WePlay! Esports is hosting a new esports academy for Counter-Strike in a bid to help the next generation of competitive talent develop their skills.
Grassroots Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is back, with media and esports hosting company WePlay Esports launching a dedicated academy for up-and-coming talented players who aren’t ready to attend majors. The WePlay Academy League (WAL) is already attracting some top-crop competitive talent from established esports powerhouses who are looking to add more promising players to their rosters or cut the teeth of already recruited ones.
The participating teams include the academies and training units of many established organizations, including Astralis Talent, Fnatic Rising, Young Ninjas, BIG.OMEN Academy, NAVI Junior and others. With a $100,000 prize pool on the line, WAL is an attractive prospect for players to explore.
All participants must be between the ages of 16 and 20 to participate, although an exception could be made for the fifth player providing all the rest fit the requirement. Commenting on this partnership, WePlay Esports said that it had started the academy in recognition of the fact that esports organizations should do more to develop the next generation of esports talent.
“Youngsters will be able to make a name for themselves and gain the first-hand experience competing in a high-profile tournament,” WePlay said.
The academy is not going to take too long to launch either, with Season 1 already scheduled for July 19. It will be held in an online format through August 8, and the four best teams will proceed to offline playoffs at the WePlay Esports Arena in Kyiv, Ukraine, held from August 27 through August 29.
WePlay has become one of the most prominent and significant entities in the competitive video gaming space. When the pandemic struck in 2020, it forced many tournaments to defer their start dates or postpone them altogether.
WePlay! Esports was one of the few companies to not only hold events but do so with overwhelming success. The company focused on Dota 2 and Counter-Strike, concentrating a lot of resources in production value and attracting the right people for every aspect of the production process.
When Chinese players were unable to fly in to attend the WePlay AniMajor, the organization hired private jets that can avoid some of the visa hurdles that esports is chronically undermined by.
Earlier this month, WePlay became the official broadcaster in Russian for the upcoming CS:GO PGL Major Stockholm this year. The company has set a new golden standard in esports event production and one that it continues to develop by introducing even more opportunities for the esports community to thrive.
