KayJay and BNE signed to Guild

Bad News Eagles finally found an organization to sign with. After nearly a year and a half existing on their own, the squad will be able to finally use the resources and benefit of a salary thanks to Guild Esports. The UK-based organization has already been involved in Counter-Strike since March 2023 when they signed a European ESL Impact team, but will now have two divisions.

Guild has been long rumored to be jumping into men's Counter-Strike after they secured funding in August 2023 thanks to an unnamed national esports federation. The organization has signed one of the highest-profile unsigned squads within the scene with full funding from different sources.

When talking with Dust2.us at the 2023 BLAST.tv Paris Major, Kieran "KayJay" Playfair acknowledged that the players and the backroom staff did not have any funding besides themselves, and he did not even receive a salary. For both him and the players to finally have some financial stability is a boon to their prospects. However, as KayJay aptly said, "I love working with these guys, so the money doesn't bother me".

In a statement to Dust2.us following the announcement, KayJay said, "We're super excited to finally have a home and the support a tier-one org can provide. It was a long time coming, and we only made it with the endless support of the fans. New name but same old BNE."

The Guild Esports men's Counter-Strike team will also combine the Bad News Eagles branding in their new moniker as the Guild Eagles. The full team, with backstaff will be:

• Sener "SENER1" Mahmuti

• Genc "gxx-" Kolgeci

• Flatron "juanflatroo" Halimi

• Dionis "sinnoopsyy" Budeci

• Rigon "rigoN" Gashi

• Jonatan "Devilwalk" Lundberg (Coach)

• Kevin ""kRYSTAL" Amend (Assistant Coach)

• Kieran "KayJay" Playfair (Assistant Coach)