Mentioned in this article Teams: Cloud9, London Spitfire Games: Overwatch

London Spitfire, the sole representative of the United Kingdom–and in fact Europe–in the Overwatch League, now has a stronger connection with its home nation. The franchise has announced a partnership with the Code Red Esports agency, to run the team’s operations in the UK.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The esports agency will oversee the creation of a London Spitfire space in the British capital, which will include offices, housing, a practice area, a retail outlet, fan zones, and a home arena for future OWL seasons.[/perfectpullquote]

The London Spitfire brand is owned by Cloud9, an American esports organization, and is currently de facto based in California (like all the other first season OWL teams).

“We first started discussing with Cloud9 back in September on how we could collaborate,” Code Red Esports Managing Director Paul Chaloner told The Esports Observer. “But these things take time and we’ve been helping in other ways in the background over the last month or so.

Known more commonly by the name “Redeye”, Chaloner is a longtime shoutcaster/commentator in esports, and was previously head of content and media at ESL, and later head of broadcasting for Gfinity. His full-service agency will develop local partnerships for London Spitfire, and organize events including viewing parties and amateur Overwatch competitions.

According to the announcement, Code Red Esports’ main goal will be to engage British audiences and create a Spitfire fanbase within the United Kingdom. “We won’t be directly scouting for the team,” said Chaloner. “But we will be working on a way to help UK players gain exposure through the brand and via competitions we have planned in 2018.”

“Our end goal is for the UK talent we unearth to find their way into the Contenders team and eventually into the Overwatch League.”

Equally as important, the esports agency will oversee the creation of a London Spitfire space in the British capital, which will include offices, housing, a practice area, a retail outlet, fan zones, and a home arena for future OWL seasons.

Currently, London Spitfire’s player-base is 100 percent comprised of South Korean players, formed after Cloud9 bought the rosters from Korean teams including KongDoo Panthera and GC Busan. “The team have already begun learning English via dedicated lessons,” said Chaloner. “Some of them already have good English, but we may get some basic Korean lessons too.”

Dan Fiden, owner of Cloud9 and London Spitfire’s president, said that the organization is “determined that London Spitfire becomes a team British Overwatch fans can be proud of and it was imperative for us to partner with an agency with an unparalleled understanding of and history within the British esports community.”