AI-driven gaming and technology solutions studio August Interactive has entered into a multi-faceted collaboration with Resurgens Gaming to power its upcoming 2026 entertainment projects, uniting expertise in high-stakes event production with operational security.
August Interactive’s current initiatives include ‘Gamers & Guardians‘, a recurring weekly event hosted online and live-streamed that brings together veterans, active-duty military personnel, and their families for connection through gaming. The year-round program, which provides a space for participants to unwind, is also shaping the development of the Military Esports League, which aims to become a premier military gaming festival.
The alliance aims to leverage the backgrounds of August Interactive’s co-founders to create new gaming experiences. The partnership will utilise the combined resources of Resurgens Gaming’s portfolio, including esports organisation Ghost Gaming, live events and live-stream production company Skillshot Media, and publisher Launchpad, to support August Interactive’s ambitious roadmap. The collaboration brings together Sarah Kneller‘s experience in shaping Dota 2’s The International and Kristin Wood‘s two-decade career in government intelligence at CIA.
Kneller’s work on The International, which helped establish the tournament’s multi-million dollar prize pools and prestige, is paired with Wood’s background in building secure, mission-critical operations. This combination of creative community-building and operational rigour is positioned as a key differentiator for the new venture.
Sarah Kneller, Co-Founder and CXO of August Interactive, stated, “The International taught us that magical moments in gaming happen when community, competition, and storytelling align perfectly. Partnering with Resurgens gives us even more opportunities to create these experiences for more players and fans.”
Jon “JB” Bukosky, Chief Commercial Officer of Resurgens Gaming and Member of the Advisors Board at August Interactive, highlighted the unique nature of the collaboration. “What makes this partnership particularly unique is the synergy between our founders’ backgrounds,” he said. “When you combine Sarah’s deep understanding of what makes gaming communities thrive… with Kristin’s two decades of building secure, mission-critical operations at the CIA, you get something special. Their complementary expertise allows August Interactive to create gaming experiences that are not only engaging but built on a foundation of trust and operational excellence.”
ATLANTA — Games Week Georgia returns to Atlanta this year October 27 - Nov 2, 2025, to showcase and celebrate all aspects of the global video game and esports industry.
The annual week of professional development conferences, events and activations, curated by Resurgens Gaming, concludes with the three day gaming lifestyle festival DreamHack Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center from October 31-Nov 2. Strategically timed during Halloween week, the festival capitalizes on the season's celebration of fantasy, creativity and cosplay that resonates with gaming culture.
“Gaming is now the largest segment of the $2 trillion entertainment industry, expanding beyond players to include brand marketers, esports organizations, and even educators,” said Todd Harris, CEO of Resurgens Gaming. “Games Week Georgia celebrates this evolution by bringing together everyone in the gaming ecosystem for a week that builds to DreamHack Atlanta.”
The current set of announced Games Week Georgia events include:
The week progresses from industry-focused professional development to public celebration, with each event feeding into DreamHack Atlanta’s broader community.
Early Bird All-Access Tickets are available for $199 until August 31 and include a 3-Day Pass to DreamHack, creating a seamless experience from professional development events and networking to community celebration.
"It’s fantastic to join Games Week Georgia again in 2025", said Shahin Zarrabi, VP Festivals at ESL FACEIT Group. "DreamHack Atlanta is all about gaming communities coming together to celebrate games and internet pop culture. Being part of this statewide initiative allows us to connect with even more communities, creators, and fans. Georgia has become a true hub for gaming, and we’re proud to contribute to that momentum."
According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, digital entertainment is responsible for more than 12,000 direct and indirect jobs across the state.
“Georgia continues to engage groundbreaking industries like gaming and esports that attract new career and development prospects for our state,” said Georgia Center of Innovation Senior Industry Engagement Manager Asante Bradford. “Games Week Georgia spotlights our thriving creative ecosystem and shows Georgia’s students that these jobs are within their reach.”
Grant Wainscott, Vice Chair of the Atlanta Esports Alliance added, “Georgia, and specifically metro Atlanta, has solidified its reputation as a global hub of creativity, talent, and influence. Games Week Georgia allows us to demonstrate how gaming drives both innovation and workforce development to feed our overall tech ecosystem.”
This year, the Southern Interactive Entertainment & Games Expo (SIEGE), the largest videogame industry trade show in the south, also joins Games Week Georgia, with SIEGE education content for game developers being integrated within the Esports Summit event and included in the All-Access Pass.
