It’s been one week since esports organisation Fnatic – whose headquarters are in London, UK – launched their Web3 membership offering in partnership with Crypto.com.
Their first membership programme promises to offer fans ‘an array of money-can’t-buy rewards and features across content, digital and physical products, exclusive events and more’, including the likes of player meet-and-greets, Fnatic shop discounts, plus an annual pro jersey and a loot box worth at least $100.
Digital membership is available in three tiers: Citizen (unlimited until April 7th 2022), Core ($250) and Pioneer ($600). The latter two will be limited to 2,500 each, and pre-sale for those opens on April 7th.
Fnatic’s membership programme is built on blockchain technology through NFT keys.
The announced drew a mixed response from fans and the community, with many reacting negatively to the announcement in the below Twitter thread:
However, some have expressed interest in it. And it is showing through sign-ups to Fnatic’s free Citizen membership, of which 150,000 keys have been claimed so far.
Fnatic also held a Q&A session on their Discord channel the other evening, and questions there seemed to be more positive and accepting of the new offering.
Fnatic have today also announced a live watch party in London for their League of Legends LEC playoffs match against G2.
This event is only open to 100 Fnatic key holders and will take place at Fnatic’s headquarters in Shoreditch, London on Saturday April 9th 2022 from 3pm BST.
Sam Mathews, CEO at Fnatic, said: “It’s no secret that for any brand, especially in esports, community is everything. Fans empower us, and we couldn’t exist without them. Our membership programme is designed to bring our community closer to us, as well as our players and creators. This means having their voices heard, influencing where we go next, and providing rewards and features they care about.
“After collecting feedback, we worked tirelessly to create a future-facing programme of ongoing benefits that are integrated directly into our product, and built for the long term. We want our fans to feel a deep sense of belonging to Fnatic, whilst having direct ownership over their keys. It’s truly theirs to hold onto forever, pass on to a friend or even sell.”
The full list of rewards and features for each tier can be found on the Fnatic memberships page.
It’s certainly a brave move from Fnatic, but is it what the fans really want? Time will tell.
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.
