3 Brands That Have Their Own CS2 Teams

The consistency of cybersports has been proven over a pretty long time, with some of the oldest Pro teams in Counter-Strike being more than 20 years old. However, there are not so many Counter-Strike teams under brand ownership, even in 2024.

Of course, there are a lot of popular CS2 teams backed by brands to a greater or lesser extent, and Counter-Strike was among the pioneers of bringing marketing knowledge to esports. Many companies simply prefer becoming sponsors of particular tournaments without creating an additional department with a separate structure.

At the same time, it puts gaming organizations on the same level as other popular sports, where the team name and history become a brand of their own. Nonetheless, we dug deeper and found a few instances of Pro CS2 teams owned by brands.

Red Bull — OG

Energy drinks are pretty flexible products, allowing them to be an actual offer on many occasions, including Esports competitions. Red Bull is undoubtedly one of the most popular ones in the world, and it is pretty successful in investing in football (soccer) (RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg, New York Red Bulls) and Formula 1 (Red Bull Racing).

Esports became another focal point for the Austrian company, which invests a lot in cybersports, with OG being one of the most famous brand-associated CS2 teams for RB. The duo of red bulls lock horns on the OG’s logo for many years, confirming the ownership link, although the corporation is sponsoring some other popular teams like Astralis.

Initially, OG was founded in 2015 as the Dota 2 team by the Danish player Johan “N0tail” Sundstein. After achieving some notable results in this discipline, the organization got its management core and main investor, Red Bull. This allowed success to be facilitated, and OG won a few Dota 2 The Internationals, proving consistency and allowing the opening of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive department at the end of 2019.

However, an astonishing success in Dota2 didn’t directly transition to Counter-Strike as the team didn’t bring any notable silverware to the organization’s collection. Still, OG became one of the most consistent teams since its foundation, finishing at the podium in a dozen S-Tier championships. One of their features was the strategic organizational approach, as they emphasized young and unknown talents instead of buying stars. Of course, such an approach cannot bring a lot of trophies, but it surely allows them to be among the profitable brand-owned CS2 teams to continue their path.

Nexus-Media — Nexus

That is a much more straightforward instance of the brand-affiliated CS2 teams, as both the Nexus Media company and their Counter-Strike department have similar logos. Nexus Media is a production company from Romania that has been organizing esports events since 2021. However, the starting point for the Nexus team dates back to 2018, with the team being focused on raising mostly local players.

Both the brand and CS team can be unknown to a wider audience, but being on the edge of the HLTV’s top 30 with a one-nation squad is a serious achievement. Unsurprisingly, the squad didn’t deliver any notable achievements, but it looks like a well-thought-out project. Thus, Nexus became the first team in the career of Mihai “iM⁠” Ivan, who then joined GamerLegion and came close to becoming an MVP of the Paris Major 2023. Just after it, the Nexus-bred moved to NAVI and now fights for the highest possible places in CS2.

Nexus Media’s top event was the 15th IESF World Esports Championship, which took place in the Romanian city of Iasi in 2023. The online audience exceeded 1 million viewers who were following national CS teams fighting for the lion’s share of the $100k prize pool. Top influencers that cooperate with Nexus Media have about a million audience each, simplifying the organizational process and consistently delivering results.

Although this story still looks like the local-scale one, that is a clear example of how brands that have their own CS2 teams can develop their name and now help the team.

Gucci — Gucci Gaming Academy

It can be quite strange to see luxury clothing brands in the list of companies that have their own CS2 teams or have tried to enter cybersport, at least. After the announcement in May 2023, the famous Italian brand Gucci launched the Gaming Academy in the autumn, partnering with the Faceit platform.

Interestingly, the brand started by creating a platform for talent development, presenting comfortable conditions for growth. Being involved in several projects about mental care, like Gucci Changemakers, the company used a complex approach to training future stars. Under a professional coach, with modern training rigs and the full support of professional psychologists, Gucci Academy was able to deliver a few upsets for the top 20 teams at the end of 2023.

However, we should be clear — there is no CS2 Gucci Academy Team at the moment of writing as Gucci set on pause their Counter-Strike project. Still, some of their alumni continued their professional way, joining GamerLegion Academy and IKLA, with the rest being free agents and seeking opportunities.

All these may look like an unfortunate attempt to become one of the first company-owned pro CS2 teams, but the competition in Counter-Strike is absolutely astonishing right now. Building a team around FPL players cannot guarantee any fast results, but the company definitely received an experience they can use in the future. Thus, it can be another attempt to create a team, transform it into a sustainable learning platform for CS2 lovers, or simply use it in other spheres. Gucci has already proved it can be successful in diverse sectors.

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The development and promotion of E-sports exceeded the skepticism of the early 2000s when computer games were a harmful leisure that damaged eyes and backs. In the 2020s, we can definitely see that CS organizations became brands of their own, not even requiring an outside cash injection for existence. Global brands definitely have their eyes on the competitive Counter-Strike, but that is a fair deal for both sides: worldwide advertisement for companies and well-deserved money for players