As one important element of workforce development and diversifying the gaming industry, Games Week Georgia will host five women from the BroadcastHER Academy Fellowship for Women in Esports and Gaming via an all-expense paid trip to Atlanta, experiential learning and mentoring from Skillshot Media, Ghost Gaming, and other partners of the 1,000 Dreams Fund initiative.
Consumer gaming events like DreamHack Atlanta not only fuel the industry, but draw tens of thousands of guests, vendors, developers, celebrities, and more to the city.
Says Lynda Lee Smith, Chair of the Entertainment Tourism Alliance of Georgia, "With tourism being the purest form of economic development, Games Week is a perfect example and presents unlimited potential for Georgia's hospitality industry. Entertainment tourism combined with Georgia's natural and diverse landscape elevates the state as a premier destination globally."
Further information and tickets for all events above are now available at https://www.gamesweekgeorgia.com/
Resurgens Gaming, North America’s leading gaming lifestyle and media company, today announced Event Venues Atlanta, over 100,000 square feet of experiential and production space across Metro Atlanta available for booking and event management services via its production division Skillshot Media.
The expanded event booking and management footprint includes:
“Since the pandemic, we’ve noticed a significant increase in demand for live event spaces equipped with high-speed internet, superior audio/visual capabilities, and comprehensive event management services.”, said Resurgens Gaming CEO Todd Harris. “People are eager to gather for live events, but there is also a growing remote audience that seeks an experience more engaging and compelling than a typical Zoom call. Additionally, our booking and activation requests in Atlanta are on the rise, especially with the city set to host eight World Cup games."
Resurgens Gaming and their venue partners have invested over $5M in production equipment and infrastructure to ensure the spaces represented by Skillshot Media deliver an exceptional high fidelity experience both on site and online.
Games Week Georgia returns to Atlanta this year October 1-6, 2024, to celebrate all aspects of the global video game and esports industry.
The annual week of events and activations, curated by Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming, and delivered this year in partnership with the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s InnovATL2024 initiative, will conclude with the three day gaming lifestyle festival DreamHack Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center from October 4-6.
“Gaming is quietly the largest segment of the $2 trillion global entertainment industry,” said Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media. “Games Week Georgia celebrates the gaming and esports industry, bringing together gaming leaders and experts from around the world, and culminating in one of North America's largest gaming festivals — DreamHack Atlanta.”
The current set of announced Games Week Georgia events include:
“DreamHack's exponential growth in North America is a testament to not only the growth of the gaming industry, but the appetite of fans for in-person, community-driven experiences,” said Guy Bloomberg, Event Director, DreamHack Festivals - Americas, ESL FACEIT Group. “Following a record-setting DreamHack Dallas this year, our return to Atlanta alongside Games Week Georgia doubles down on making this moment a celebration of the state's vibrant gaming landscape.”
According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, digital entertainment is a $550 million industry in the state, responsible for more than 12,000 direct and indirect jobs. Events like DreamHack Atlanta not only fuel that industry, but draw over 40,000 guests, vendors, developers, celebrities, and more to the city across the weekend.
“Georgia is on the frontlines of innovation and growth and continues to engage groundbreaking industries like gaming, animation and esports that attract new career and development prospects for our state,” said Georgia Center of Innovation Senior Industry Engagement Manager Asante Bradford. “Events like Games Week Georgia put our state’s thriving creative ecosystem in the spotlight and show Georgia’s students that jobs of the future are here and within their reach.”
Grant Wainscott, Vice Chair of the Atlanta Esports Alliance added, “Georgia, and specifically metro Atlanta, has solidified its reputation as a global hub of creativity, talent, and influence. Games Week Georgia as a part of InnovATL2024 allows us to demonstrate how gaming drives both innovation and workforce development to feed our overall tech ecosystem.”
As one important element of workforce development and diversifying the gaming industry, Games Week Georgia will host five women from the BroadcastHER Academy Fellowship for Women in Esports and Gaming via an all-expense paid trip to Atlanta, experiential learning and mentoring from Skillshot Media, Ghost Gaming, and other partners of the 1,000 Dreams Fund initiative.
Further information and tickets for all events above are now available at https://www.gamesweekgeorgia.com/
CreatorSummit, a property of Ghost Gaming and produced by Skillshot Media, will debut on Saturday, April 27, 2024, as a day-long networking and professional development event celebrating content creation and the growing Creator Economy in Georgia. Full schedule here.
