UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports have today announced they’re moving into Street Fighter, and have revealed their player line-up.
The Guild players are Reneil ‘JoKeR JoKeZ’ Landell (UK), Rabiae ‘Takamura’ Houmaid (Belgium) and Alfonso ‘VegaPatch’ Martínez Pozo (Spain).
Guild will collaborate with Sky Broadband to launch the ‘Sweat Room’, a livestreamed Street Fighter tournament that will be promoted via a social media campaign. This is part of Guild’s wider partnership with Sky UK (which saw the Sky Guild Gaming Centre open in London last year).
In the ‘Sweat Room’ tournament, participants will compete in one-on-one Street Fighter matches in a heated room, challenging gamers to perform at their best while under pressure.
The online campaign will be promoted by influencers including Iain Chambers, Veracity, Damascus, Tyrant and F-Word, who have a combined following of approximately 180,000.
The winner of the tournament will additionally receive a premium bundle of esports products designed for a professional-level Street Fighter player, including a gaming chair provided by Guild partner Secretlab, a gaming monitor, a peripheral set, 18 months of free Sky Fibre Broadband, a gaming PC, custom PC case and a Sweat Room branded joystick.
Guild will use the Sweat Room campaign to add an additional player to their new Street Fighter team roster, ‘as part of Guild and Sky Broadband’s shared commitment to supporting and developing the gaming community’.
The participants in the tournament have been selected by Guild’s team of coaches and scouts as the most promising non-professional Street Fighter players in the UK.
The news comes a few days after Guild Esports announced they’re expanding their Counter-Strike presence with a second team.
Viewers can tune into Guild Esports’ YouTube channel on August 31st to see how Sky Broadband’s Street Fighter competitors perform.
Update (August 31st): Suley has been announced as Guild’s newest Street Fighter player after winning Sweat Room.
‘Through the Sweat Room tournament, we intend to find players that keep cool under pressure and deliver top esports performances’ – Guild CEO
The directors believe that Guild directors said they believe the involvement in the campaign will ‘boost the company’s visibility and help to grow Guild’s audience among existing Street Fighter fans and a mid-to-hardcore gaming audience’.
Guild also said they believe the new team will ‘create new revenue-generating and audience growth opportunities for the company’.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, said: “Street Fighter is an immensely competitive game with a vibrant and devoted community. We have been closely monitoring its esports scene for a long time, and we believe now is the perfect moment to enter our own professional team.
“Street Fighter offers a completely new audience and future revenue-generation opportunities for Guild, where we will maintain our high standards of professional excellence and intend to compete at the highest level. I’m delighted to welcome Reneil, Rabiae and Alfonso to the Guild family, and look forward to welcoming the final member of the team.”
Jasmine Skee, Guild Esports
“I’m thrilled to be working with Sky Broadband on the Sweat Room tournament. Sky Broadband and Guild have been committed to enhancing esports performance since our partnership’s inception, and through the Sweat Room tournament, we intend to find players that keep cool under pressure and deliver top esports performances.
“Moreover, the tournament will deliver engaging content that is appealing to wide audiences, and our involvement is indicative of our position as a global gaming-focused media business.”
Amber Pine, Managing Director of Broadband and Connectivity at Sky Broadband, said: “As part of our continued partnership with Guild Esports, we’re excited to see some of the best available Street Fighter gamers battle it out in the Sweat Room, with the winner being officially awarded a place on the professional team.
“Of course, the best gamers need broadband that can match their performance, so we’re proud to be powering the tournament with Sky Full Fibre Broadband, providing the speed and reliability gamers need to excel in any competition.”
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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.
