INTRODUCTION

Fnatic’s mission is to seek out and level up all gamers - whatever their background, ethnicity, gender or sexuality.

Our diversity and inclusion strategy exists to further that mission. Because we recognise that a strong senior level commitment to inclusion is important, our strategy is driven by Fnatic’s founder and CEO, Sam Mathews. Sam is supported by a team of Fnatic staff and partner organisations who share our passion for a values-driven approach to business, and who want all members of our team to bring their full selves to work.

We are committed to acting on feedback from fans and our partners in relation to diversity. We accept that Fnatic can learn from consulting widely on the issues our strategy exists to tackle, and are committed to being honest about progress on our diversity journey.

Fnatic’s leadership team and board of directors review performance in relation to diversity quarterly, and our strategy will develop and optimise in consequence of these reviews.

For that reason, we actively encourage feedback and questions regarding diversity. Please write to us at diversity@fnatic.com.

ACTIONS

Organisational reporting

Fnatic understands that increasing diversity among its decision-makers is critical to unlocking change across our organisation. Fnatic is committed to achieving greater equality in gender and minority representation in its leadership and board. The first step in this process is to gather and monitor data on this subject - which Fnatic is now doing - for use in developing long-term targets.

We are proud to note that Fnatic's streamer network, Fnatic Network, has a particular focus on seeking out, levelling up and amplifying underrepresented creators in esports - including creators identifying as non-male, and creators from minority backgrounds. We accept that there is work to do in diversifying pro gaming more generally, and we expect to work with other organisations in the esports ecosystem to address the systemic issues which result in current ethnic and gender imbalances.

Training

We understand that involving the whole of our global organisation in our diversity and inclusion action plan is a key factor in its success. We are currently part of a beta programme with Fair HQ; where our entire staff population will provide input into where they see our current gaps in our diversity and inclusion efforts; and Fair HQ will assist us in providing a future roadmap of key initiatives based on these insights and industry best practice.

Gender

Fnatic recognises that diversity and inclusion cover gender as well as racial and ethnic diversity. We have established partnerships with leading organisations and advisory bodies in the promotion of diversity and inclusion. Fnatic will continue to work with these organisations to improve gender diversity in our hiring practices, both in our pro gaming and non-pro gaming teams. Further activities and learnings will be reflected in our diversity policy.

Minority representation

Fnatic supports the breaking down of barriers for all pathways into esports. We are a committed anti-racism organisation. Our conduct policies, including our organisation-wide Community Policy, establish our zero-tolerance approach to hate speech; we have a track record of taking action against individuals within our teams who demonstrate that they do not share our values.

Fnatic’s BAME internship program aims to enable and encourage people of BAME backgrounds to apply for roles in Fnatic, contributing to overcoming historically low levels of BAME representation in esports. So as to ensure efficacy, Fnatic’s gender and BAME-background internships are made available through partner advocacy organisations.

LGBT+

Fnatic is a long-standing supporter of the LGBT+ gaming community: for example, our 2019 Pride collection saw 100% of proceeds from a one-off apparel drop channelled to London Gaymers and Stonewall. As an issue, continued support of LGBT+ participation in esports is emblematic of Fnatic’s vision of gaming as a space for all of humanity to connect.

Employee Resource Groups

puls8

Every six months, we take nominations for a new group of 8 Fnatics across all our teams and locations to become members of our staff pulse panel known as puls8. Their mission? ‘To be the voice of our colleagues, from internship to leadership'.

We get their thoughts on our policies, our workspaces, ways of working and much more; as well as provide an open forum for them to bring issues they see or hear about from their teams.

And if you're wondering, puls8 isn't just some lazy grammar or an HR term masquerading as something cool with a number on the end. It was actually one of the contenders for the name of our company back in 2004. We're all grateful Fnatic won on the day, but it's a nice nod to our legacy as an appropriate title for these champions of our company culture to be known by!