eSports

EXCEL ESPORTS introduces The Power of Better into major brand update

Published

5 years ago

November 13, 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The leading British competitive gaming brand unveils ambitious manifesto and vision of The Power of Better, incorporating purpose into its brand identity to help improve the gaming and esports industry and looking beyond the esports “lifestyle brand”

EXCEL ESPORTS, the leading British competitive gaming culture brand, with teams participating in the two biggest global video games, Fortnite and League of Legends, has today unveiled a significant brand update, a bold and unique visual identity in esports that will see EXCEL evolve into a professional team that adds purpose to its passion for gaming. The update signifies the next stage of EXCEL’s expansion, growth and its unique vision of The Power of Better; a commitment to improve in everything it does and to use its platform to have a positive impact on the wider gaming and esports community.

Since its inception six years ago, EXCEL has become the most prolific British esports team, making significant strides to represent, support and develop the esports ecosystem.

EXCEL now looks to the future and what it means to be a professional esports team, steering beyond the over-used “lifestyle” esports brand and carving out a new unique path in esports that will see it driven by performance and incorporating purpose, striving to be better and enacting positive change in esports and gaming through its vision of The Power of Better. Centered around two core principles, The Power of Better is the belief that improvement never stops – whether you’re part of an organisation or as an individual, you can be better tomorrow than you are today – and aims to challenge the status quo in the world of esports. It is a commitment by EXCEL to constantly review how it operates, continuously looking inwards and onwards.

EXCEL began its journey of improvement by creating the Performance Playbook, which focuses on the holistic development of its players both physiologically and psychologically as well as the Pyramid of Success, a philosophy for engineering improved levels of performance that is underpinned by its core values and beliefs of trust, respect, dedication, discipline and creating good habits. The Power of Better looks to go further than performance with EXCEL looking to be an inspiration for the wider gaming community by having a positive impact on everything it does.

To start, EXCEL has revealed the launch of the ‘Gaming for Better’ whitepaper series for gamers everywhere, with the first one created by EXCEL’s Head of Performance and sports psychology expert Fabian Broich. The whitepaper, published today, explores the common injuries experienced by gamers and provides advice on how to improve individual performance and become healthier by focusing on physical activity, lifestyle balance, and creating positive habits.

To illustrate its new ambitions and The Power of Better vision, EXCEL has unveiled a completely new visual identity with a new logo, colour palette, website and merchandise line. The logo will retain the ‘X’ and ‘L’ widely used and recognised by EXCEL fans. The design has been simplified to ensure it is easily identifiable and the forward arrow in the X embodies the brands forward thinking approach as well as the dynamic world of gaming. The new diverse and flexible colour palette allows for creativity, fluidity and change, reflecting EXCEL’s ambitions to forge its own path and allowing the brand to evolve as it continues its journey of improvement. The new website will act as a digital destination for fans, the centerpoint where the community can stay up to date with the latest EXCEL news. It will also incorporate a shop with new merch ranges.

“Over the last six years, EXCEL ESPORTS has seen immense growth, transforming from a bedroom hobby into a professional competitive gaming brand with players competing in the world’s biggest esports. When EXCEL was founded we wanted our identity to be motivational, competitive, and allow people to easily support us in-game with the XL tag. As we head into this next phase of our journey, it’s great to be able to showcase our roots and initial passion, whilst developing our brand so that it is fit for our future ambitions”, said Kieran Holmes-Darby, Co-Founder and Chief Gaming Officer, EXCEL ESPORTS.

“At EXCEL we have unlimited ambitions in the games we compete in, what we want to become as a team and as a brand. It’s now time for us to take our next step to grow as a globally recognised, respected and loved competitive gaming brand from Britain. This step is more than just a visual update, it’s our belief in our vision for ourselves, our talent, our community and our culture. We believe that too many try to copy each other, vying to be competitive or lifestyle without further meaning. Today, we will start our journey of The Power of Better with passion, professionalism, performance and purpose. This is more than just a brand update, it is EXCEL’s promise to be better every day and make our contribution to the future of competitive gaming,” said Wouter Sleijffers, CEO, EXCEL ESPORTS.

chess

Team Vitality re-signs Javokhir Sindarov for 2026–2027 chess roster

Published

19 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Wladimir P.

team-vitality-re-signs-javokhir-sindarov-for-2026–2027-chess-roster

Team Vitality has re-signed chess player Javokhir Sindarov to its Chess roster for 2026 and 2027, bringing the 2025 FIDE World Cup winner back to the organisation.

The club said Sindarov is coming off a win at the 2026 Candidates Tournament, positioning him for a potential world title match against reigning champion Gukesh Dommaraju.

“We are incredibly proud to welcome Javokhir back to Team Vitality. He represents the new generation of chess: bold, ambitious, and unafraid to make big moves. His trajectory speaks for itself, and we know he has everything it takes to become the next World Champion,” said Danny Engels, Chief International Officer at Team Vitality. “This signing is a natural step in our ambition to be at the forefront of chess and esports, and to bring the game to new audiences around the world.”

Team Vitality also pointed to Sindarov’s interest in gaming—specifically Counter-Strike—as a fit with the organisation’s esports positioning. His next scheduled appearance under Team Vitality is the Chess.com Open, running April 23–26.

