Astralis Adds Stake, ZOWIE, Bazoom, Elgiganten for IEM Cologne

Danish esports organisation Astralis has named Stake, BenQ’s ZOWIE brand, Bazoom Group and Nordic retailer Elgiganten A/S as partners for the IEM Cologne Major 2026 in Cologne, Germany.

Elgiganten’s logo will appear on Astralis’ official Counter-Strike jerseys. Bazoom produced a community 1v1 map released through the Steam Workshop. ZOWIE will supply technical equipment and Stake will be featured across event activities including on-stage activations and marketing campaigns.

The partnerships reflect agreements signed at different times. Astralis confirmed a multi-year deal with Stake about two months ago, coinciding with Stake receiving a five-year Danish gambling licence. The BenQ ZOWIE technical and equipment partnership began in January 2025. Bazoom Group joined in October 2025 and created the custom 1v1 map. Astralis’ commercial partnership with Elgiganten started in August 2023 under a three-year agreement that included jersey branding.

Global Esports Industry Week will run June 18–21, 2026 alongside IEM Cologne. Astralis wrote that the combined events will provide partners exposure across live shows, team content and on-stage moments during one of the year’s largest Counter-Strike events.

Astralis wrote in its announcement: “We don’t think of partnerships as logo placements. We think of them as the architecture of what we’re building. Partners become part of it and we become part of them – embedded in campaigns, present in culture, and built to create something neither could do alone.”

The sponsorship activity follows a year in which Astralis reported an EBITDA loss of DKK 31.3 million (about $4.8 million) for the fiscal year. An investor consortium, Fusion Esports Group, later acquired the organisation and appointed Julian Miculcy as vice president of esports.

Astralis expects the IEM Cologne Major to serve as a platform for partner activations, community content and visible branding during match broadcasts and on venue stages.