Gucci and esports platform Faceit have announced the Gucci Gaming Academy, which will help professional players get signed with top esports teams, starting with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
Players involved with the academy program will be chosen from the CS:GO Faceit Pro League (FPL), and given the support they need to get signed by top esports teams. This includes in-game, psychological, physical coaching, hardware and networking support from both Gucci and Faceit.
Gucci has selected four high-performing players initially, all from Eastern Europe: Poland’s Brajan “DGL” Lemecha and Lukasz “mwlky” Pachucki, Lithuania’s Rokas “EspiranTo” Milasauskas and Latvia’s Mārtiņš “shadiyy” Gūtmani, with plans to support more. All four play in the Faceit Pro League (FPL), the top league for multi-player game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The four CS:GO players were unveiled on the last day of PGL Major Antwerp 2022.
As luxury brands develop their metaverse strategies, games and gaming platforms offer rich potential for the development of digital fashion and community engagement. Esports players and their fans represent a promising crossover audience with metaverse and Web3 early adopters.
Support for the Academy players includes mental health coaching in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, personally designed digital training, in-game performance coaching, and personal branding and contract education. They will also be provided technical equipment.
The Academy has been developed in partnership with Faceit. Players will be supported by the Academy for a period of 12 months, unless they are signed to a pro team sooner. CS:GO was rated Best Esports Game at The Game Awards in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Players developing professional careers can win up to $2 million. The demographic of CS:GO is 92 per cent male, with a strong interest in brands such as Rolex, Hurley and Threadless, according to Geeiq data.
