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G2A.COM has always been about gaming and entertainment. The company supports esports to this day, giving back to the community that made G2A Marketplace the world’s biggest platform of its kind. It says it pioneered the ways in which businesses can cooperate with influencers. Let’s dive into the history of the relationship between G2A.COM and esports, and their mutual growth, shall we?
It all began in 2014. G2A.COM, once a video game retailer, now a digital marketplace, sought to give back and support the core of its community of gamers by giving it the content they like most. One of the ways to make that happen was establishing partnerships with esports teams, sponsoring and hosting events, and joining forces with gaming influencers, such as PewDiePie.
A couple of years and 12 million dollars later, the list of teams and tournaments supported by the company includes over 70 of the former and more than 110 of the latter. All this is to give back to gaming fans and help esports gain widespread recognition. CS:GO, Valorant, League of Legends – these and many more remain extremely popular. G2A.COM does a lot to add to that success.
G2A Bootcamp: one-of-a-kind training session
May 2017 saw G2A.COM host probably one of the most unique esports bootcamps in the history of the industry, according to the company. Normally, teams usually train behind closed doors, but the company wanted to do something different. So, Natus Vincere and Virtus.Pro were invited to the Rzeszow office in order to duke it out for all their fans to see.
This involved long, long hours of training sessions, coupled with analysing competitors’ footage, tons of planning, and supervision not just from the trainers, but also a special psychologist, all to boost the players’ skill, morale, and help them bond.
But that wasn’t all! A show match between the teams took place in one of Rzeszow’s largest malls. The event was attended by a whopping 3,000 people! Another interesting challenge included the players competing with each other using the weirdest controllers possible. Can you imagine playing CS:GO using a driving wheel? That’s what these guys did. This boot camp will certainly be long remembered by the participants and the fans alike!
G2A.COM’s return to esports sponsorships
After a brief break from supporting the esports scene, the company once again set out to secure some partnerships with major players in the field, starting in February 2019. A Polish organisation by the name of X-Kom AGO turned out to be one of the new partners. The likes of Team Atlantis, Illuminar Gaming, and Arcane Wave soon followed suit.
G2A.COM was among the sponsors of the Polish Esports League Finals, which took place on December 7-8, 2019. A variety of competitors from Poland and a bonus one from Spain competed for victory at G2A Arena, a huge exhibition and congress center in Jasionka near Rzeszow.
When PGL Major, one of the biggest CS:GO tournaments in the world, returned for another round after a two-year break, G2A.COM did not hesitate to sponsor it, becoming a partner of streams in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
2022 and onwards
May 2022 saw G2A.COM support the PLE.GG Gaming Weekend organised by the Polish Esports League. The event entailed the final round of the Master Division, the qualifying Supercup matches, and streams of PGL Major Antwerp 2022. A new esports team, Heinz PLE All-Star, composed of top Polish players, made their debut during an exhibition match.
If you’re into Valorant instead, G2A.COM also sponsored a big event in the Polish seaside city of Gdynia: Heinz PLE All-Star 2022. Around a hundred pro players, including some international stars, gathered during the big Valorant LAN party. Special guests were there, too, including Piotr “izak” Skowyrski (a popular Polish esports commentator, YouTuber and former pro player) and Marcin Gortat (a retired basketball player, the only Pole to ever reach NBA finals).
G2A.COM continued to work with the Polish Esports League, sponsoring the grand finals of PGE Master Division alongside the likes of Red Bull and Seiko. But that’s not all: the company was also actively supporting a new initiative known as Next Level (Nowy Poziom in Polish). Fans of CS:GO, Valorant, Clash Royale and FIFA 2022 had their shot at entering the pantheon of Polish esports celebs and becoming the scene’s new rising stars.
Beyond esports: chess, motorsport, and more
Interestingly, G2A.COM did not limit themselves and established some “regular” sports partnerships. Probably the biggest of these is the one with the Drift Masters European Championship, the so-called fastest growing drifting organisation in the world. This includes supporting Virtual Drift Masters, a competition for professional virtual drivers. G2A.COM also works with two renowned Spanish drivers: Ruben Bolano and Dani Clos.
