Guild Esports PLC Guild launches all-female CS:GO team (2037S)
March 08 2023 - 2:05AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMGILD
RNS Number : 2037S
Guild Esports PLC
08 March 2023
Press release
8 March 2023
Guild Esports PLC
("Guild Esports", "Guild", or "the Company")
Guild launches all-female Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
team
Guild Esports (LSE: GILD), a global teams organisation and
lifestyle brand, is pleased to announce the launch today of an
all-female team to compete in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
("CS:GO"), the leading team-based first-person shooter,
representing the Company's first entry into the esport.
Guild is leaning on a high-powered all-women team as part of its
strategy to encourage greater female participation in esports amid
growing interest from brand owners, young fans and players. This is
Guild's second all female team, complementing a similar roster for
VALORANT launched in 2021. The VALORANT Guild X team has been a
competitive success for the Company since launching, notably
winning the VCT Game Changer EMEA Series 3 in October 2022. The new
CS:GO team will compete under the name 'Guild'.
Launched in 2012, Counter-Strike's audience numbers continue to
climb; CS:GO esports tournaments accumulated 450 million hours
watched in 2022, an increase of 8.8% on 2021 (source: Esports
Charts, 2023). The Company believes its entry into CS:GO will
contribute to the growth of its owned audience and open multiple
new revenue streams in the long term.
Guild's CS:GO team comprises Team Captain Kaia "KiKi" Holmen
(NO), Marita "Minnie" Sørensen (NO), Thea "Pullox" Evensen (NO),
Linnea "Nea" Claesson (SE) and Anna "Ann4" Laurinoviča (LV). The
five players are an existing team and have extensive experience
competing together. KiKi, Minnie and Pullox will continue to
compete for Norway's national CS:GO team in international
tournaments, heightening visibility and increasing audience growth.
All five players have signed one-year contracts with the option of
extending for an additional year. The team is currently in London
at the Sky Guild Gaming Centre, Guild's state-of-the-art Shoreditch
HQ, where they will compete in tournaments together.
The team will kick off their Guild careers by competing in the
ESL Impact Circuit ("ESL Impact"), a women-only CS:GO League with a
combined annual prize pool of US$500,000 ( GBP414,000), run b y
esports organiser and production company ESL. The tournament was
created to provide a competitive environment for the top women's
CS:GO teams as part of ESL's '#GGFORALL' inclusion and female
empowerment campaign. Guild will additionally compete in the ESEA
Open, hosted by third-party matchmaker and anti-cheat software
developer ESEA. The team is targeting promotion from ESEA's Open
Division to the Intermediate Division by the end of the year.
The Guild CS:GO team joins Guild's existing teams competing in
FIFA, the eponymous football franchise; Fortnite, a hundred-player
'battle royale'; Rocket League, a vehicle-based football game; and
VALORANT, a 5-versus-5 tactical shooter.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: "This
International Women's Day, we're delighted to launch a high-flying,
all-female team to spearhead our entry into the CS:GO arena. With
female participation rapidly growing in many other competitive
sports such as football and rugby, we feel this is the right time
for us to recruit top talent for CS:GO. It will enable Guild to
grow its audience, reach new demographics and continue to provide
high-level opportunities for women in the esports space. The team
members have experience competing together at the highest levels of
competitive CS:GO and will be further inspired by the success of
VALORANT Guild X. We're looking forward to working with them and
celebrating their competitive success."
Guild's CS:GO team captain KiKi said: "We intend to compete at
the highest levels of Counter-Strike and Guild is the perfect place
to achieve this. With leading facilities, high-quality coaching
staff and a state-of-the-art headquarters, Guild gives us the
opportunity to learn and grow as a team in a supportive
environment. It's not just the facilities and coaching - Guild's
long-term commitment to supporting women in esports reassures us
that we will be a close cultural fit. We're excited to bring Guild
into CS:GO for the first time and hope to make the whole company
proud."
For further information please contact:
Guild Esports
Jasmine Skee via Tancredi +44 207 887
Chief Executive 7633
Neil Thapar
Investor Relations
+44 7876 455 323
-------------------------
Tennyson Securities
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Corporate Broker
Peter Krens +44 207 186 9030
-------------------------
Tancredi Intelligent Communication
Media Relations
-------------------------
Helen Humphrey
Charlie Hobbs + 44 7449 226 720
Maddy Newman +44 7897 557 112
guild@tancredigroup.com +44 7380 127 135
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About Guild Esports:
Guild Esports PLC is a global fan-focused team organisation and
lifestyle brand that fields professional players in gaming
competitions under the Guild banner. Our in-house training academy
aims to attract and nurture the best esports talent, and our goal
is to provide the ultimate entertainment experience alongside a
distinctive lifestyle brand authentic to the esports community
worldwide. Guild is led by an experienced management team of
esports veterans and co-owned by David Beckham. The Company is
headquartered in the UK and its shares are listed on the main
market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker: GILD) and on the OTCQB
Venture Market in the United States (ticker: GULDF). Please visit
www.guildesports.com for more information.
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