It brings me great pleasure to be able to finally announce perhaps the most exciting thing to happen in South African Esports history. It is something that we at Bravado Gaming have been working on for years, and now, with the help of our partners at ALIENWARE and Intel, we are able to bring our dream, our vision for African Esports to life.

We have dubbed this vision, or dream if you will, “Project Destiny”. You have been waiting long enough for an announcement of this kind but we are excited to bring you along for this incredible journey. Many members of the community have known for years that it has always been our vision to raise the bar of African Esports and to put us on the map in the competitive gaming world. Some of you may even have had some hunches as to what the big announcement is and perhaps a few got it right.

What is Project Destiny?

“Project Destiny” is Bravado Gaming’s project and plan to raise awareness of the talent and skill found amongst our local gamers and bring not only investment and popularity to our community, but also to provide greater opportunities for all of the gamers in South Africa, opportunities that I could never have imagined being possible.

We will be sending our Counter Strike: Global Offensive team to the United States of America on a mission to do what SK Gaming did while still under their previous organizations. Our entire squad of 6 players, including Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek, Dimitri “Detrony” Hadjipaschali, Ruan “Elusive” van Wyk, Rhys “Fadey” Armstrong, Johnny “JT” Theodosiou and Tiaan “T.C” Coertzen will be traveling and staying in the USA to consistently compete on the International level. You can read more about the individuals on our team page here and check out their achievements here.

The boys are going with their eyes focused on practicing, qualifying for events, playing in tournaments, moving out of the bubble that we’ve been locked in, stepping into the limelight while proudly bringing South Africa, Africa and META with them. There are only but a handful of teams that had the ambition, passion, ability and in all honesty, madness to accomplish such a feat, but as always South Africa will be behind them in this venture. They have already got off on a good footing by winning the ESEA S26 Africa event, which grants them a placing in the ESEA S27 Main League in North America.

Our plan is to have the squad in the land of the free for around 6 months to give them a suitable amount of time to adjust and adapt to not only playing in a new continent with a living, breathing meta of its own but to also get to grips with living so far away from loved ones. They need all the support we can give them. During the course of the 6 months the goal would be as mentioned above, to have a breakout event and bring attention to South Africa and its deep pool of talented players.

As the plan stands, the team is due to compete in the USA for a period of 12 months, where we’ll be extending our stay in the States for another 6 months after the initial 6 months.

The Academy Team

Bravado Gaming have always been at the top of their game in the South African and African scene. We have always had a team to compete in the local scene and this year will be no different. Look out for some more news to come soon on a Bravado Gaming Academy Team for Counter Strike: Global Offensive. This team will play under the Bravado Gaming banner and be fully backed by the organization and our partners, namely ALIENWARE and Intel. Details will be discussed at a later stage.

It will be a very exciting opportunity for the players we have in mind but on the other side of the coin they have humongous shoes to fill!

Questions and Answers

We want our fans to give us some of their thoughts and fire questions away at us! The boys in blue will feature on a live stream before they depart South Africa to conduct a Q&A from anyone and everyone. While this is to be confirmed, we will be announcing a date and time in the near future before the boys in depart in their massive mission at task.The Bravado Gaming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad will be leaving South Africa in the beginning of February and while this is happening, the boys will be dipping and diving between our local and the international scene depending on event opportunity.

More than you think

Here are a few of the tournaments and events we should all be looking out for in which we hope our boys will be making it into and will be competing at the highest level possible. We want the squad to make it into events such as your Dreamhack’s, ESL’s, ESEA Leagues, PGL’s, iBuypowers, ELeagues and the list goes on and on. Whatever opportunity they have to show what South Africa has to offer they will be hungry and well prepared to compete in and take every challenge by the horns.

Apart from working extremely closely with the Alienware and Intel META Region to make this dream possible, it has also placed a lot of pressure on our shoulders which we are more than certain we will be capable of handling. Not only will we be showing off South Africa but we are also representing Alienware’s Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META Region). We are honoured to have such an opportunity and our gratitude goes out to our amazing partners who have always been supportive of the dream.

In South Africa, unfortunately, we are limited with the amount of qualifiers we are exposed to, limited with the kind of practice we get, through “Project Destiny” we want to take our country, continent, region and its players to the next level by opening eyes, bringing investments, exposing talents by doing what we at Bravado Gaming do best, telling a story to the world. This project became a real goal of ours ever since we first competed at the ESWC Global Finals in Montreal, Canada 2015.

Finally that plan has come to fruition although it took some time, hard work and immense dedication & perserverance. It is and has always been an ongoing process and we only have you guys to thank for the continuous support and love you have shown us throughout the years. The boys hope to impress and make everyone at home proud!

What the team had to say

We caught up with CEO of Bravado Gaming (PTY) LTD, Andreas ‘cent’ Hadjipaschali to talk to give us some insight to the project.

Finally, through blood, sweat and tears we have confirmed Project Destiny. As a player, it’s always been my dream to consistently compete on the international level, to show the world what I can do. After retiring in 2014 I said I would never give up until we burst out of our bubble. Now, I can proudly say that we’ll be sending the squad over to the USA, giving the boys an opportunity of a lifetime to see what they can do, while consistently being in a competitive environment. Although this is the foundation of some other big announcements to come, the guys will be fighting hard to make us proud. We’re splitting ourselves into 3 persons, namely: For our Region, For the Player & For Bravado Gaming as a brand. I can’t express how much time and effort has gone into this project to make it a reality. Our partners at Alienware and Intel have been fantastic, and they clearly see the vision that we have into continuing to tell our story to the world. There’s so many people to thank, and I’ll make a list soon (in-case I forget anyone) but to everyone, locally and internationally, I want to give out a MASSIVE thank you for helping us make this a possibility. I only hope that the rest of the region will see what we’re trying to do, and I can only hope that we’ll have the backing and support of our followers and friends back home as we embark on this mission. – Andreas ‘cent’ Hadjipaschali

We also asked for a statement or 6 from our players.

“Looking forward to competing in the NA scene, great opportunity to break into the pro scene” – Johnny ‘JT’ Theodosiou “It’s an exciting opportunity for all of us and we’re going to work hard to bring some results to the Bravado name and the regional scene!” – Rhys ‘Fadey’ Armstrong “One of the most exciting times for myself and for SA esports. We will make our mark.” – Aran ‘Sonic’ Groesbeek “So excited to finally approach the first and biggest step to the dream, with players and friends who feel like family. The biggest attempt to putting Bravado and Africa on the map, properly. <3” – Dimitri ‘Detrony’ Hadjipaschali “The dream to go overseas is one we all share, and now we finally have the opportunity to make it a reality. Long term exposure to such a high level of CS is something that none of us have experienced before. We look forward to progressing on an international level.” – Ruan ‘Elusive’ Van Wyk The whole team is looking forward to compete in NA and have the opportunity to play and practise against some of the established professional teams on a consistent basis. It’s a very exciting opportunity and we will work hard to make the best of it on our path to becoming a top professional team. – Tiaan ‘T.C’ Coertzen

We would like to once again thank each and every person for your continued support. Make sure you follow Bravado Gaming on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for continuous updates on Project Destiny. Bravado Gaming is proudly sponsored by ALIENWARE and Intel and is the proud brand ambassador for ALIENWARE in the META Region. Learn more about Bravado Gaming, ALIENWARE and Intel here.

For any media or investor opportunities, please contact us by messaging us on one of our social media platforms or heading over to our contact page here.