Publicly-traded, London-based esports organization Guild Esports announced Thursday that it has entered into a partnership with UK-based fantasy trading platform eNDX.
While specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Guild claims that this partnership has an estimated value in the “six figures” range, based on “projected user acquisition and trading volume.”
Under the terms of the deal, Guild’s Counter-Strike 2 teams and players— the Guild Eagles and its all-female Counter-Strike team—will be added to the exchange. In return, Guild will receive a percentage of revenue generated from the trading of its players on the platform. It is unclear if Guild will offer further promotion for the platform via logo placement on team jerseys, and through cooperative marketing efforts via social media and streaming platforms.
This deal follows Guild announcing on Dec. 6 that it had formed a Counter-Strike 2 roster created specifically to compete during the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sometime in Summer 2024.
eNDX describes itself as a fantasy trading game with a focus on Counter-Strike that lets users “buy, sell and collect virtual in-game ‘shares’ from their favorite esports players.” These virtual shares provide no actual ownership or control over the players, obviously, but are bought and sold through an interactive stock-market-style system that the company describes as a “game.”
While eNDX is playable in some jurisdictions such as the UK, it is not available to users in the United States and China, according to its terms of service, nor is it available in countries with international sanctions in place such as Russia and Iran, as examples. Below is an excerpt from the TOS:
To play the Game at all you will need to be eligible and, if so, will have to accept these Terms. In order to be eligible you must: (i) be at least 18 years old; (ii) be legally capable of agreeing to these Terms; (iii) not have an eNDX account already; (iv) not ever have been suspended or forbidden from using any other eNDX facilities; (v) not be resident within the United States or China or another jurisdiction not targeted; and, (vi) ensure that your use of Our Game will not violate any and all laws or regulation applicable to you. eNDX may refuse in its sole discretion to open an eNDX Account for you, without explanation. You must provide accurate and complete information when opening an account with us, which you must keep up to date on an ongoing basis.
Guild’s new Counter-Strike 2 roster is composed mostly of former Bad News Eagles players including Kosovan Genc “gxx-” Kolgeci, Flatron “juanflatroo” Halimi, Sener “SENER1” Mahuti, Dionis “sinnopsyy” Budeci, and Rigon “rigoN” Gashi. The coaching staff consist of Kevin “Krystal” Amend, Keiran “KayJay” Playfair and Jonatan “Devilwalk” Lundberg, while esports host and commentator and former team manager James Banks will serve as a consultant. The team will play under the name Guild Eagles.