A very specific goal, one that he can accomplish at the Halo World Championships this weekend in Burbank, California, drives James "Jimbo" Bradbrook of FAB Games eSports.
"I'm not giving up," he said, "until I place top four at an international tournament."
At the 2016 Halo World Championships, Jimbo and his team at the time, Epsilon eSports, made history with a top-eight finish, the highest placing for a European team at an international tournament. That placing came with an upset of North American squad Cloud9, but also a painfully narrow loss to the team that went on to win the entire tournament, Counter Logic Gaming.
"Honestly, I do think we should have taken the series versus CLG. Losing 3-1 to them but [also] losing my eight or so points on Strongholds and losing to one cap on Capture the Flag hurts," Jimbo said. "It would have changed the whole event for us."
This Friday, Jimbo will try to make Halo history on American soil yet again.
Jimbo, like many other competitive players at the time, started his Halo career in the matchmaking playlists in Halo 3 with his friends.
"Halo at first was just a hobby to enjoy while in school/college, but since I've grown within the scene and the general structure of the HCS and esports has grown, it's been made more into a living," he said. "Being a professional player and winning large amounts of money through events allows me to continue to do what I love."
His love for Halo carried its way into Halo 4, which is when he realized he could compete beyond the casual scene.
"As soon as Halo 4 was announced, I knew straight away that I wanted to try and do more with the skill I had gained over the years," Jimbo said. "I placed eighth in the 4v4 at my first event with players who sadly don't play anymore, but made a big name for myself through the FFA tournament. I placed fifth overall, and honestly, it was after that event that everything blew up for me. I won both the Free For All and the 4v4 at Insomnia 49 in 2013, which no one would have predicted."
Jimbo continued to establish himself as a European powerhouse after Insomnia 49 with consistent top-four finishes, and he did not place out of the top six at an event until the Halo World Championships in 2016 with Epsilon eSports.
The roster, consisting of Jimbo, Mike "Snipedrone" Juchau, Alex "BUK 20" Buck and Will "BUK 57" Buck, came together before Insomnia 54 and went on to become one of the winningest European Halo rosters of all time, including that historic run at Worlds. Epsilon's loss in bracket play not only marked the end of the tournament for the squad but served as one of the final times the long-lasting roster played together.
"Adapting to the playstyle of this new roster was hard. I went from playing with two very supportive players like the BUK twins to three very aggressive, individually skilled players." James "Jimbo" Bradbrook, FAB Games eSports
"I think over the year-and-a-half of teaming with the Epsilon roster, a lot of small things just built up over time that led me to believe that enough was enough," Jimbo said. "I started to dislike playing alongside Snipedrone, and the BUKs did as well, so we started to look at other options. To be fair, at the time we were planning on leaving the Epsilon Organization itself due to better offers, and our contract had just ended. After telling Snipedrone our thoughts, he left. We just couldn't find a fourth to fit the roster, and other offers came my way."
Known as "GPK" -- the Ground Pound King -- Jimbo went through a season playing with one other roster before landing a spot on FAB Games eSports. Playing on FABe has been a notably different experience for Jimbo that has challenged him to become better individually.
"Adapting to the playstyle of this new roster was hard. I went from playing with two very supportive players like the BUK twins to three very aggressive, individually skilled players," Jimbo said of Perry "Tuf0xy" Kenyon, Luciano "Mose" Calvanico and team captain Brandon "Respectful" Stones. "Take that drastic change and add the changing of the meta itself, it was tough."
As tough as it may have been, Jimbo and the rest of FABe worked through their obstacles to and earned themselves a first-place finish during the Fall EU Pro League season and first at the Gfinity EU Halo World Championship Qualifier. That tournament win secured FABe the No. 1 EU seed heading into Worlds and placed it in a pool alongside the No. 4 North American seed, Str8 Rippin, and Latin America's Shock The World.
FABe plans on leaning on its experience in order to make a deep run in the tournament.
"Our team itself has 20-plus event wins combined and is filled with experience and confidence," Jimbo said. "I think it's safe to say I'm the worst player on the team. If all four of us are on point, it should be an awesome show to watch."