Guild Esports Reveals Counter-Strike 2 Roster to Compete in Esports World Cup

Guild Eagles Counter-Strike 2 team set to take flight to Riyadh in 2024 for the Esports World Cup. Credit Guild Esports

London-based, publicly traded esports organization Guild Esports announced Friday that it has completed putting together a Counter-Strike 2 roster created specifically to compete during the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sometime in Summer 2024.

The new 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, Esports host and commentator and former team manager James Banks will serve as a consultant.

The Esports World Cup Foundation was created by the Saudi Esports Federation creator Saudi Prince Faisal bin Bandar (HRH Prince Faisal) – who serves as its president, as well as president of the International Esports Federation and VP of the Global Esports Federation.

The Esports World Cup—formerly Games8—is being operated by the Esports World Cup Foundation, which is being overseen by its new CEO  Ralf Reichert, who left his role as Chairman of ESL FACEIT Group to take on the new leadership role.

Sources tell us that the Esports World Cup Foundation is not owned directly by SEF or the Public Investment Fund-owned tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group or its parent company Savvy games Group. Instead the gaming and esports festival is being run by a board that contains a number of executives from different companies. More details on the makeup of that board are to be announced from what we have been told.

Guild Esports is one of the few Western esports organizations to announce publicly its plan to compete at the Esports World Cup next year. The Esports Advocate has been told by reliable sources that multiple Western esports organizations have already committed to competing at the Esports World Cup next year, but have not announced their intentions publicly as of this writing.