Cloud9 is a popular eSports organization, boasting high-level professional teams in a number of different competitive games. Some of its notable teams play competitively in titles such as Overwatch, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. With numerous highly skilled players associated with the organization, it's unsurprising that many gamers follow these Cloud9 affiliated teams. Recently, the organization announced a new partnership that gives players the chance to pick up some new exclusive gear.

In a post on Twitter, Cloud9 announced that it was collaborating with the popular media franchise The Smurfs. “You probably weren’t expecting something like this, but we definitely smurfed with this collab,” the tweet said. In addition to posting an announcement message, Cloud9 released a video on Twitter celebrating the collaboration. In the clip, two players were losing in a competitive game. Suddenly, one of the gamers came up with the brilliant idea of inviting his friend, “a Smurf.” The video went on to reveal the Gamer Smurf, the main character featured throughout much of the gear in the collab.

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This partnership brings a lot of new merchandise based on The Smurfs to Cloud9. Among The Smurfs-themed gear, fans can buy various hoodies, t-shirts, and hats. These specially designed team wear include the classic colors associated with the popular franchise, along with pictures of the Gamer Smurf and/or the word “smurfing.” There is even an exclusive The Smurfs x Cloud9 PUMA jersey available for purchase.

While this new exclusive Cloud9 line of gear contains many different articles of clothing, there are also some other products included. Gamers can pick up a couple of The Smurfs-themed mousepads, as well as a velcro patch with a picture of the Gamer Smurf. In addition, there are exclusive stickers available.

Despite seeming like an unexpected partnership, this deal between the groups makes some sense. In addition to being the names of popular television/movie characters, the word “smurf” also has several connections to video games. While the term can be used negatively when a skilled gamer creates an alternate account to beat lower-ranked players, it also has a more positive use in the world of professional esports. According to this second definition, it means when a team convincingly beats another high-level team.

This isn’t the only eSports organization to recently announce a collaboration with a popular media franchise. Last month, Team Liquid, a rival of Cloud9, announced a collaboration with the Naruto series. This partnership brought exclusive new merchandise to the organization based on the popular franchise

It’s always interesting to see what type of collaborations top-level esports organizations get involved in to encourage fans to buy their merchandise. With Cloud9’s new line of The Smurfs products available, it will be interesting to see if other organizations answer with their own exclusive partnerships.

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Source: Dexerto