BUSINESS: ESL FACEIT partners with Kick for 1-year activations deal

The world’s leading esports and gaming entertainment company has partnered with one of the leading creator-first platforms to bring in-person activations to major esports events.

In a statement posted last Monday, ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) and Kick, the online gaming and streaming platform announced a one-year partnership.

As part of the engagement, Kick will offer in-person activations across the four DreamHack festivals in an effort to create opportunities for much-needed facetime between the platform and its creators.

Kick content creators will be engaging with fans attending DreamHack for panel sessions and meet-and-greet events. Booths and prize activities will also be done for the event, including Racing Simulators and gaming trivia.

“We’ve designed this new partnership to help Kick create deeper connections with its community which transcend the online relationship, in order to help it build a better platform and environment so creators of the future can thrive,” said Shahin Zarrabi, Vice President, Festivals at ESL FACEIT Group.

Kick’s Chief Marketing Officer Akhil Sarin, meanwhile, spoke of the partnership: “Kick is a creator-first platform, making it natural for us to team up with the DreamHack experience in four major cities worldwide. The Kick team thanks ESL/EFG for recognizing us as a brand that strives to lead the live-streaming industry. Together, in 2024, DreamHack and Kick will create unforgettable IRL experiences that will last a lifetime.”

 

This is the first time that Kick has offered in-person activations and on-the-ground meet-and-greet opportunities within its dedicated community, with the intention of helping up-and-coming creators learn more about its incentive programmes and obtain strategic and creative insights from established talents with major followings. 

 

Kick activations will take place at DreamHack festivals in Melbourne (26-28 April), Dallas (31 May-2 June), Atlanta (4-6 October) and Stockholm (22-24 November).

 

Kick is one of the major streaming services competing with Twitch and YouTube, and has more lax rules toward gambling and other content compared to the latter two.