Guild Esports, an esports group that has competitive teams in major video games like Fortnite and the Fifa replacement EAFC 24, has recruited Awais Liaqat, a Pakistani esports player on a 12-month contract to compete in international competitions, including the Esports World Cup.
Tekken is a long-standing fighting game franchise that dates back to 1994 and claims to be the third best-selling fighting franchise of all time.
Eight versions of the game have been released, and it is growing rapidly as an esports spectacle, with a combined 695,000 hours watched at the game’s most recent Tekken World Finals competition, Guild Esports said in a statement to markets.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: “We have been waiting for the right time to enter Tekken, and with the upcoming Esports World Cup and the launch of Tekken 8, now is the perfect opportunity. It is testament to our esports prestige that we have been able to attract a player of Awais’ calibre to Guild, and we look forward to seeing him compete in a Guild jersey.”
The group’s further expansion into fighting games comes in the wake of its recent announcement that it would be joining the ‘Esports World Cup Club Program’, an invitation-only competition that encourages the generation of social media engagement and viewership rather than competitive performance.
Guild Esports—or ‘The Guild, ‘ as it is often called—is co-owned by former Manchester Utd and Real Madrid footballer David Beckham and is the first esports business in the UK to be traded on a stock exchange.
Liaqat’s signing forms part of a more general strategy to broaden the number of games it competes in and the players it has on its roster. The Guild also recently signed Fortnite player ‘Charyy_’.