Hi {{first_name | there}},

May was a milestone month—one pilot wrapped, a new tournament client onboarded, and the groundwork laid to kick-off our biggest structural shift yet.

The Office Showdown pilot is officially in the books. We’ve crowned winners, gathering feedback and confirmed that EA FC and Chess will join the title lineup for the 2025/26 Company Series. 🏆♟️

We also launched our support for Heroic, one of Europe’s leading global esports organisations, to deliver white-label CS2 community tournaments—Polkadot and CD Keys events already delivered successfully in May. 💥

Behind the scenes, our consulting services are now live, with a healthy pipeline building as more businesses look for help navigating the intersection of esports, content and community.

Most importantly, we’re preparing to unify our Ireland based esports products under one connected ecosystem.

With the Collegiate and Company Series running and the Schools Series pilot gaining momentum, it’s time to bring them together—more to follow as we head into August.

And finally, don’t be surprised when you visit business.nativzgaming.com—you’ll now land on nativzgaming.com. We’ve rebuilt our site from the ground up to better showcase our products, services and what’s coming next.

Our short reads, long reads, successes, challenges…well you know the rest, they follow below 👇🏼

🗞️ In Focus – Red Bull is once again proving it’s more than just an energy drink—it’s actively shaping the esports landscape by signing top talent and launching immersive events. On May 6, 2025, they added Marc “Caedrel” Lamont—a prominent League of Legends caster, streamer, and coach—to their esports roster. A week later, Red Bull also signed Ali “SypherPK” Hassan and followed that up by signing Welsh creator Aimee “Aimsey” Davies.

They’re not just signing talent—they’re building experiences. Their Legends Inn Apex Legends event is returning this winter, hosted by stars iiTzTimmy and ImperialHal, transforming a 19-storey Chicago hotel into a live competition arena with custom suites, real-time fan interactions, and a $25,000 prize pool. Add to that Red Bull’s decade-strong Kumite series, and it’s clear they’re delivering content and authenticity on multiple fronts.

What’s impressive is how they’re covering all bases—from multichannel creator signings and brand activations to high-production events across genres like LoL, Fortnite, Apex, Call of Duty, and Valorant. Their long-running sponsorship of Riot Games’ LEC since 2019 underscores their strategy of deep integration, not surface-level presence.

This is a powerful case study, their hybrid model—emphasis on creators, immersive live formats, and multi-title reach—provides a blueprint worth exploring. Their energy, cultural impact, and event-making expertise gives anyone exploring esports, content and community a strong model to learn from.

Here’s our selection of short and long reads from across the esports and gaming media;

🚀 Office Showdown Pilot Complete - first ever Company Series pilot wrapped with winners crowned, titles tested and a solid foundation laid for expansion. The feedback loop is already informing the 2025/26 season, where EA FC and Chess join the action.

🚀 Consulting Services Go Live - We’ve officially stepped into the consulting space, supporting brands entering esports the right way.

🚀 Heroic Tournament Success - We’ve teamed up with pro organisation Heroic to deliver white-label tournaments for their CS2 community. Events for Polkadot and CD Keys we’re delivered during May, reach out for more info.

Didn’t really have a choice, we’ve obviously been elbows deep with the Office Showdown pilot tournament and it threw up a number of challenges.

The pilot wasn’t just about gameplay—it was about learning how to translate a successful model into a new environment. Turns out, there’s no simple cut-and-paste solution.

🕹️ Copy and paste isn’t an option

Taking the Collegiate Series format and applying it to the Company Series seemed like a logical step. But we quickly learned the needs, behaviours, and rhythms of working professionals are entirely different—from scheduling to communication to motivation.

🕹️ Communication demands increase

Unlike student teams that are often clustered around a shared schedule and Discord habits, company players operate in more fragmented environments. We had to work much harder (and differently) to get messages through—and we’ll need to adapt how we onboard and communicate going forward.

🕹️ Working life is… life

Sometimes your kid gets sick. Sometimes a project goes long. Real life has a way of crashing the lobby. Last-minute dropouts were common, and not due to apathy—just the realities of adult schedules.

👉🏼 Onboarding needs structure

We built a dedicated landing page and ran onboarding comms, but we now know we need to go further. Clear training materials, practice matches (scrims), and optional tech tutorials will help players new to the format—or even to a game—get up to speed faster.

👉🏼 Wider game range = wider appeal

We confirmed that having a broader mix of titles helps participation. EA FC makes sense for casual crossover appeal. Chess is a strategic move to attract a new demographic. We’re going wider to bring more people in.

👉🏼 Substitutes aren’t a fallback—they’re essential

A flexible sub pool is now a core part of the model. Alumni from the Collegiate Series stepped in brilliantly during the pilot—including one who might land a job off the back of it. That’s a feature, not a fix.

With that in mind, the Company Series won’t just be a spin-off—it’s a fresh build. The pilot helped us find its identity. Now we double down.

This month, we’ve got two asks:

🇮🇪 Help us spread the word in Ireland – The 2025/26 Ireland Esports Leagues are open for registration, with entry starting at just €40 per player. If you know someone who might be remotely interested 👉🏼 send them our way.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Introduce us in London – As we explore expansion into England, we’re keen to connect with companies, schools and grassroots orgs who care about gaming, talent, or community in the Capital. Warm intros welcome—DMs wide open.

The following metrics are for the period of 1-31 May 2025:

Take a look at what we've got coming up:

📅 30 June - Nativz League of Legends Academy Team 4 Nations Promotion Series

📅 30 August - Office Showdown Winter Series Early Bird Discount Ends

📅 Oct 2025 - Collegiate Series Winter Tournament Starts

📅 Q4 2025 - Office Showdown Winter Tournament Starts

Regards,

Kurt & the Nativz Gaming Team