Today marks another huge milestone for Heroic Group with the announcement of our entry into Blast Premier, one of the world's leading esports franchises, as an official member team. A key element of our strategy is to position  ourselves in the most attractive commercial structures in the esports ecosystem, to secure our exposure to global industry growth. After having collaborated with BLAST for a long time as a non-member organization, we are very excited to become strategic partners and address further growth opportunities together.

The process of acquiring the slot was a competitive one, given the strong position of BLAST Premier and the dignity of the other 11 members. After a thorough process with BLAST management and the selling party, Immortals Gaming Club (US), we managed to cross the finish line as the most attractive organization for the partnership.

The membership in BLAST Premier brings a range of benefits for Heroic Group, both competitively, commercially, and for our brand value. Our CS:GO team will benefit from guaranteed participation in  several big events in the circuit, where other non-member teams need to qualify. Commercially, Heroic will take part in the league's revenue share program, providing strong secured revenues on an annual basis, with attractive performance bonuses on top. For commercial partners, our brand will be even more relevant, due to the additional global exposure and great ecosystem we get through BLAST Premier. All in all, this partnership means a lot to Heroic’s further growth and our solidity as a company.

BLAST's journey as a company has been an impressive one, where they currently cover 154 broadcast territories, have sold more than 120k event tickets, had 600 million live views in 2021, and have built a social media following of more than 65 million people. The BLAST Premier franchise has held 23 global events in 9 countries, and has 12 franchise member teams, now with Heroic holding one of the slots.

The BLAST Premier franchise is complementary to ESL Pro League where Heroic secured a slot Q4 last year. During the year we will be onboarded in both leagues giving us the ultimate position in the world's second largest esports-title CS:GO.

Joachim Haraldsen, CEO of Heroic Group, said: "Today marks a massive milestone for Heroic Group. Our entry into BLAST Premier provides us with a unique position alongside the biggest brands in our industry, and a platform for collaborative growth that we strongly believe in. We are really impressed by the product that BLAST has built so far and are super excited to contribute to the continued success of the tournament as one of the 12 members".

Charlotte Kenny, Managing Director of BLAST Premier, said: "We're delighted to welcome on board Heroic, they've proven through their performances on the server over the last few years, that they belong alongside the world's elite of Counter Strike. Their impressive showing at last year's Fall Final in Copenhagen highlights what they will add to our tournaments. The level of interest, competition and investment shown for this slot highlights just how much BLAST Premier has grown in the last 12 months alone".

Frederikke Emily Wacker, Head of Relations at BLAST Premier, said: "BLAST Premier prides itself on delivering the world's top Counter-Strike tournament series, where the best teams and brightest stars compete for glory on a global stage with a multi-million dollar prize pool on the line. Heroic are one of the world's leading CS:GO teams thanks to their performances on the server over the last two years, adding them to our line-up of Member Teams helps us deliver on this promise of ensuring the world's elite compete across our tournament circuit. Partnering with the world's leading teams is an important part of our strategy and ensures we're able to deliver a premium product for the esports community to enjoy all around the world".

About BLAST:
BLAST is a global esports entertainment company - working with highly-regarded broadcasters, brands and communities across the world to innovate and deliver incredible entertainment. BLAST creates, produces, broadcasts and distributes premium esports entertainment underpinned by industry-leading technology - whether this be in the shape of intimate broadcast studio shows, packed-out arena events in all corners of the globe or top-class multi-platform content. The esports entertainment company has worked across a number of popular titles and delivered tournaments, content and shows in a variety of games, including: CS:GO, DOTA 2, VALORANT, Apex Legends and Fortnite. These shows have been watched on a global scale in 18 languages and across over 150 territories around the world. The company's leading light is BLAST Premier, a worldwide Counter-Strike tournament where the best teams and brightest stars fight it out for glory and a multi-million dollar prize pool. The tournament series has visited a number of iconic locations in recent years, from London to Copenhagen, Miami to Sao Paulo - uniting fans through their shared love of CS:GO. 

Contact:
Joachim Harg, Head of Finance and Investor Relations
harg@heroic.gg
+47 911 25 560