High-end luxury brand Gucci has announced a multi-year partnership with esports tournament organiser and platform FACEIT. The agreement will see both FACEIT and Gucci work together to launch the Gucci Gaming Academy, which will be a development programme working towards enhancing the skills of the members through dedicated coaching sessions and teamwork activities. It will also work on the mental and physical issues that arise from the in-game performance pressure and online scrutiny.
FACEIT and Gucci will also work with the World Health Organisation to support the gamers to improve their gameplay while keeping health and safety as top priority, which will include physical and mental health, fighting misinformation online and other topics as well.
Nicolas Oudinot, EVP of New Business and CEO of Gucci VAULT, commented:
“Gucci is at the forefront of the luxury industry’s foray into the world of gaming and as part of our mission to build meaningful relationships with communities in a genuinely authentic way.
“We are dedicated to supporting the up-and-coming generations of players to help manage the challenges they may face as a result of participating in esports.”
Michele Attisani, Co-Founder and CBO of FACEIT, added:
“The Academy will offer a clear path to pro structure connecting the dots between the FACEIT Pro League, education and well-being. The physical and mental demands on players looking to compete at a professional level are high.
“Supporting and empowering young esports talent is at the core of FACEIT’s values and through our shared vision with Gucci, we hope the Academy helps equip the role models of tomorrow.”
Members of the Gucci Gaming Academy will be selected not only based on in-game performances but also following a round of interviews that will assess the players’ personal values and soft skills. Once selected, they will have a one-year contract with the Academy until a team signs them.
The Gucci Gaming Academy has already signed four CS:GO players: ?ukasz “mwlky?” Pachucki, M?rti?š “shadiy?” G?tmanis, Rokas “?EspiranTo?” Milasauskas, and Brajan “?DGL?” Lemecha, to compete in the FACEIT Pro League. The academy has also announced that it will be adding more members to the team soon. Neil “?NeiL_M?” Murphy and Colin “?koi?” Thor have also been roped in for scouting and mentorship roles in the Europe and North America regions respectively.
The academy has also announced ambassadors who are former CS:GO professional players: Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund and Stephanie “missharvey” Harvey and esports commentator James Bardolph.
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