E-gamers in Romania had the chance to meet members of 1st (UK) Division at the annual PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 championships in north western Romania last month. They also had the opportunity to get up-close-and-personal in the real world with kit they are more familiar with as avatars onscreen.
16 members of Royal Artillery and the headquarters, part of 1st (UK) Division, taking a day away from NATO’s biggest exercise this year Steadfast Dart 2025, turned up on the final day of the non-Major Counter-strike tournament with a Foxhound vehicle with VERTUS body armour which is used by NATO troops on operations and a selection of deactivated SA80 rifles, GPMG, Sharpshooter and Glock, as well as Royal Artillery specific equipment. Visitors to the NATO stand were also able to see and interact with UAVs used in NATO operations and weapon systems.
Counter-Strike is a multi-player tactical first-person shooter game where avatars in a range of military kit patrol battle zones and hostile areas try to kill or plant and detonate explosives. They were joined by military personnel from Romanian Armed Forces, who brought along their own kit plus a selection of patches from NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force, which is deployed for the first time along Europe’s Eastern flank.
Hundreds of gamers, including some finalists taking a break from competing, took the opportunity to familiarise themselves with kit and equipment which features heavily in the military-style video game, but this time for real. Many of them were students – the city has the highest ratio of students to total number of residents in Romania.
The esports tournament, which has a prize pot of US $1.25 million and was won this year by the German esports organisation, is one of the biggest gaming events in Europe and attracts around 10,000 spectators every day at the BT Arena in the unofficial capital of Transylvania. The Final which comes at the end of five days of tense gaming through the qualifying games and 16 finalists, in two teams of 4, battle it out to see who wins on points.
‘It has been a great opportunity to raise awareness of the Allied Reaction Force and NATO in Romania and have a lot of fun at the same time,’ says Captain Lee Shiels who organised the army team and liaised with the Professional Gaming League to attend the event.
‘This crowd includes people of all age but also lots of young people aged between 18 and 25 who we know are supportive of NATO but would probably like to get to know more about the alliance and what it stands for.’
2Lt Guy Tillson says some of the gamers expressed an interest in perhaps working with NATO in future, or joining their own nation’s armed forces to be part of the Allied Reaction Force, a multinational force designed to move at pace to deal with pre-crises and deter aggressors.
‘Certainly, their gaming skills and digital awareness will make them a valuable asset since NATO’s Allied Reaction Force is multidomain, working across land, sea and air, but also space and cyberspace,’ he says.
Many of the gamers were a bit surprised by the feel and weight of the body armour – which came as a bit of a shock to some, according to Captain Shiels. ‘You could say that e-gamers have a head start when it comes to digital combat but it’s no joke wearing body armour which can weigh around 15 kilos. That takes a bit of getting used to.’
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