BLAST Premier Global Final winners Natus Vincere will receive a ‘one-off’ CS:GO-inspired watch from TW Steel to celebrate the team’s achievement.
The watch, valued at $3,000, was created prior to the finals to give to the eventual victor. As of the time of writing, there are only eight currently in existence, with the watch’s design inspired by BLAST Premier’s trophy and the Global Final Golden CS:GO skin.
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TW Steel collaborated with BLAST back in June last year to create a collection of CS:GO-inspired watches available for esports fans. However, unlike the previous collaboration, this watch has been specially made for BLAST Premier’s victors.
Nicolas Estrup, VP of Product at BLAST, commented: “Winning the BLAST Premier Global Final takes huge dedication to one’s craft, sacrifice and of course timing with players always up against the clock in each round. With the help of TW Steel, we wanted to immortalise and reward this achievement by giving the players something unique to remind them of their victory for years to come.
“This partnership is truly a first of its kind in esports and collaborations like these make it stand out from the rest.”
According to BLAST, the watches are expected to be shipped to Na’Vi next week.
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This year’s BLAST Premier Global Finals broke viewership records as Na’Vi’s lower bracket final against Team Vitality peaked at 687,691 viewers, according to Esports Charts. This was the highest concurrent viewership ever for an online CS:GO event, with the previous record being 568,406 at last year’s ESL Pro League Season 12: Europe.
Jordy Cobelens, CEO of TW Steel, also spoke on the collaboration: “This was such an enjoyable timepiece to create. At TW Steel we build every watch to make a statement and this Global Final Winners Watch is a massive one.
“Working with BLAST has been inspiring and combining both worlds by matching the design with the Global Final skin makes me very proud. I wish I had a chance to win the tournament.”
TW Steel was also a partner of the BLAST Premier 2020 season.
Esports Insider says: Whilst brand activations in esports are very common, BLAST Premier’s partnership with TW Steel continues to go beyond industry standard promotions. The idea of supplying limited-edition watches to Na’Vi not only provides a nice bonus for the players but it continues to push TW Steel’s brand. Overall, this is a smart and effective activation, especially if this becomes an annual occurrence.