Movember has become the official mental health partner of Blast Premier, a global Counter-Strike tournament series, in an initiative to support the mental health of esports players and communities.
Men’s health charity Movember will work with the esports entertainment company to develop awareness and support for mental health challenges, create psychologically safe spaces, deliver evidence-informed mental health workshops and undertake research to develop Mental Health Guidelines for the wider industry.
The partnership will see Movember and Blast Premier commit to working together to promote good mental health and prevent ill-health amongst esports players and viewers/spectators, encouraging the community to take action and better support themselves and each other, officially launching at the Blast Premier World Final in Singapore from 30 October to 2 November.
The World Final 2024 will see the biggest and best esports and Counter-Strike teams compete in Singapore across five days of competition for a total prize pool of $1,000,000.
Ahead of the World Final, Movember joined Blast Premier at September’s Fall Final to spend time talking to fans, players and teams. Movember hosted mental health workshops in the lead up to the tournament with players and talent to better understand the challenges the wider industry faces with mental health.
The Movember barber shop was also made available for fans in the arena to get haircuts, while having an open and honest chat.
As part of these conversations and future focus across the wider esports sector, both organisations will collaborate to establish a set of Mental Health Guidelines, centered around lived and living experiences of players (ranked and unranked), designed to level up the impact esports has on people’s mental health with the aim of onboarding other organisations in the future.
Director of Global Innovations at Movember, Dan Cooper, said: “This partnership between Movember and Blast Premier is a significant step in highlighting the health challenges facing those in the esports community. We plan to do that in part by collaboratively building guidelines that will act as a set of foundational principles to protect esports players and support the creation of psychologically safe spaces.
“The influence of esports is growing, our aim is to help transform how the community engages and prioritises mental health and in doing so takes proactive steps in levelling up, not only in performance but also positive health outcomes.”
Faye Marlborough, Director of Growth for Blast, added: “Esports has a huge influence on people all over the world, and through this new partnership we have already started to have industry-led discussions about mental health and deliver interventions in settings where esports players and the community spend their time.
“We hope this partnership will help leverage Movember’s experience to equip our fans and community with best practices and approaches to dealing with mental health.”
Blast announces expanded partnership with Blacklyte
In other Blast news, the esports tournament operator has announced an expanded Global Partnership with Blacklyte for 2025, which Blast says is a first-of-its-kind to encompass five top esports titles.
As a Global Chair & Desk Partner, Blacklyte will provide custom-made esports desks and chairs for the competitive landscape across Rainbow Six Esports (Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege), Blast Premier (Counter-Strike), Blast Slam (Dota 2), RLCS (Rocket League Championship Series) and FNCS (Fortnite Championship Series).
The expansion of the partnership means Blacklyte will cover all esports titles Blast operates in 2025.
Last month, Blast announced Blacklyte as the first commercial partner for Fortnite Competitive for the FNCS Global Championship 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, United States.
Blacklyte desks will also be showcased at the Blast Premier World Final in Singapore for the first time.
Alexander Lewin, SVP of Commercial Revenue for Blast, said: “We are proud to expand our partnership with Blacklyte to encompass all five of our esports titles heading into 2025. This marks a landmark moment for Blast. We work across a number of leading esports ecosystems, which gives us the ability to leverage these different communities and tournaments. This partnership is testament to harnessing that network to create best-in-class partnerships.”
Alexander Liu, CEO at Blacklyte, added: “We are excited to enter into this unprecedented partnership with Blast, which will enable us to reach a broader audience and create a lasting impact across multiple titles. This collaboration signifies a new era for esports, where we can unify diverse gaming communities under one strategic initiative, providing equipment to help esports players compete at the top level.”
Update: BIG launches #Growbig campaign for men’s health with L’Oréal Men Expert and Movember
In more Movember esports news, German esports org Berlin International Gaming (BIG) have teamed up with L’Oréal Men Expert and Movember to launch the #Growbig campaign – an initiative to raise awareness about men’s health.
This campaign focuses on mental health, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer awareness and prevention. Aimed at BIG’s mostly young male community, the campaign seeks to bring this important issue to the forefront and offer crucial information and support.
Movember’s statistics highlight the urgent need for awareness, with insights that show education can truly save lives:
Prostate Cancer: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in Germany and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Around one in six men (17.5%) will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lives, and one in seventeen (5.8%) will die from it. Germany has the highest rate of prostate cancer deaths in Europe.
Testicular Cancer: Among men aged 20 to 39, testicular cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis. In 2020 alone, Germany saw more than 4,500 cases, with around 158 lives lost to this illness.
Mental Health and Suicide: In Germany, an average of 19 men die by suicide daily. Men are disproportionately affected, making up roughly 75% of all suicide cases.
Starting November 1st 2024, the #Growbig campaign rolled out a series of social media activities across BIG’s channels to share essential information on men’s health through posts and videos. The focus is on mental health and the importance of regular screening for prostate and testicular cancer.
The campaign will culminate in a #Growbig charity stream on November 30th 2024, where BIG influencers and esports pros will face off in various games. Before each match, viewers will gain a personal look into the lives of these athletes, including interviews on mental health challenges and the stresses of competitive gaming. This stream aims to bring men’s health issues to the forefront in an authentic way and to raise community awareness.
“Our partnership with L’Oréal Men Expert and Movember is a meaningful highlight to end the year,” says Daniel Finkler, CEO of BIG. “This collaboration not only allows us to raise awareness about men’s health but also to bring these critical messages to our young esports community, which is over 90% male. Through the #Growbig campaign and the end-of-month live stream, we want to reach all these individuals, share important facts, and promote awareness. We’re proud to be part of this important mission.”
The campaign encourages men to proactively care for their health and invites all supporters to join in, helping to make a positive impact on men’s health.
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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.
