HP sponsors female CS:GO player Julia Kiran

​At the very end of last week, just before the Intel Extreme Masters kicked off, HP announced the sponsorship of female Counter-Strike player Julia ‘Juliano’ Kiran. 

Juliano is the in game leader for Team Secret, who are widely regarded as the best female Counter-Strike team. Over the weekend they won the Intel Challenge event in Katowice beating the likes of Team Dignitas and CLG Red to take home the $15,000 first prize. 

“I am thrilled to be the first female eSports player working with HP and I look forward to being an ambassador for OMEN by HP gaming products,” said Julia. “By sponsoring me, HP is helping to reinvent and extend the definition of an eSports gamer, showing that it’s okay to be different and gamers can come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the comments I receive online have shown me that people’s idea of what makes a great gamer can be very outdated and that needs to be challenged more publicly.”

“We’re very excited about this new sponsorship. Julia is one of the most prominent eSports players in the world today and she represents the changing nature of what it means to be a gamer,” said Caroline Llahona, consumer marketing director, Personal Systems, HP EMEA. “OMEN by HP gaming products are all about striving to be the best, next-level perfomance and being at the very top of our game, just like Julia. It’s fantastic to be working with her to drive forward on some of the issues affecting the varied types of gamers out there. There’s more to come, watch this space.”