Astralis to use Garmin’s esports smartwatch to improve their performance

Astralis are the first organization to partner with Garmin after the tech brand announced their new esports performance smartwatch.

Earlier on October 22, the technology company unveiled the Instinct Esports Edition smartwatch that looks to offer information on sleep, energy, and stress levels.

The partnership is described as “strategic” and “commercial” and will see Astralis’ players use the watch in training and performance sessions. They will promote the new watch to their audience, which spans across Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and FIFA.

The long-term deal will be “fully unfolded over the coming months and years,” though the exact promotional terms have not been released. Astralis’ CS team have won multiple majors and are well-known internationally, though especially in their home market of Denmark, so Garmin will look to utilise that star power to sell their esports-geared product.

The Instinct Esports Edition smartwatch not only tracks health and performance metrics, but allows players to broadcast their heart rate and stress level while gaming on stream. This technology is called “STR3AMUP!” and seems to be the only feature that is included with gaming specifically in mind.

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This is the second instance of Garmin turning to esports and gaming to sell their products, following a partnership with Polish organization x-kom AGO being announced earlier this year in February.

“We have been looking into the gaming and esports market for a while, as we see a great potential to integrate the use of wearable performance tech in the strive to optimise performance and health for gamers and esports athletes,” said Garmin’s managing director in the Nordics, David Ekander.

“Athletes all over the world use Garmin products to track and improve their performance. With the launch of our newest innovation Instinct Esports Edition, esports athletes can use the new feature to track and examine how their body responds to intense competition.”