ESL FACEIT Group’s #GGForAll initiative Honored in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards 2024

EFG’s #GGForAll program, designed to promote representation in the esports and gaming industry, has been recognised in the annual awards that honor the businesses and people developing creative solutions to the most press issues of our time

Cologne/New York, May 21, 2024 - The #GGForAll social program from ESL FACEIT Group, the world’s leading esports and video gaming entertainment company, has been named an honoree in Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards’ Corporate and Social Responsibility Category for 2024. The awards recognize innovation in products, concepts, companies, and policies that make our world safer, cleaner, more sustainable, and more equitable.

EFG’s award-winning #GGForAll program has been created to promote representation in the esports and gaming industry, and to foster a positive gaming experience for gamers of all backgrounds. This includes its landmark women-only global Counter-Strike league ESL Impact, supporting under-represented communities at DreamHack festivals, as well as the innovative AI technology platform FACEIT Minerva, created to promote positive play. #GGForAll increased participation in women’s esports by 25 percent, offering more opportunities for underrepresented groups than ever before, and resulting in all-time lowest levels of toxicity across EFG platforms.

Supporting Underrepresented Gamers with ESL Impact: Nearly half of all gamers identify as women. But women are vastly underrepresented in competitive gaming, making up just 25 percent of the esports audience. On the server, it's skill that matters, not gender, and ESL Impact was built to champion women in Counter-Strike esports. With monthly Cash Cups, two yearly online seasons and in-person tournaments at some of the biggest gaming events in the world, ESL Impact offers a safe environment for women to test their skills and climb through the ranks.

Breaking Down Barriers to Entry with DreamHack: International gaming and entertainment festival DreamHack prioritizes accessibility and inclusivity for the global gaming community. DreamHack North America has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in ticket donations to families from low income households and public schools, and launched its Dream BIG initiative to raise funds and awareness for nonprofits such as Autism Society San Diego, and Toys for Tots. DreamHack programming breaks down the barriers to communication, providing marketing materials in various languages, and upon request, providing complementary America Sign Language interpreters. In 2023, DreamHack generated between 25 and 31 percent year-over-year growth in women and non-binary attendees in 2023, including hosting the first-ever women’s Rocket League tournament hosted at DreamHack Dallas this past June.

Combatting Toxicity Online with FACEIT’s AI Minerva: More than 80 percent of gamers have experienced harassment in a multiplayer game. In an effort to safeguard its online community of 30+ million users, EFG’s competitive gaming platform FACEIT launched Minerva. This trailblazing deep learning AI was formed by several machine learning models and is designed to foster positive player experiences and moderate toxicity, verbal harassment, and bullying. Minerva analyzes up to three million matches a month across FACEIT users, including voice chat review and individual player reporting, (nearly five billion messages to date. Minerva has issued nearly 10 million corrective actions for poor player behavior, a massive step towards not only policing bad actors and protecting users, but also creating a more welcoming environment for casual and pro players.

This year's Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 281 projects that are making the biggest impact across 50 categories, including architecture, energy, finance, transportation, and more.

Visit fastcompany.com to read the full list of 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards honorees and visit https://esl.com/ggforall/ to learn more about #GGForAll.