London-based Guild Esports will be supporting the launch of DreamWorks Animation’s latest movie Kung Fu Panda 4 with a Dragon Warrior Cup event.
The event will feature influencers and personalities including P Money and ‘Rainpro’, Guild’s professional Street Fighter player, already confirmed to be in attendance. Influencers including Ebonix, Stevie, Harrie, TN25, Sunpi and Yammy have also been invited.
Guild Studios, the production arm of Guild Esports (the esports organisation co-owned by David Beckham), is hosting proceedings.
The event, taking place at the Sky Guild Gaming Centre in Shoreditch, will see invited guests take part in the ‘Dragon Warrior Cup’— an in-person Street Fighter 6 tournament— in a decorated Kung Fu Panda 4 themed space.
Attendees to Guild’s Dragon Warrior Cup will be given the opportunity to compete for a variety of prizes with the overall winner being granted Po’s prestigious title of ‘Dragon Warrior’.
For the first time in almost a decade, comedy icon Jack Black returns to his role as Po, with a new chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s beloved franchise – Kung Fu Panda 4 – in cinemas Thursday March 28th 2024.
The film’s blurb, as per a Guild press release is as follows: “After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior, is called upon by destiny to… give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.
“Po needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position. But even worse, there’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon (Oscar winner Viola Davis), a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm.
“So, Po’s going to need some help. He finds it in the form of crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina), a corsac fox who really gets under Po’s fur but whose skills will prove invaluable.”
“We’re delighted to have been tasked with the creation and production of this event for Universal Pictures’ UK launch of Kung Fu Panda 4.”
Jasmine Skee, Guild Esports
The Guild release added: “With 72% of gamers preferring genuine gaming content (Frameplay, 2022), Guild developed this immersive experience to appeal to this audience in an authentic way. Gen Z make up a prominent cohort of legacy Kung Fu Panda fans and with 87% of 16-34s gaming weekly (according to a 2021 digital media trends report by Deloitte) Guild’s position in the gaming space makes them the perfect partner to capture this audience.”
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: “We’re delighted to have been tasked with the creation and production of this event for Universal Pictures’ UK launch of Kung Fu Panda 4.
“We know that Gen Z can be hard to reach but the gaming audience is one of the most engaged within this cohort – and we’re looking forward to showcasing our Guild Studios’ capabilities and delivering a stand-out influencer event to promote the launch of this latest instalment.”
The closed invite event will take place on Friday March 22nd 2024 ahead of the film’s UK cinema debut on Thursday March 28th.
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.