CreatorSummit will take place at Skillshot Media at Uptown Atlanta, with panels covering topics including Why Atlanta For Creators, Audience Growth, Best Practices for Brand Integration, Creation for Social Impact, Playable User Generated Content in Gaming, and AI Disruption.
“The CreatorSummit will help advance and democratize the creator economy in Georgia,” said Asante Bradford, Senior Industry Engagement Manager of Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Creators can have a significant impact on economic development and events like CreatorSummit foster innovation, birth collaboration, and expand opportunities for individuals and businesses.”
CreatorSummit will feature leading social media influencers and content creators from across Georgia and representatives from brands global and local including Twitch, UTA Atlanta, Prize Picks, Vayner Media, Zenni, Blimpie, Sly, the*gamehers, Georgia Entertainment, Atlanta Influences Everything, Butter.ATL, ATDC, Crafty Apes, Cxmmunity, Pipeline, Soccer In the Streets, Georgia Film Academy, and the Georgia Game Developers Association.
“GenZ’s main career aspiration is to be an influencer,” said Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming. “And leading brands are identifying influencer-driven events and campaigns as key to their marketing strategy. With this inaugural CreatorSummit, we seek to foster connections between emerging creators, established creators, platforms and brands as part of the Ghost Gaming vision to develop and unlock business opportunities for talent relevant to gaming culture.”
A limited number of in-person and virtual CreatorSummit tickets are now available at www.csummit.live/tickets.
CREATORSUMMIT EVENT DETAILS
CreatorSummit
Guests to include: (full list HERE)
Schedule to include: (full schedule HERE)
Georgia Entertainment, the state’s leading source for news, events and analysis of the creative industry, has announced a far reaching agreement with Ghost Gaming and Skillshot Media. As a result of the agreement, the companies will collaborate on content, reports, events and other initiatives around the gaming and esports industry in Georgia and beyond.
Georgia-based Skillshot Media hosts live events and live stream productions that have served over one billion engagements for some of the biggest names in gaming, corporate, sports, esports and other industry segments. Ghost Gaming, with a roster of professional esports players and content creators, is an Atlanta-based organization providing platforms to create unique partnerships in sports, music, lifestyle and entertainment.
“The gaming industry is approaching $350 billion of revenue and Georgia sits right in the middle of this growth,” said Randy Davidson President of Georgia Entertainment. “The strategic partnership with Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming allows our business the opportunity to fully immerse our publications, events and programs with impactful content for our readers.”
In Georgia, the creative industries segment represents nearly $40 billion in revenue. The state’s investment via tax incentives for film production, video game development and other areas of the creative industries have been a major boost for Georgia. Besides game development, the state leads the nation when it comes to education-based esports initiatives. Georgia was one of the first five states to adopt esports as a varsity high school sport and there are currently 175 high schools with varsity esports programs. Georgia colleges compete in the Georgia Esports League which includes all our largest institutions and a total of 14 colleges.
“We are excited to join forces with Georgia Entertainment to help spread the benefits of gaming and esports for the state,” said Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming. “The alliance provides unique positioning for our brands within their publications and events reaching professionals throughout Georgia.”
Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming are official partners of all Georgia Entertainment 100 and Georgia Unscripted events held throughout the state. Georgia Entertainment is an official partner of the Georgia Esports League. The agreement includes content collaborations, resource development and special events to promote gaming and esports.
GIRLGAMER Esports Festival, the world's leading event to celebrate and promote women's competitiveness in esports, has announced the Season 5 schedule and key partnerships for the festival debut within the United States.
“GIRLGAMER is excited to extend our global celebration of women in gaming into the United States with this partnership”, said Tiago Fernandes, organizer of GIRLGAMER Esports Festival. “The esports ecosystem in the city of Atlanta and across the state of Georgia is very well developed, as is the esports experience and mission commitment of our United States event partner Skillshot.”
The 2023 World Circuit allows women gamers the opportunity to compete at the highest level, with teams qualifying into a World Finals via national festivals including:
The game titles played at the next World Finals include Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Rocket League.
The specific titles to be played at each festival city will be announced at a future date, along with the date and location of the World Circuit Finals.
“We are thrilled to bring the world’s leading women’s esports event to Atlanta”, said Dan Corso, President of the Atlanta Sports Council. “Atlanta is widely known for hosting world-class sporting events and our infrastructure and hospitality extends to esports. We are especially excited about this property given the focus on inclusivity.”
