Fnatic has now become one of Europe's leading esports teams. What is it about them that makes their fans so excited and excited for their future? In this article, we've summarized it into 10 points.
A must-see for both existing fans and future fans.
1. History
Fnatic was founded in July 2004 in London, England, and is a long-established e-sports team with a long history. When it was founded, it entered the professional scene of Counter-Strike. It then entered the World of Warcraft and DotA scene, and in 2011 it established a League of Legends (LoL) division. While achieving many successes, it is always challenging itself with new titles, and has continued to do so to this day.
While carrying on the traditions, their willingness to take on new challenges continues to amaze the e-sports world.
2. Success in the CS:GO division and overcoming difficulties
At the end of 2013, under the guidance of new leader Markus "pronax" Wallsten, Fnatic won their first major CS:GO tournament, then recruited two former LGB players, Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer and Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson, and won two titles in 2015, ESL One Katowice 2015 and ESL One Cologne 2015. With this lineup's consecutive major wins and 11 international titles, some consider this Fnatic team to be the strongest in CS:GO history .
After that, he went into a slump, but made a comeback in 2018. He won brilliant titles such as the Intel Extreme Masters XII - World Championship, World Electronic Sports Games 2017, and DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019.
However, the strength of the CS:GO team has been declining recently. Until April 2020, it was one of the best teams in the world, but the team began to function poorly after the weakening of Krieg (a type of gun in the game). By the end of 2020, it had participated in more than 10 tournaments, but had only made it into the top four twice. In December, it had fallen to 14th place in the HLTV.org rankings.
Nevertheless, the team has already begun to reorganize, including welcoming young player Jackinho. The more traditional the team, the higher the expectations of the fans. As a fan, you can't help but support them as they never give up, always bring in new winds and aim for a comeback.
3. League of Legends Division
League of Legends (LoL) is one of the world's leading esports titles, with a competitive population of about 100 million. Fnatic has had many good results in LoL, and it is one of the titles they are most committed to.
Fnatic joined LoL in Season 1 (2011) and won the world championship in Season 1. The scene where "xPeke", a member of the team at the time, defeated rival SK Gaming with a backdoor is a very famous scene in the history of LoL.
From 2013 to 2015, they won most of the titles in the LEC (European League, then called EU LCS). However, since 2016, a strong rival has appeared: G2 Esports. Fnatic won the season only in 2018, but in other years they lost to G2 Esports and took second place or lower.
Still, their performance in international competitions is high and they are highly trusted. Even if they did not win the European League, they have high expectations in international competitions. In 2018, they had a wonderful but disappointing result at the World Championships held in Korea, where they were just one win away from becoming world champions. This was the closest the European League has come to winning the World Championships in recent years.
In 2021, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, a central figure in the team, moved to G2 Esports, which became a hot topic. It was a shock to fans that a player who had supported the team for many years had left, but the team still welcomed fresh members and reorganized. This season, the team has achieved high rankings in the league. We look forward to their new history in the future.
4. Success in the global and Asian region
What makes Fnatic different from many other e-sports teams is that they have formed teams based in Japan and other parts of Asia. For example, the Rainbow Six Siege (R6S) division is based in Japan (they had planned to move their base from Australia, but this was temporarily delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and they have a very friendly relationship with their Japanese fans, which has earned them a lot of support.
I once had the opportunity to photograph them, and I remember that they were very nice young men who were also proactive in learning Japanese. The R6S Asia League (APAC) has many strong teams from Japan and Korea, making it a very exciting competitive scene. It's easy to watch, so why not come and support them?
5. High quality content
Looking at Fnatic's YouTube , there are a lot of video contents posted, all of which are of very high quality. They often quickly adopt trends, and seem to be conscious of conveying the individuality of the players. For example, in 2019, answering questions while eating chicken wings covered in spicy sauce one by one became popular in the West, and Fnatic quickly adopted it. In particular, I personally like the episode with "Bwipo", the expressive mascot of the LoL division.
6. Fan Relations
It's no exaggeration to say that fan relations is the most important thing for many teams, but Fnatic has taken it a step further.
Fnatic recently ran a crowd equity campaign for fans. In a nutshell, this is a campaign to "solicit financial investment from fans and have them become part of Fnatic." It is a form of crowdfunding, but in reality it feels more like buying stocks.
Indeed, if you think about it carefully, "being able to take part in the team's future" is the ultimate form of relationship with fans. While many teams consider fans and investors to be separate, this interesting campaign by Fnatic is attracting attention.
7. Funding Ability
Although it may be a harsh truth, money is an inseparable element in the management of an e-sports team. Such fundraising and sales capabilities can also be said to be one of the team's strengths. Financial strength is also important in determining the team's future potential.
In fact, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, market research firm Newzoo has revised down its global revenue forecast for the esports industry from an initial US$1.1 billion to US$950.3 million.
Nevertheless, Fnatic recently announced that it had raised $10 million in an internal funding round, bringing its total funding to approximately $35 million, proving that it is doing quite well. This is proof that the company's future prospects are being evaluated objectively.
8. Establishing ourselves as a device manufacturer, not just an esports team
Fnatic has announced that it will use much of the funds and effort it has acquired to develop a project called HPU (High Performance Unit), which is a dream project that aims to improve the performance of not only professional players, but all gamers, and establish a process for becoming an e-sports superstar.
Although there is still a lot of work to be done, the company plans to tackle all areas that can be improved, such as sleep tracking, nutrition, fitness, gaming environment, and equipment used.
The first step is to develop devices such as mice and keyboards in-house. The lessons learned and data collected from this will be utilized by HPU. FUTAROKU also carries Fnatic devices, so please check them out.
https://futaroku.gg/collections/%E3%82%AE%E3%82%A2
9. Attractive sponsors
Sponsors are an essential element in showing the appeal of an e-sports team, and Fnatic, like other major e-sports teams, has a luxurious sponsor lineup.
In particular, the fashion-related collaborations were extremely iconic and attracted a great deal of attention.
There is also video content from when they participated in GUCCI Fashion Week. It's a bit long, but if you have time, I recommend you take a look.
Also, Sanrio's Hello Kitty, famous for not being picky about her work, is collaborating with Fnatic. This is also one of their strong ties to Japan. I'm looking forward to new sponsors and collaborations in the future.
10. A sense of novelty
"A sense of smell for new things" - this is arguably the most important ability in developing an e-sports team.
Fnatic is considering entering one or two new titles this year. They are also focusing on Asian mobile titles in particular. I'm sure it's a pain to form a new franchise every time a new title comes out, but I'm looking forward to Fnatic's continued success in meeting the expectations of their fans.
lastly
What do you think? Fnatic may have a traditional image, but it can also be said that they are a team that is constantly evolving, such as by expanding into Japan.
If you have any other requests for more information on this team, please send a DM to FUTAROKU's Twitter or leave a comment on this blog. See you in the next blog! #AlwaysFNATIC
Blog lineup:
[Blog 1] 10 reasons why G2 ESPORTS became one of the best teams in the world
[Second blog post] Let me tell you about the appeal of desk mats.