Innovation & technology
PostFinance makes five Esports gamers professionals for one year
As part of the PostFinance Esports Experiment, five Esports gamers have become professional players for the strategy game “League of Legends” for one year. The five gamers showcased their skills by winning the final of the first Esports league in Switzerland.
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On the stage in Halle 622 in Zurich, the PostFinance HelixTarget not accessible Esports pros battled to win the league in mid-May. The sell-out crowd of several hundred spectators at Halle 622 watched the final live. Meanwhile, over 20,000 people followed the excitement via the streaming platform Twitch.
PostFinance Helix dominated the virtual game
In the final of the online strategy game League of Legends, the PostFinance team competed against their rivals Silentgaming. It wasn’t even close: PostFinance Helix dominated the match on the virtual battlefield “Summoner’s Rift” from the start. Even a bold manoeuvre from the underdogs, where they snatched the monster-to-beat “Baron” from under PostFinance Helix’s nose, couldn’t dent the team’s dominance. And so the big moment came after the final when the PostFinance Helix athletes lifted the trophy and celebrated winning the first season of the Swisscom Hero League, the new Swiss Esports league.
Dreaming of an Esports career
The PostFinance Helix team (left to right): Mahdi “Pride” Nasserzadeh, Nikola “Greenfire” Dimovic, Antoine “Vango” Tinguely, Marco “Polo” Buchholz and Dennis “Koala” Berg. The five gamers have formed Switzerland’s first professional League of Legends team since the beginning of 2019.
For one year they are training professionally and full-time for the online game and receive a monthly salary of 2,500 francs. The victory in the final of the Swisscom Hero League is the biggest success the five young men have had so far in Switzerland. They now belong to the eight best teams in the German-speaking world.
A digital experiment in an innovative environment
PostFinance is entering an exciting market with the Esports Experiment. Esports is a billion-dollar business and is among the world’s fastest-growing sports − however it is still a niche market in Switzerland. During the 12 months, the athletes will not only be trained to become professional players, they also have financial challenges to tackle. They will create a budget together and keep track of their expenses. The team is supported professionally by various mentors. PostFinance wants to gain valuable experiences with this digital experiment and appeal to young, digitally savvy potential customers.