GIRLGAMER 2023 World Circuit US festival partners include Skillshot Media as the venue and production partner and Ghost Gaming as the host gaming organization.
“We have been fans of the GIRLGAMER mission since they began in 2017”, said Nabil Ismail, President of Skillshot Media. “Their international growth has been impressive and it is our honor to launch this property within the United States, providing women an opportunity to showcase their skills in esports competition, and also in behind the scenes technical and production roles.”
Beyond competition and production, GIRLGAMER Atlanta will provide opportunities for attendees to meet and learn from established female gaming creators and live-streamers since the creator economy is a fast growing segment of the gaming industry.
“Ghost Gaming is proud to be supporting the GIRLGAMER Esports Festival”, said Julian Castro, Managing Director of Ghost Gaming. “We are deliberate and diverse with our own roster of signed Ghost creators. And this festival gives us an opportunity to cultivate and mentor the next next generation of female creators.''
GIRLGAMER Atlanta will be hosted at Skillshot @ Uptown Atlanta on December 13, 2023. Information on Tickets and Team Qualification for GIRLGAMER Atlanta 2023 will be announced at a later date.
ATLANTA (June 6, 2023) Skillshot Media, a leading provider of production services for the gaming industry, announced a new division focused on the broader live and hybrid event market, with a commercial partnership to represent Uptown Atlanta and their 35,000 SF Atrium venue for external events both live and hybrid.
The Atrium Uptown Atlanta, purpose-built for experiential and social entertainment with a massive LED wall, game room, kitchen, and bar, was upgraded this year with fiber connectivity to Skillshot Media’s production studio and live-streaming infrastructure.
With these upgrades complete, the Atrium is now available for external event rental and activation, including corporate events, watch parties, fundraisers, holiday parties, and more.
Skillshot Media, a current tenant of Uptown Atlanta, will provide client bookings for the venue and turnkey event management services including production and live-stream broadcasting. Skillshot relocated from Alpharetta to Uptown Atlanta in August 2021 and has been regularly activating gaming and esports events at the location.
Skillshot President Nabil Ismail will head up the new Live Event Management division with technology and services honed over the past two years with Fortune 100 companies including Microsoft Atlanta and Kaiser Permanente.
“We’ve loved working with Uptown Atlanta to foster a gaming community and host gaming events here and that demand is not slowing down”, said Nabil Ismail, Skillshot President. “But the demand is no longer specific to gaming. Companies more broadly are looking for a modern event venue, easily accessible, with immersive audio-video, and live-streaming. We're excited to apply what we’ve been doing in gaming and esports for a decade to other live events.”
“This event partnership with Skillshot is part of Uptown Atlanta’s mission to bring the community together at our hyper-accessible, mixed-use development”, said Mahesh Mani, Senior Vice President of Asset Management for Rubenstein and Uptown Atlanta. “The timing corresponds with the grand opening of Uptown Test Kitchen, a revitalized Main Street, and in anticipation of three new restaurant concepts opening this year. We’re excited for event attendees to discover the vibrant community developing here.”
Uptown encompasses nearly 1 million square feet of office space, 120,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a variety of community gathering spaces, all with connectivity to MARTA and the city’s major pedestrian trails, such as the Atlanta BeltLine, PATH400, and the South Fork Trail.
Those interested in learning more about Skillshot Media’s Event Management capabilities and venue availability can visit https://www.skillshot.com/venue
ATLANTA (October 3, 2022) — The Esports Summit conference, organized by Skillshot Media, has announced a broad set of corporate and non-profit event partners connected to the event November 17-18, 2022, at the Skillshot Media esports campus. In addition, a new ticket bundle has been released which gives access to the gaming lifestyle festival, and Summit partner, DreamHack Atlanta, taking place November 18-20, 2022, at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Esports Summit will connect global business leaders and educators across the esports ecosystem across the two-day event with the goal of connecting play with learning. The conference event is followed by the three-day, immersive, gaming lifestyle festival DreamHack Atlanta.
CDW and Acer have been named Presenting Partners of Esports Summit 2022, supporting the conference theme of esports in education.
“Esports in education drives incredible opportunities for both access and equity for students. We are excited to continue our support for the students and the esports ecosystem by serving as the presenting sponsor, along with Acer, of the 2022 Esports Summit. CDW’s dedicated esports team is passionate about guiding schools on their esports journeys, and inspired by what students learn and achieve through these programs,” said Joe Simone, Vice President of Education, CDW. “We look forward to this coming together of education and industry leaders to drive more impact for our students.”
