Apex Legends participant Philip “ImperialHal” Dosen — who everybody merely refers to as “Hal” — first caught my eye with a show of fantastic sportsmanship. In the course of the 2022 Apex Legends World Collection (ALGS) Championship, an opposing staff was experiencing some critical lag at a pivotal level within the match, and Hal and his staff wanted all of the factors they may get. He may have saved taking pictures. As an alternative, Dosen ordered his teammates to carry their hearth in order that the opposing staff would not be eradicated over technical difficulties past their management. For a man who makes tens of millions yearly for being extraordinarily good at a cutthroat battle royale, Hal’s actions struck me as surprisingly humble.
Nonetheless, as I cross by two safety checks to rise up to Dosen’s room on the Crimson Bull Legends Inn — a just-for-fun Apex Legends competitors hosted by Dosen and fellow competitor Timothy “iiTzTimmy” An at Chicago’s Godfrey Lodge — I am unable to assist however surprise what sort of particular person I am about to fulfill. Will he be pleasant and engaged? Maybe he’ll be aloof and distant, or just uninterested in speaking to journalists.
Outdoors of his room, there is a safety guard to regulate the realm. And after I step inside, it is as if the once-normal resort room has gotten a gaming influencer makeover. Each mild has been changed with a color-changing LED bulb. A humidifier has been plugged in subsequent to the mattress, which is roofed in Apex Legends pillows. Artwork from the sport has changed the usual resort wall decor. A minifridge filled with Crimson Bull sits throughout from an enormous streaming setup, full with an ergonomic gaming chair. It is clear Crimson Bull spared no expense for this Hal-hosted occasion, however after I lastly shake fingers with the person himself, I am shocked by how down-to-earth he’s. I am additionally shocked to study that each of us obtained into Apex Legends for a similar purpose: disliking Fortnite.
“Earlier than Apex, I used to be taking part in Fortnite, and I personally disliked Fortnite so much as a recreation,” Dosen tells me. “In order quickly as I performed [Apex Legends], I simply fell in love with the fundamentals of the sport: the muse, the motion, the talents, the gunplay. I really feel prefer it’s a recreation that was made for me, in a means.”
He isn’t fallacious: In 2023 — a yr after the incident that noticed Dosen inform his teammates to not shoot rivals who have been experiencing a bug — his staff received the ALGS Championship, the largest competitors in Apex Legends esports.
“We have been going into the fifth recreation and we have been [in the] backside 5 of the finals foyer, after which impulsively we simply snapped our fingers, received three video games in a row, and received the event,” he says of the win. “That was positively the largest second in my profession; [it allowed me] to mentally get out of a rut and simply fully flip round and go from doing most likely the worst I’ve ever executed in my profession, to successful.”
Past co-hosting the Crimson Bull Legends Inn expertise, Dosen can be collaborating within the occasion. The event pits 19 groups of two gamers towards one another by 9 rounds, however every spherical has a unique rule. Some rounds solely permit gamers to make use of sniper rifles, others solely permit them to make use of their fists, and a few rounds even stop them from utilizing Legend skills in any respect. Followers will pay a small payment to attend, and the top result’s lighthearted chaos. However in a month, it’s going to be time for Dosen to get critical once more. This yr’s ALGS Championship takes place in Sapporo, Japan, the place Dosen and his two teammates (collectively referred to as Group Falcons) will vie for a $5 million prize.
“After I compete, I ensure I sleep in as a lot as I can,” Dosen tells me after I ask what he does to organize for critical tournaments. “I haven’t got an alarm; I let my physique naturally get up. After that, I attempt to eat one thing. However not an excessive amount of, as a result of I will simply get drained and need to take a nap. I pop a Crimson Bull, all the time. At all times have a Crimson Bull. If I really feel like I am probably not amped or within the temper, then I hearken to some music to get me in that mindset of, ‘I am competing; that is time to do your finest.'”
All of the Crimson Bull speak has me skeptical at first — the vitality drink producer is sponsoring the occasion, so absolutely they instructed him to say that. However sponsored or not, Dosen’s not exaggerating. In the course of the competitors, I lose rely of what number of cans of the stuff he is guzzled down. By the top of the occasion, I am shocked he hasn’t sprouted wings.
