Matthew Edwards is the Community and Esports Manager at Capcom, an Industry Leader in the Video Gaming Industry for more than 30 years! Working on fantastic and renowned gaming titles such as STREET FIGHTER, DEVIL MAY CRY, DEAD RISING, OKAMI, MARVEL VS CAPCOM, Matthew spends his time working hard behind the scenes to help grow and nuture the community, running events and tournaments, and producing great video content. He is also a dab hand with an arcade stick!
With STREET FIGHTER being one of our key 2019 Gaming Calendar titles this year, we wanted to find out more about Matthew, Capcom and what goes on behind the scenes with the following questions:
HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU WORKED IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY?
My first job working in the gaming industry, was working for a GAME store in Cornwall (Truro) way back in 2003. I then became a freelance journalist after graduating from University, writing for publications like Eurogamer, gamesTM, Edge, 360 Gamer, Official Nintendo Magazine, and a few others.
HOW DID YOU COME TO WORK AT CAPCOM?
A friend told me about the community manager position about a month after Capcom took the advertisement down. Luckily they hadn't finalised who was going to get the job, so i travelled up to London the very next week and did my first and second interview back-to-back.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB AND WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE EXPERIENCE TO DATE?
The best part of my job is getting to see the games I love (Street Fighter, Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter and Resident Evil to name a few) early in development, and then watching them evolve into the finished product you can buy on launch day. My favourite experience to date would be staying late in the office every Tuesday evening to stream our weekly Winner Stays On sessions with the London fighting game community. We started this back in 2014 with just 100 people watching, now the audience has grown to 2000.
WHO DO YOU THINK IS STREETFIGHTER'S BIGGEST CELEBRITY FAN?
I'm sure there are many top tier celebrities who were fans of Street Fighter II back in the day, but in terms of celebrities i've seen playing the game in person or rocking Street Fighter gear, three spring to mind. Kenny Omega, the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Santan Dave, a rapper and songwriter who (along with Freddo) recently hit the Number One spot in the UK Charts with Funky Friday, and Logan Sama, a top grime DJ and commentator on the Capcom Pro Tour.
WHAT PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU PASS ON TO ANYONE LOOKING TO WORK IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY?
The variety of jobs in the games industry is vast. In Capcom Entertainment Europe alone, we have people that work in everything from marketing, legal and finance to HR, IT and submissions. But if community management is something you are interested in, the best path is to build up an online presence, be it through running local gaming events, streaming on Twitch, or producing polished gaming videos on YouTube. This is the type of experience you can bring to an interview to show you are practically doing the job already. That's not to say that community management is all about content creation but it is a significant part of it.
IF YOU WEREN'T WORKING AT CAPCOM, WHERE WOULD YOU BE WORKING?
Working for Capcom is pretty much my dream job. But if I wasn't working in the games industry, I'd probably be working in the motorbike industry instead. I'm passionate about motorbikes and commute to work on my Kawasaki ZZR1400. My dream bike is a Yahama VMAX 1700, but i'll probably need a promotion before i can afford one.
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE GAMING CHARACTER AND WHY?
Although I like Balrog in most Street Fighter games, my favourite Street Fighter character is probably Sagat. He's the orginial boss of the Street Fighter Series and his Muay Thai fighting style looks brutal when it connects - especially his iconic Tiger Uppercut and Tiger Knee. I also respect how he used to be the villain, working for Shadaloo, but now he seeks redemption by seeking a more honourable path.
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