Other select Esports Summit partners include: Twitch, DreamHack, North America Scholastic Esports Foundation (NASEF), AXR Edge, Cxmmunity, Ghost Gaming, the*gameHERs, UGC, Tadpole Communications, FitGMR, Futures First, Atlanta Esports Alliance, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State University.
The conference will feature panel tracks and workshops related to both the business side of the gaming and esports industry and the world of scholastic esports education. Confirmed speakers include representatives from:
and more
Additional speaking opportunities are still available via a Call For Proposals, run by NASEF and the Georgia Tech Institute for People and Technology.
The Early Access individual ticket includes a two-day pass for Esports Summit and three 3-day passes to DreamHack Atlanta, which offers Esports Summit attendees the opportunity to bring guests to enjoy DreamHack Atlanta.
Esports Summit 2022 will be hosted by Skillshot Media at Uptown Atlanta. The 32,000 sq ft Atrium (pictured above) will be activated in addition to the 10,000 sq ft conference center, game room, esports production studio, and esports education classroom.
College students at the Skillshot esports analyst desk comment on the Georgia Esports League competition between rivals Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia in the game Rocket League.
Skillshot Media, a leading esports production company, and Ghost Gaming, the Atlanta-based professional esports and lifestyle organization, today announced a partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Film Academy, and founding partner universities across Georgia to launch the Georgia Esports League (GEL).
The league is the nation’s first comprehensive statewide initiative covering esports competition, curriculum, and workforce development to serve the videogame, esports, and digital entertainment industry.
The announcement comes at a time of increasing live esports event activity across the state. In May Skillshot, EsportsU, and the Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) produced the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC), the largest ever national collegiate esports live event, at Gateway Arena in College Park Georgia which delivered a $1.7 million local economic impact. This October Riot Games will bring the Worlds 2022 League of Legends semifinals to State Farm Arena, and in November the global gaming festival Dreamhack returns to the Georgia World Congress Center with an expected attendance of over 40,000.
The Georgia Esports League, open to all 2-year and 4-year colleges in Georgia, will offer numerous titles starting with Rocket League, which is played across Georgia in middle school, and high school as a sanctioned varsity sport. It is also played at the collegiate and professional level. Atlanta-based Ghost Gaming has a top professional Rocket League team. The tournament platform provider and sponsor for the 2022-2023 season of Rocket League is UGC
“Esports is education,” said Todd Harris CEO of Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming. “We’re excited to build out skill development that goes well beyond just playing games. Our partnerships in Georgia allow us to engage with students starting in middle school with STEAM exposure and social-emotional learning all the way through college competition to careers playing esports professionally, becoming a gaming creator on YouTube or Twitch, or working in the broader game and digital entertainment industry behind the scenes as a programmer, artist or designer.”
GEL Final matches will be produced and live-streamed by Skillshot out of their newly announced Atlanta esports campus, with students involved in every aspect of the production.
“Gaming and digital entertainment are key industry initiatives for Georgia,”, said Asante Bradford of the Department of Georgia Economic Development. “The Georgia Esports League will help attract college students across our state to this growing industry, so we can continue to fill the jobs posted by the many tech and digital media companies relocating to Georgia.”
Georgia has seen a host of gaming and tech companies announce major expansions in the last 12 months including a Microsoft corporate campus on 90 acres of land on the west side of Atlanta, Meta’s data-center expansion in Georgia valued at $42 billion, and Google’s 500,000 square-foot expansion in Midtown Atlanta. More broadly, the global corporate and VC investment into metaverse companies was over $120 billion in the first half of 2022 according to a McKinsey and Company report. The metaverse industry is projected to reach $5 Trillion by 2030, with a $108 - $125 billion impact specific to the videogame industry.
Georgia is leading this new digital entertainment economy, building off the success of the film industry, which saw a direct spend of $4 billion dollars in Georgia last year. A key partner for the newly announced Georgia Esports League is the Georgia Film Academy, which has already trained over 10,000 Georgians through 28 public universities and technical colleges.
“Building off our success in film, Georgia’s next workforce initiative is gaming, esports, and digital entertainment”, said Jeff Stepakoff, Executive Director of the Georgia Film Academy. “We are thrilled to partner with industry experts Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming to build out the curriculum, deliver hands-on experiences with industry tools, and engage students via Georgia Esports League competition, events, and live-streaming. Georgia now has a full ecosystem around the world’s fastest evolving creative economy.”
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