MOVEMBER X BLAST PREMIER OFFICIAL MENTAL HEALTH PARTNER PRESS RELEASE

Movember and BLAST Premier partner to improve mental health in esports

Movember will become the official mental health partner of BLAST Premier, a global Counter-Strike tournament series, in an exciting initiative to support the mental health of esports players and communities. Global men’s health charity Movember will work with the global esports entertainment company to develop awareness and support for mental health challenges, create psychologically safe spaces, deliver evidence-informed mental health workshops and undertake research to develop Mental Health Guidelines for the wider industry.

The partnership will see Movember and BLAST Premier commit to working together to promote good mental health and prevent ill-health amongst esports players and viewers/spectators alike, encouraging the community to take action and better support themselves and each other, officially launching at the BLAST Premier World Final in Singapore from 30 October – 2 November.

The World Final 2024 will see the biggest and best esports and Counter-Strike teams compete in Singapore across five days of competition for a sizable total prize pool of $1,000,000.

Ahead of the World Final, Movember joined BLAST Premier at September’s Fall Final to spend time talking to fans, players and teams. Movember hosted special mental health workshops in the lead up to the tournament with players and talent to better understand the challenges the wider industry faces with mental health. The iconic Movember barber shop was also made available for fans in the arena to get haircuts, while having an open and honest chat.

As part of these conversations and future focus across the wider esports sector, both organisations will collaborate to establish a set of Mental Health Guidelines, centered around lived and living experiences of players (ranked and non-ranked), designed to level up the impact esports has on people’s mental health with the aim of onboarding other organisations in the future.

Director, Global Innovations at Movember, Dan Cooper said: “This partnership between Movember and BLAST Premier is a significant step in highlighting the health challenges facing those in the esports community. We plan to do that in part by collaboratively building guidelines that will act as a set of foundational principles to protect esports players and support the creation of psychologically safe spaces.”

“The influence of esports is growing, our aim is to help transform how the community engages and prioritises mental health and in doing so takes proactive steps in Levelling Up, not only in performance but also positive health outcomes”

Faye Marlborough, Director of Growth at BLAST, said: “Esports has a huge influence on people all over the world, and through this new partnership we have already started to have industry-led discussions about mental health and deliver interventions in settings where esports players and the community spend their time.”

“We hope this partnership will help leverage Movember’s experience to equip our fans and community with best practices and approaches to dealing with mental health.”