Interview with Harley “dsn” Örwall at DreamHack India 2018

We had the chance to meet Harley “dsn” Örwall, a retired Swedish Counter-Strike esports athlete, most famous for his work in Fnatic for about six years.

After retirement as a player, he became a coach for Team B.O.O.T in China. As of now, dsn is the Chief Gaming Officer for the same. At DreamHack Mumbai, dsn was invited as an analyst for the Invitational CS:GO Tournament.

Esportsportal: We would like to thank you for taking the time for this interview. For our first question, we’d like to ask how DreamHack Mumbai 2018 was for you?

dsn: I think it has been great so far. The reason why it’s great is that the people who are attending the entire event are so passionate about gaming. You can see and feel the passion in everyone. People are coming to me, they ask questions about Counter-Strike, even though I used to play ages ago, they remember and admire me. The passion everywhere is just great and the event is really big.

EP: What was it like being the coach for Team B.O.O.T?

D: I think I was a coach a year back, till they didn’t have a coach, I believe it’s alecks now, from Singapore. I’ve been trying to do other things than coach as of now as I live in Beijing. For two months, I was a proper coach for them. Since then, it’s been a bit on and off because I guess, coaching is not a priority for me, I am looking to do something else. So it’s actually good that they have a proper coach now.

EP: Can you comment on their recent performance?

D: So they had a bit of a hiccup, ever since one of our players, maybe our best player actually, had to leave, it’s been a rock ride I would say.

EP: What are your career plans as of now?

D: I’m working as an esports agent in China currently. I’ve been there for 2 years, it’s going to be my third year very soon. I’ve been away from home for quite a while now, so starting to miss my friends and family. I’m not really sure how long I’m going to stay in China but I might go back some time soon.

EP: What do you think about the new updates in CS:GO like Danger Zone, and it is completely free-to-play now, and what future do you think CS:GO will have because of the move?

D: I think free-to-play is a good thing because that will obviously mean that more people can try out CS and they would not need to spend money to purchase it which was kind of a deal breaker for some people. A lot of popular games are free-to-play which maybe suggests that this was the right decision. Obviously it comes with some problems, since anyone can download cheats and ruin the game. About Danger Zone, it’s got that PUBG kind of feel to it. It makes sense that they are trying to do that, but I don’t particularly enjoy it, competitive and casual are more my thing.

We would like to thank dsn for his time and wish him the very best for the future.