Fnatic, the London-based global esports organisation, is championing diversity among its content creators after reporting a 50/50 gender split in its grassroots programme, Fnatic Network.
This means that of the 52 streamers signed up to this programme – which celebrates its first full year of operation today – 26 are male and 26 are female. Fnatic says this is an industry first.
Fnatic Network is a content creator academy that aims to scout and engage with top streamers and take them through a three-tiered programme, which can ultimately lead them to a contract with Fnatic or another org.
Fnatic also said that participants have seen an average growth of 56% in their stream’s concurrent users, and an average increase of 150% in their Twitch following since the programme’s inception. For example, Moonryde, who is getting his own £30,000 Moonryde Invitational CoD Warzone tournament with Fnatic, went from 800 viewers on his stream to an average 6,000, with a peak of 82,000 on one of his Warzone streams.
The programme also includes Nami (pictured above).
“Our ambitions for the esports and gaming industry is to see a more diverse and inclusive audience on and off the screen. I believe this change must start from within, and education and development are key to creating this change.”
Soraya Sobh, Fnatic
The The entire Fnatic Network’s collective follow count increased by 80 times, and the network now has a total social reach of more than 6.9m across their entire talent pool.
Fnatic has also announced some changes to Fnatic Network starting from July 2021, including the introduction of brand building workshops, monthly Q&A sessions with Fnatic staff and coaches, as well as inclusion in Fnatic and partner campaigns.
Those who reach Fnatic Network’s Gold Tier, may be invited to join the Platinum Programme, a six-month accelerator programme with an emphasis on education and performance development. Platinum creators also receive a monthly salary and a chance to be signed as a Fnatic content creator at the end of the programme.
Soraya Sobh, head of creator management at Fnatic, said: “Our ambitions for the esports and gaming industry is to see a more diverse and inclusive audience on and off the screen. I believe this change must start from within, and education and development are key to creating this change. A key goal of Fnatic Network is to seek out and level up the very best talent regardless of gender, race or ethnicity and give them equal opportunity to succeed.
“Whilst Fnatic is only at the start of this journey, we want to make a difference at every level of the creator pool. If we can’t find enough creators at a top tier level which represent as diverse an audience as we know gaming attracts, then we have to build those talents from the ground up.
“Our message to underrepresented, up and coming talent is clear: your career starts at Fnatic. Regardless of where creators end up, we’re here to give them the tools, training and development they need to succeed. We want to provide opportunities which in turn make the industry a more diverse and better represented place.”
Soraya also recently announced four Fnatic Network ambassadors received scholarships:
There’s more info on the Fnatic Network web page.
Earlier this year, Fnatic published a report looking into gender inequality in the esports and gaming industry, and recently it published an esports safeguarding policy.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
