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The University of Warwick’s Esports Centre announces its first new sponsor of 2023. This multi-year deal marks the Esports Centre’s largest sponsorship since its launch, as Chillblast look to collaborate with the four-time championship winners, Warwick Esports, to shape the future of British esports.
Chillblast is the UK’s most awarded gaming PC manufacturer and is a brand synonymous with esports. It builds hundreds of PCs that power the world’s biggest esports tournaments, teams, and organisations. This commitment to work with expert staff and student community at the University of Warwick shows an honest movement to support grassroots esports. Together, this collaboration solidifies the Esports Centre as a catalyst for innovation in the creative and digital sector.
After a successful pilot of the ‘Chillblast Championships’ towards the end of 2022, Chillblast and Warwick will be working together on a series of competitions across a variety of game titles as part of their sponsorship. These pop-up majors are an effort to provide more opportunities for young people aspiring for esports careers. Each tournament will be student-run by Warwick student staff, providing entry-level paid opportunities for the core team and optional volunteering opportunities.
The second event sponsored by Chillblast will be the ‘Warwick Valorant Invitational’, featuring both an open tournament and a women and non-binary tournament that will run simultaneously with qualifiers online on Wednesday 1st March. The finalists from both tournaments will be supported to travel to Warwick’s state-of-the-art Esports Centre to play their Grand Finals in-person on Saturday 11 March as they will battle live for the lion’s share of the prize pool worth £2,000.
Almost two years after announcement of a £275,000 investment enabling the University to develop a dedicated esports space, the Centre has been a huge success not just on campus but across country. The student society, Warwick Esports, brought home its fourth consecutive BUEC trophy, over 1,000 young people have taken part various skills programmes, and the Esports Centre user community has grown to over 2,200 people.
As part of its support for the growing esports scene in the United Kingdom, Chillblast be providing exclusive offers and discounts to qualifying students and academics. Details of these offers and deals will be periodically shared on an online esports hub, and via a subscription-only newsletter.
Ben Miles, Managing Director of Chillblast and Tactus Group’s Chief Gaming Officer said “Everyone at Chillblast is incredibly excited to advance our status as a leading esports brand by working with the University of Warwick. With its exceptional Esports Centre and support ecosystem for students looking to enter our industry, Warwick was a natural partner, especially given the incredible team the University has in place.”
Jack Fenton, the University of Warwick’s Head of Esports, said “This is a huge boost to the momentum we’ve been generating since opening in the Esports Centre in September 2021. Chillblast truly recognise not just the potential in the facility but also in the student community, and we’re committed to working together to provide genuine opportunities for students at college and university across the UK. It’s an exciting time to be in this scene and it’s an honour to have Chillblast on board supporting its growth.”
This news marks another step forward from Warwick as their innovative Esports Centre continues to work with companies to amplify the potential of collegiate esports in the UK, after bringing home second place at the Esports Awards 2022 as Collegiate Programme of the Year.
As the official PC supplier to FNATIC, “the Real Madrid of esports”, it was the perfect next step to become a principal sponsor of the
To sign-up or learn more about this collaboration and this tournament, click here: https://www.chillblast.com/learn/warwick-valorant-invitational/
