Esports News UK speaks to Epiphany Bolt founder Kyle Adkins about the UK esports org’s new CSGO roster, his long-term ambitions, and building something his players are proud to be a part of.
Esports News UK: Tell us about your background, how did you get into esports?
Kyle Adkins: My background in esports starts back in around 2006, when I was just a low level player.
I quickly realized I didn’t have the skills or the means to make it to the top, but I saw other people’s drive and I decided I had to be a part of it in some way or form.
Tell us about the history of Epiphany Bolt, when was it set up?
Epiphany Bolt was founded in 2014 when Frank Shepard – a guy I had worked with for years in esports – agreed to fund my idea of what an organisation could be.
I am the original founder but since those days we have grown and I have two other owners: Johan Pettersson and Marius Bekk. They were very instrumental in getting us to this point, as was a great friend Kyle Wall.
Which games do you currently play in?
At the moment we compete in the Telenor league in Norway which is a televised league there in Overwatch.
We also compete in Smash in Norway and of course CSGO, as well as PUBG. We are currently working on some other titles but they aren’t finalised yet.
“Not every organisation can be a Fnatic, and with the massive investments from sports teams and large companies, it only makes the gap bigger between us and the big orgs. We’re okay with that – we just want to continue to give our people the platform to grow.”
Kyle Adkins, Epiphany Bolt
Tell us about your new CSGO roster – what are your aims and ambitions for the team?
Our new roster is a first for us, as CSGO has always been our major focus. In three years we’ve had three teams and all of them have been in the Nordic region, and most recently Norway, which is where our organization is registered. But we decided to branch out and take on a new challenge.
Well everyone always says we want to win the ESL Premiership and UK Masters and compete at majors, which would of course be great, but our goal is to [first] focus on the smaller things. We want to work with this team and build them up not only as players but people as well, and give them the tools to succeed in and out of esports. We want to build something they are proud to be a part of.
What is your long-term goal with Epiphany Bolt? Are you hoping to do well in the UK scene, or outside this (or both)?
Our long-term goals are to just continue to do what we are doing and put players and staff members in positions to make a living doing what they love in esports.
Not every organisation can be a Fnatic and with the massive investments from sports teams and large companies, it only makes the gap bigger between us and the big orgs. And we are okay with that – we just want to continue to give our people the platform to grow.
“We want to work with this team and build them up not only as players, but people as well, and give them the tools to succeed in and out of esports.”
Tell us about Epiphany Bolt as an org, what sets it apart and what’s your ethos?
What sets us apart is our approach to esports, treating our players and staff like family and always being open with them about everything that goes on.
There aren’t many organisations I’ve been involved in which have been that way with people. We talk to each other every single day, and not just about esports, but life and personal issues. We have sat down and helped prepare people for job interviews, schoolwork, and other things.
We believe that this approach allows for great communication and allows the players to focus on their gameplay. It allows them to achieve the results they were dreaming about.
Do you have any shoutouts you’d like to make?
I would really like to thank all of the people that have helped us along the way – and all the support we have got over the years.
Also a special thanks to HyperX for sponsoring us for the upcoming season; we hope to achieve some great results in the coming months with our return to CSGO.
Follow Epiphany Bolt on Twitter or see more info on their website
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
