Epic Risk Management and CS:GO Players Unite on Awareness

A collaboration has been announced between the Epic Risk Management group and the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA). That unison will see the two launch their own global gambling awareness link. This will see both parties launch a series of research projects surrounding gambling awareness when it comes to competitive eSports.

Elite athletes, including those that participate in eSports (and therefore, including CSPPA members), are potentially more vulnerable to being affected by gambling addiction. And it is due to that that the CSPPA chose to work with Epic on this multi-year collaboration.

The CSPPA is committed to protecting its members from the potential harms of gambling addiction, which not only harms the individual both financially and with regards to mental health but also exposes and makes players vulnerable to further abuse relating to betting integrity and match-fixing.

Mads ØlandCEO CSPPA

As well as that, Epic is working alongside the CSPPA and its members to not only provide the aforementioned awareness, but to educate and offer risk management programs. These will take place via a series of sessions.

Epic has been doing all it can in recent times to try and minimize gambling-related harm. This united front with the CSPPA provides it with another step forward. Just recently, the group has recruited a new consultant in Jonathan Peniket to assist with this. He suffered from a sort of gambling addiction when it came to loot boxes found within video games. FIFA was his game of choice, but he ended up getting out of control, spending around £3,000 on the loot boxes within.

We’re delighted to announce such a landmark agreement. I must applaud the leadership of the CSPPA for taking a lead in eSports around the threats of gambling harm, and we are very excited to launch a first of its kind agreement between an eSports players association in this space. At Epic, we have a proven track record of working with athletes to make them aware of the potentially destructive financial implications and health issues that out-of-control gambling can cause.

Paul BuckCEO Epic Risk Management