What really appears to pressure the 26-year-old is the parasocial relationships. Dosen tells me that viewers will typically make a big donation whereas he is livestreaming, anticipating one thing in return.
“I do get into these conditions the place I get given cash [while streaming] after which they ask me to play [Apex with them],” Dosen says. “I dislike that a lot, as a result of I already can barely get myself to play with sure professionals which can be good on the recreation — effectively, supposed to be good on the recreation — and then you definitely’re anticipating me to play with somebody that is not a professional. And it might not be fulfilling for me or the opposite particular person. Possibly it might be [fun] for the opposite particular person, however I’d simply be tortured, to be trustworthy.”
Dosen says he isn’t afraid to dam or ignore viewers who attempt to purchase their means into taking part in with him, and given he is not excited about teaming up with gamers who aren’t as expert as him, chances are high teaching is not in his future.
“I do not suppose I’d have the persistence to speak to a participant and inform them, ‘Yeah, you must do that or that,’ after I really feel like I can simply choose up the controller and play higher than them,” Dosen admits. “I am simply too aggressive to place myself in a backseat and let another person play after I might be taking part in. I feel it might simply be too arduous, and I do not suppose lots of people would have the ability to deal with my teaching angle.”
Whilst he tells me how a lot he dislikes teaming up with unskilled gamers, Dosen by no means seems haughty or self-absorbed. In truth, at some stage in the interview, Dosen makes eye contact, answering every query completely and thoughtfully — one thing that can’t all the time be stated for his fellow rivals, certainly one of whom spent the primary three minutes of our interview silently scrolling on his cellphone, fiddling with the varied diamond rings on his fingers, and throwing me one-word solutions. Dosen admits he has an ego, and who would not along with his stage of ability and success? However when seated round his contemporaries, he comes off as refreshingly engaged, and it is clear he cares deeply in regards to the recreation and is keen about sustaining a wholesome relationship along with his followers.
“The one factor I really feel like I owe to my followers is simply performing effectively,” Dosen tells me. “Nearly all of my following relies on me successful. That is the place I obtained my viewership and following. I began with successful 5 tournaments in a row on the very starting of Apex. So I feel that the one factor I’d ever owe my fan base is to indicate up in the event that they’re there for a meet-and-greet, regardless of how I really feel. Clearly, there’s so many occasions the place I do not need to be on the meet-and-greet as a result of I simply misplaced. However individuals journey world wide to come back and see me, and so they did not make me lose the sport. So it is not honest to them for me to [not show up], regardless of how I really feel.”
Dosen pauses for a second, considering rigorously earlier than including, “I will all the time owe them that: saying hello to them, taking an image, signing stuff, and clearly taking part in as finest as I can, regardless of how I really feel or what is going on on.”
In the long run, Dosen, who was teamed up with Timothy ” iiTzTimmy” An for the occasion, lands in fourth place within the Crimson Bull competitors. Watching him play, I am struck by his levelheadedness. Myself and roughly 100 followers of Dosen and An are all stuffed right into a lounge on the Godfrey’s fourth ground. Followers are screaming on the prime of their lungs, waving merch round, and usually performing like we’re at an NFL recreation, not a just-for-fun online game tourney. Nonetheless, when it is all stated and executed, Hal stands up, congratulates winners Kazakh and Ojrein, waves at followers, grabs a Crimson Bull (quantity??), and crops a kiss on his girlfriend.
A month from now, Dosen will compete on the ALGS Yr 5 Championship in Japan, however he will not be dealing with off with An, who just lately retired from esports to change into a full-time content material creator. As for Dosen’s future, he says he hasn’t “put an excessive amount of thought into it.”
“Clearly, there will be some level the place I must retire if I need to have a household and stuff like that,” he tells me. “However my girlfriend thinks it’s going to take some time for me to retire and cease competing, to be trustworthy, due to how aggressive I’m.”
It is clear that even after six years of Apex Legends, Dosen nonetheless enjoys the sport. When the day comes that he not competes, although, he envisions a future the place he’ll proceed to play quite a lot of video games, merely for the enjoyment of it.
“I feel I’d retire in perhaps three, 4 years,” he tells me. “Stream any recreation I would like, and simply have enjoyable taking part in, like I am a child once more.”