The post Team Vitality re-signs Javokhir Sindarov for 2026–2027 chess roster appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

creator-economy

Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17

Published

6 days ago

April 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

red-bull-runs-one-day-balatro-speedrun-event,-boss-rush,-on-april-17

Eight creators compete across five timed stages with eliminations, broadcast on Red Bull’s Twitch and YouTube channels.

Red Bull will stage a one-day Balatro speedrun competition, Red Bull Boss Rush, on April 17, 2026. The event brings together eight creators for timed runs in the roguelike deckbuilder, with viewers able to follow via individual creator POV streams and a central hub broadcast.

The competitor lineup includes Red Bull Player Ludwig, plus The Spiffing Brit, FrostPrime, Feinberg, Adef, Yahiamice, mbtyugioh and dreads. Red Bull said live commentary will be provided by esports host Yinsu ‘Yinsu’ Collins, card-game specialist Blake ‘Rarran’ Eram, and DrSpectered.

Boss Rush is structured as five 30-minute stages, with players ranked by completion time. Red Bull said the opening three stages use a shared random seed with unlimited resets, and points are awarded by placement each stage; the bottom four are eliminated after stage 3. Stage 4 determines the finalists, followed by a final winner-takes-all matchup.

The event also includes a downloadable Red Bull Boss Rush mod featuring a custom-branded deck and new Red Bull-themed Jokers, Bosses and Skip Tags. Red Bull highlighted additions including ‘Witch’, ‘Princess and Frog’, ‘Zebra’, Old Dog, ‘Pirate’, ‘Genie’, ‘Prince Charming’, and ‘Jester’, each designed to alter scoring or run economics.

Red Bull Boss Rush will stream on twitch.tv/redbull and Red Bull’s YouTube Gaming channel. Scan is supplying gaming PCs for the competition, according to the company.

Relevant data as follows:

Red Bull Gaming on Twitch; https://www.twitch.tv/redbull Primary broadcast destination for the event.
Red Bull Gaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/redbullgaming Secondary broadcast destination cited in the release.
Red Bull Gaming: https://www.redbull.com/ Official Red Bull site for event context and confirmation.
Balatro on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/ Authoritative reference for the game featured in the competition.
Scan Computers: https://www.scan.co.uk/ PC supplier mentioned as providing systems for the event.

The post Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Asia

S8UL signs Team Question Mark roster for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS ahead of EWC 2026

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2026

Wladimir P.

s8ul-signs-team-question-mark-roster-for-pubg:-battlegrounds-ahead-of-ewc-2026

The CIS-based EMEA lineup brings past EWC experience and titles including PUBG Global Series 8 as S8UL targets Riyadh qualification.

S8UL has signed the Team Question Mark (QM) roster to represent the organisation in PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS on PC ahead of the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026. The deal was announced April 16 from Mumbai as S8UL prepares for the tournament in Riyadh, scheduled for July 21 to 26.

The CIS-based EMEA lineup includes:

captain Roman Zinovev (ADOUZ1E),
Andrey Ionov (Bestoloch),
Mansur Tsimpaev (f1lfirst),
Nikita Odobesku (Molodoct),
and coach Yermek Torebekov (Ermaak).

S8UL said the roster will compete through the qualification pathway for a place in the 24-team event, which has a $2 million prize pool.

S8UL is adding a roster with a proven record in top-tier PUBG competition, including wins at PUBG Continental Series 7 Europe 2022 and PUBG Global Series 8 in 2025. The team has also posted a Top 3 finish at PUBG Global Series 2 in 2023 and a Top 7 finish at PUBG Global Championship 2022. The organisation said the roster has competed at both previous editions of the EWC in 2024 and 2025 and has amassed approximately $713,000 in total prize winnings.

Commenting on the move, Naman Mathur, Co-founder, S8UL said, “Signing the QM roster is a significant step for us as we continue to strengthen our presence in global esports. PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is one of the most competitive titles in the world, and this team has consistently proven itself against the very best. At a broader level, this move reflects the direction S8UL is heading in. Over the past year, we have focused on building depth across our rosters and competing consistently at the highest level. As we prepare for the Esports World Cup 2026, we are committed to providing the team with the right support and resources as they aim to make a strong impact in the qualifiers as well as on the global stage.”

Roman Zinovev aka ADOUZ1E added, “Becoming part of S8UL is a big opportunity for us as a team. As a team, we’ve always believed in our ability to compete with the best in the world, and having the backing of a global organisation allows us to push even further. With the Esports World Cup coming up, we’re focused on working through the qualifiers and making sure we deliver performances that match our potential.,”

S8UL said the announcement follows its selection as a Club Partner by the Esports Foundation (EF), placing it among 40 global organisations. The organisation has also listed 13 titles it plans to enter for EWC 2026, including PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Apex Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, EA Sports FC, FATAL Fury, Fortnite, Honor of Kings, MOBA Legends 5V5, Street Fighter 6, TEKKEN 8, and Trackmania.

Relevant data as follows:

S8UL Esports: https://s8ul.gg/ Official organisation site for roster and announcement verification.
PUBG Esports (PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS competitive updates): https://pubgesports.com/ Authoritative source for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS esports circuits, event results, and qualifiers.
Esports World Cup (official site): https://esportsworldcup.com/ Event organiser site for EWC 2026 schedule, formats, and prize pool confirmation.

The post S8UL signs Team Question Mark roster for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS ahead of EWC 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.