Six UK-based esports team organisations have merged to form a bigger org that the founders hope will help them reach their potential.
Coalesce Esports has brought together the people behind UMX, Electrify Esports, Socially Esports, Horus Esports, Peak Esports and Audacity Esports.
This includes Coalesce directors Greg Brown, Jack Dickson, George Fradley, George Harris, Samuel Hollinrake, Peter Kremer, Joshua Martin, Sam Nevin, Jack Pritchard, Paul Young, Michael Owen, Fabian Rindlisbacher and Jamie Birch (who as of December 2021 has left Coalesce and esports).
The org told Esports News UK that each director has an equal say and stake in the new business.
Coalesce head of business development, Sam ‘Omni’ Nevin, said: “Firstly I would like to start off by saying thank you for the positive welcome the Coalesce brand has received, it’s been overwhelming.
“The thought process behind the organisations coming together is getting us over the hump: we all knew we had the ability to do amazing things but we simply lacked the resources to do so. By coming together, we have made it possible for us to live up to our potential.”
The org has started off with a focus on CSGO and hopes to enter other esports like League of Legends and Rainbow Six Siege in the future.
Sam added: “Firstly, CSGO is at the forefront of our goals. Being top 100 in the HLTV rankings is a high priority for us to begin. We establish our brand with some of the best in Europe.
“With the ESL Premiership season about to begin, we aim to take that title from Endpoint and show that we can compete with the best.”
Endpoint are undoubtedly the kings of UK CSGO, having become the most-decorated ESL UK & Ireland Premiership team after winning their fifth CSGO Prem in a row earlier this year. Endpoint also recently revealed a new incentive to retain top CSGO talent – legacy membership.
“We all knew we had the ability to do amazing things but we simply lacked the resources to do so. By coming together, we have made it possible for us to live up to our potential.”
Sam ‘Omni’ Nevin, Coalesce Esports
“We have interest in other esports, with League of Legends and Rainbow Six Siege being key figures to our future plans,” Sam continued. “Although, with no exact dates confirmed, we cannot say when we will be entertaining the idea of having teams in these esports.
“Another point which Coalesce will focus on is to produce high quality consumable content. We have identified this as an area that’s taken a back seat in a lot of other organisations.”
With so many people behind a single esports org, one criticism some might have is that it might be hard for everyone to be aligned and agree on things. How concerned is Sam that disagreements may arise, and what would he say to any doubters?
“Within Coalesce we have a very strong voting system, which allows all directors to make their voices heard in the decision making process,” he said.
“There isn’t any concern from the organisation because we know that no matter what gets put in front of us, we will reach a verdict. We also recognise that each of us have a number of years of experience and we trust each other to make the right decisions. A wrong decision is only wrong if not all of us get behind it.
“We appreciate all the love and support the community have given us already and we are excited for what the future holds.”
It’s certainly an interesting move – there have been other mergers in UK esports in the past but not of this number of orgs at once. Good luck to the org and let’s see if they’re able to better fulfil their potential, as one, like they’re hoping to.
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.
