Back in 2016, Twin Galaxies had put work into a documentary called Going Pro. The project was meant to explore the opinions of esports professionals and the roadmaps they took to become paid players and faces in their respective scenes. It unfortunately did not air and was left by the wayside for years, but now the pilot has been unearthed - a concept episode which featured Echo Fox Street Fighter pro Justin Wong (playing for Evil Geniuses at the time) and Smash Bros pro Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman - and can be viewed exclusively by registered users on Twin Galaxies.
The episode features deep insight from both Wong and Mew2King on their love of their competitive fields and the commitment it took to get to where they are. As M2K preps at The Big House Smash Bros event in Dearborn Michigan for “Crew Battles”, he opens up about his commitment to the game and the pressures of winning and losing in high stakes matches. Fellow pro player Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma and The Big House organizer Robin Harn are also on hand to share further insight into the Smash community and the pro scene. Throughout the documentary, we also get a personal look into the darker side of Mew2King, the depression, stress, and anxiety it brings to competition, and what it takes to play through it all. Check out the documentary in full beliw.
The episode also features Justin Wong prepping in the San Francisco Bay area for an upcoming Street Fighter 5 ESL event. As he runs practice matches with fellow player Eduardo "PR Balrog" Pérez, whom he was also coaching at the time, Wong shares stories from his road to the pros, including how he got into Street Fighter and how it felt to obliterate opponents online.
From top to bottom, Going Pro was always meant to be a candid and insightful look into the passion, dedication, difficulty, failures, and triumphs of becoming a pro player in esports. In an age when esports and competitive gaming have become far more relevant than ever before and show no signs of stopping, Twin Galaxies feels this is something well worth exploring and sharing with the world.
“Between Mew2King and Justin, we really captured something special while filming them even though this happened a couple of years ago,” says Todd Roy, the director of Going Pro “This is like a time capsule – I find it interesting, you can see how much has changed and how much is still the same!”
Wong is currently active for Echo Fox in the Street Fighter scene and just won DreamHack Montreal. Meanwhile, Mew2King still competes in Smash, but has also become a spokesperson for the nonPareil Institute, which is dedicated to supporting people with autism.
Enjoy the documentary? Hate it? Should we make more of them? Share your opinions in the comment section below and be sure to catch the latest from both Wong and Mew2King on Twitter.
