NUEL Founder Josh Williams and GGTech Entertainment General Director Santos Montiel
Long-running UK university esports body NUEL has been acquired by GGTech Entertainment in a move that will see NUEL become the office for GGTech’s operations in the UK and Ireland.
Spanish-headquartered esports organiser GGTech looks to level up its UK university and grassroots esports operations with the acquisition.
The pair have been working together for a number of years already, on the Amazon University Esports tournaments in the UK and Ireland, as well as the Amazon University Esports Masters across Europe.
NUEL will keep its name and remain registered as The NUEL Esports Ltd, though will be referred to as ‘NUEL (A GGTech Entertainment Company)’ going forwards. It will have an ‘increased focus on player-facing brands associated with each project – for example University Esports’.
The senior leadership at NUEL will also remain with the company, with Founder Josh Williams leading GGTech’s global University Esports program. David Jackson will continue as Managing Director of NUEL, and Peter Cole will continue as Head of Product.
A board of directors has also been created which will oversee NUEL’s operations – this board will include GGTech senior management as well as Josh Williams and David Jackson.
“Since we began in 2010, our mission has been to widen access to esports and create memorable experiences for players, as well as providing meaningful opportunities for people to further their careers. We have been working with GGTech for years now, they share our commitment to these goals, and I’m excited for us to embark on this new stage in our journey as part of GGTech.”
Josh Williams, NUEL
GGTech was described as ‘expanding rapidly across both EMEA and the Americas’ in a press release. It also said the acquisition ‘provides NUEL with the potential to not only grow in the UK and Ireland, but also make a valuable contribution to GGTech’s global activities’.
Staff and students have already had opportunities to work on GGTech’s international projects – including travelling out to GGTech’s facilities in Alicante to work on some of GGTech’s flagship events such as the TFT Dragonlands Championship – and this move will further expand these opportunities and facilitate progression for staff and players.
José Parilla, CEO and Founder of GG Tech, said: “As a company, we’re continuously looking for ways to develop and expand our services around the world. Partnering with NUEL enables us to not only enhance experiences for players and staff, but also share our commitment and excitement for the esports industry across the UK.”
NUEL Founder Josh Williams added: “Since we began in 2010, our mission has been to widen access to esports and create memorable experiences for players, as well as providing meaningful opportunities for people to further their careers.
“We have been working with GGTech for years now, they share our commitment to these goals, and I’m excited for us to embark on this new stage in our journey as part of GGTech.”
About GGTech and NUEL: What do they work on?
First established as a student-run organisation in 2010, NUEL is the UK and Ireland organiser of Amazon University Esports, a pan-European university esports competition managed globally by GGTech.
Beyond university esports, NUEL recently developed and ran Rising Stars – the first official pan-European women’s League of Legends tournament – and the qualifiers for the ‘Rest-of-EMEA’ region in the Teamfight Tactics Rising Legends ecosystem.
In May 2023, it ran the England/Wales/Ireland Minor event in the Northern Europe Valorant Beacon circuit.
In addition to launching and managing the global University Esports project, GGTech also produces Teamfight Tactics Rising Legends and Teamfight Tactics Championships, the EMEA and Global competitions of Riot Games’ strategy game.
GGTech is also responsible for the Gamergy series of major gaming conventions, with recent events held in Madrid, Buenos Aires and Mexico City. It also develops Circuito Tormenta, Riot Games’ main amateur competition in Spain.
Last year, NUEL and GGTech announced a partnership with Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies – part of Nottingham Trent University – which saw NUEL relocate its head office to Nottingham, and hold live finals for its Winter 2022 and Spring 2023 seasons at the newly opened Confetti X esports complex.
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.
