LEC legend Perkz becomes co-owner of Friendly Fire gaming cafes

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 02/12/2025

Legendary former LEC player Luka ‘Perkz‘ Perković has become a co-owner of the Croatian gaming cafe chain, Friendly Fire.

The cafes offer

Perkz is one of the most decorated European League of Legends esports players ever, winning eight LEC titles, an LCS title, and an MSI title.

As well as joining the ownership group, Perkz will act as Friendly Fire’s brand ambassador and strategic advisor.

The statement claims that Perkz will help ‘shape the next phase of international growth’ as the chain looks to grow globally.

Last year, the company expanded into Slovenia, opening three venues in the capital city of Ljubljana.

Currently, Friendly Fire has 18 cafes open and operating across Europe and Mexico.

Though the company claims to have more than 200 additional locations at various stages of development across the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Poland, and Ukraine.

The UK location/s was announced earlier this year, but it has not yet been revealed where exactly these cafes will be.

Friendly Fire is also planning on expanding into the United States.

Speaking about his new role, Perkz said:

“I’m thrilled to be joining Friendly Fire at such an exciting moment in the brand’s journey.

“Friendly Fire has built something truly special—a mix of creativity, authenticity, and ambition that really resonates with people.

“I’m looking forward to helping shape what comes next and pushing the brand toward an even brighter, bolder future.”

This is the Croatian’s first venture since Perkz retired from LoL esports back in June.

After a long and successful stint with G2, Perkz went to North America to play for Cloud9 and became one of the only pro players to win a trophy in both regions.

Perkz then returned to the LEC with Team Vitality and Team Heretics before competing for UK team The Ruddy Sack in the NLC.

The state of gaming cafes in the UK

Friendly Fire is opening in the UK soon as they help people open local franchises.

However, it’s seemingly not the best time to open a gaming cafe in the country.

UK-based gaming cafe chain SideQuest announced that three of its four venues are permanently closing.

Its locations in Elephant & Castle, Coventry, and Canterbury all closed on Saturday, November 30th.

Now, SideQuest only has one venue, which is located in Charing Cross location in central London.

This news comes after SideQuest also closed its cafe in Leicester back in August 2024.

No official reasons were given for the recent closures.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

All Posts By Jack Stewart