Guild Esports plc (LON:GILD), a UK-based owner and developer of esports teams, has announced the signing of Europe’s top-ranked professional player in 2020, Tai Starčič (‘TaySon’), as the fourth member of its Fortnite team.
TaySon, from Slovenia, is the reigning No. 1 player in Fortnite’s player ranking in Europe and his addition elevates Guild’s team to the top spot from second place in the region.
TaySon has won over US$200,000 in tournament earnings to date. He is the current back-to-back champion of Fortnite’s FNCS EU Grand Final, winning US$80,000 in prize money in November 2020. He was also recently named ‘Player of the Year’ in the 2020 Competitive Awards for Fortnite as voted for by fans. This highlights his immense popularity at a grassroots level within the esport. TaySon has a combined social media following of over one million across his social channels, comprising 312,000 followers on Instagram, 221,000 YouTube subscribers, 358,000 followers on Twitch and 238,500 on Twitter.
Aged 16, he has signed a one-year contract with Guild, which has an option to renew for another year. He will be competing under the Guild banner in all upcoming European and international Fortnite tournaments, starting with the new FNCS EU season on 5 February. TaySon joins Guild’s other leading players, Henrik Mclean (‘Hen’), Nikolaj Andreas Frøslev (‘Flikk’), and Anas El-Abd (‘Anas’).
Guild Esports fields professional players competing in Valorant, a 5v5 multiplayer tactical shooter; Rocket League, a motor-racing and soccer hybrid game; and FIFA, the eponymous football franchise. The total number of active players on Guild’s roster across all games now stands at 13.
Fortnite has become a global cultural phenomenon with 350 million players worldwide as of May 2020. In December 2020, a record 15.3 million concurrent players took part in the Galactus in-game event and it was watched by 3.4 million fans on Twitch and YouTube gaming.
Carleton Curtis, Executive Chairman, said: “I’m delighted to welcome TaySon to Guild’s Fortnite roster. He has been Europe’s most dominant player over the past two FNCS seasons, and has a big international following. We look forward to working with TaySon to foster his world-class talent and build on his success.
“With his signing we have established the world’s most formidable Fortnite team within a short time and look forward to competing at the highest level in the upcoming FNCS season. His addition to our Fortnite team will enable Guild to reach new audiences and accelerate the expansion of our fanbase in one of the largest games.”