More examples? The company partnered with Michał Kanarkiewicz, a chess master, for the Chess Academy project, meant to popularise the legendary discipline. It also supported various football teams, such as UK’s Derby County back in 2017, and worked with a famous Polish Olympic-level speed-climber Aleksandra Mirosław, they were also present for the last few months with their branding at matches of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, top clubs in the German Bundesliga. All this is to expand beyond the world of gaming and show that digital entertainment is for everyone.
What does the future hold?
Whether it’s continuing long-term partnerships or an intriguing new project in the works, G2A.COM’s not planning on stopping anytime soon. The company is constantly on the lookout for more exciting new initiatives to support and partners to work with. By remaining committed to promoting esports and more traditional disciplines, it is bound to add more successes in this field to the list.
It is also clear that G2A.COM wants to show how the worlds of esports and real-life sports can intertwine and fans of one can find many interesting aspects of the other – their current partnership with Drift Masters is a testament to that, with several drivers admitting that they got their passion for racing from video games like Assetto Corsa. This is definitely an interesting track to take and it’s also going to be interesting to see how they will highlight those two worlds colliding in the future.
Enhancing gaming and sports experience – G2A.COM partners with Virtual Drift Masters
G2A.COM, the world’s largest marketplace for digital entertainment, has on April 16th 2024 announced its long-term partnership with Virtual Drift Masters, a series that brings the excitement from the asphalt-covered Drift Masters tracks to the world of esports.
Virtual Drift Masters will open the gate to compete on pixel-perfect replicas of iconic tracks in the Assetto Corsa driving simulator. The 2024 series will begin on April 26th and consist of six rounds.
G2A.COM has a long history of supporting esports, including over 100 events and 70 teams worldwide. In 2023, the company announced a sports partnership with Drift Masters Grand Prix – the world’s fastest-growing drifting organisation, crowning the season with a spectacular Grand Finale attended by 55,000 fans.
Virtual Drift Masters is the next joint project that goes together with G2A.COM’s motto: Gate 2 Adventure, as sport, with its passion and emotions, plays an important role in the brand’s strategy. It is also aligned with the company’s enhanced business strategy to cater to a wider, more mainstream audience with the expansion of offerings beyond gaming into the vast realm of digital entertainment.
“G2A.COM’s roots are in gaming, we are an all-digital company, associated with e-sports for a long time, and we are now enhancing to sports, and connecting these two worlds – online and offline, so it was natural for us to engage in this project,” commented Mona Kinal, Chief Marketing Officer at G2A.COM.
“Moreover, drifting is very entertaining, it brings pure emotions, and attracts the diverse audiences we want to reach. We observed the popularity of motorsport games, so Assetto Corsa is not a coincidence, many drivers started their careers playing this driving simulator. We want to invite people to the world of digital entertainment, and this is the Gate 2 Adventure for v-drifting fans.”
The virtual rounds will run in line with the real Drift Masters championship and are scheduled to kick off before their real-world counterparts, setting the stage for a thrilling season ahead. Upcoming Virtual Drift Masters rounds are set to take place on these dates:
- Round 1: Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia on 26 – 28 April 2024
- Round 2: Mondello Park, Ireland on 17 – 19 May 2024
- Round 3: Powerpark Huvivaltio, Harma, Finland on 21 – 23 June 2024
- Round 4: Bikernieki Circuit, Latvia on 12 – 14 July 2024
- Round 5: Mariapocs, Hungary on 09 – 11 August 2024
- Round 6: To be announced on 30 – 01 September 2024
2024 Virtual Drift Masters is just a starting point for the long-term perspective including tutorials for beginners, a drifting academy, and opportunities to meet and compete with Drift Masters stars. All updates are available on the official Virtual Drift Masters website, Facebook and Instagram.
