A Conversation with Fragfy Co‑Founder Anna Petroviс
Interview by Callum Reyes | Esports Insider Weekly
Callum Reyes: Forty thousand players, 660 thousand scrims, and prize payouts inching toward half a million dollars. Be honest—did you expect Fragfy to snowball this fast?
Anna Petrović: Laughs. We hoped for a snowball, but this looks more like an avalanche. Our launch target for year one was 10 000 active users; the community quadrupled that before we could print new hoodies.
“Captain Mode Was Born in a Pizza Queue”
CR: People rave about Captain Mode and the Waitroom. Where did those come from?
AP: We were standing in a thirty‑minute pizza line at IEM Cologne 2023, arguing draft orders. Somebody joked, “What if the server forced captains to pick like an actual sport?” I sketched the idea on the back of a receipt. Waitroom came later when our engineers realized players waste seven years of collective life waiting for last‑second joiners.
Funny Rounds: The Playground Inside the Arena
CR: Explain Funny Rounds for readers who haven’t dived in yet.
AP: Imagine CS2 but the bomb carrier jumps in low gravity while everyone else runs normal physics. Or an entire round where rifles fire three‑round bursts. That mood‑breaker cuts the tilt after a bad half. Strangely, we see skill benefits—players adapt recoil faster when chaos is the norm.
Tournaments, But Tiny on Purpose
CR: Your micro‑cups cap at $150. Why not inflate the pot?
AP: High stakes attract professionals and smurfs; we wanted approachable friction. Low‑risk, high‑frequency events let bronze players taste finals night without quitting day‑jobs. And remember: mission seasons and skin drops have already delivered $92 000 in item value—that’s extra sugar hiding in plain sight.
The Anti‑Cheat Nobody Talks About
CR: Community subreddits are oddly silent on your anti‑cheat. Is no news good news?
AP: We designed it to do its job quietly. Kernel‑level hysteria? No thanks. Our client lives sandboxed, checks for known exploit hooks, then steps out of the player’s way. Less drama equals fewer rage‑tweets.
Monetization Without the Eye‑Roll
CR: Premium subscribers get advanced server sliders, exclusive brackets, mission passes… That sounds like pay‑to‑win to skeptics.
AP: Not a single stat is gated. A free player can climb to the top of ranked just fine. Premium is espresso shots for power users: map veto chains, experimental rule sets, beefier prize pools. Think Netflix versus free‑to‑air TV—same movie, different popcorn.
Looking Ahead: The Content‑Creator Pipeline
CR: What’s next after missions like Storm Trooper (1000 AK/M4 kills) and Good Friends (party‑play wins)?
AP: Two directions. One: a creator toolkit that auto‑splices Funny Rounds into vertical clips—TikTok gold without editing software. Two: regional franchise leagues feeding into a Championship Weekend projected for Q1 2026. If numbers hold, total prize money eclipses $1 million by then.
Closing Shot
CR: Finish this sentence: “Fragfy will succeed if…”
AP: “…if the path from casual chaos to competitive glory stays one button away.”
Editor’s Note: Registration, anti‑cheat download, and the free matchmaking queue are live at fragfy.com. Premium trials roll out every second Sunday for new accounts—no credit card required. Grab gravity boots; things get weird fast.