaments and leagues really make it worth it, indeed you put a lot of hours into it, but I guess every job is like that, you get what you give. And as I said, I really like travelling, so pro-gaming is perfect, we have always time to do what we want after the tournaments, like going out, sightseeing or whatever.
How many years do you see yourself playing games on a competitive level and what do you plan on doing afterwards?
fnatic\cArn: Impossible to answer sorry, I take it month by month, I’m not worried about the future, rather the opposite.
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