G2 Esports CEO Alban Dechelotte: “We see huge long-term potential” for PUBG MOBILE in Western Europe

G2 Esports established a partnership with PUBG MOBILE Esports last month, focusing on Western Europe. The initiative spans creator activations, grassroots competition, and looks to grow the region through the 2026 PUBG MOBILE Club Open (PMCO) Western Europe Wildcard. Together, G2 and PUBG MOBILE Esports have also launched an ambassador program, with JanickaGaming becoming the first ambassador for Western Europe. 

The man masterminding the strategy from a G2 perspective is CEO Alban Dechelotte, who took the reins of the organization in January 2023. Prior to G2, Dechelotte led Riot Games’ commercial agenda in EMEA, and also headed up Coca-Cola’s global gaming and esports program. 

We spoke to the Frenchman before PUBG MOBILE takes the spotlight at the Esports World Cup this weekend about what G2 can bring to PUBG MOBILE in Western Europe; how the organization approaches mobile differently, the role of creators and grassroots, and what success looks like in this partnership. 

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

ESI: What will G2 do from an operational perspective that PUBG MOBILE Esports couldn’t have been able to without your partnership? 

Alban Dechelotte: This partnership works because we’re each able to contribute in different ways. PUBG MOBILE has built one of the strongest mobile esports ecosystems in the world, and we see huge long-term potential for that to continue growing in Western Europe.  At G2, we’ve spent the last decade building a community that follows us wherever we compete. Our fans aren’t just following one single team, League of Legends or Counter-Strike, they’re following G2.

Operationally, our role is to bring those fans into PUBG MOBILE through our players, creators and various channels. That gives us an opportunity to introduce the game to an audience that may not be familiar. It’s about helping accelerate that growth in Western Europe while laying the foundations for G2 to build a long-term competitive presence in the title.

There’s also the performance element to it. We’ll be hosting the winners of the PUBG MOBILE Community Open Western Europe Wildcard Finals at our facilities for a bootcamp and giving them access to our coaches and performance staff. We’ve seen first-hand how valuable those kinds of opportunities can be early in a player’s career, so it’s something we’re  proud to be able to offer.

ESI: You’ve built G2’s community through competitive success and creator storytelling on titles that typically are not mobile-first. What’s one lesson from the typical G2 playbook that you already know won’t transfer directly to mobile, and why?

Alban: This isn’t our first experience in mobile esports – we competed in Wild Rift with G2 Blacklist a few years ago and made it all the way to the World Finals, so we’ve already had the chance to learn how different the mobile landscape can be. While our approach to building communities through players and creators hasn’t really changed, one thing we learned very quickly is that you can’t apply the same competitive playbook across every title.

One thing that stood out straight away was how quickly the meta shifts. Compared to PCs, changes happen faster, and players have to adapt much more quickly, so the way you prepare and coach a team naturally has to evolve with that.

The physical side is different too – mobile players spend hours training on handheld devices, which brings its own challenges around posture and burnout. It’s something we paid a lot of attention to during our time in Wild Rift, and it’s another reminder that high performance isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Every title asks something different of its players, and that’s something we’ve learned to adapt and respect.

ESI: If creators are now central to growing an esports organisation, does that change what “esports talent” actually means at G2? Are you scouting for competitive skill, content ability, or are these becoming increasingly the same thing? Is success defined by creator reach or by competitive success?

Alban: The definition of “esports talent” has definitely evolved over the last few years. Competitive success will always be at the heart of what we do at G2, but today’s esports industry is much bigger than what happens on stage.

When we’re looking at creators, we’re not expecting them to be former pros or analysts who know every draft and every play. What matters much more to us is that they enjoy competition and can bring their own personality to it. The best creators make people excited to watch because they’re authentic, they’re entertaining, and they have their own way of telling the story around a match.

It also helps if they’re comfortable in front of a camera. A lot of what we create at G2 leans into storytelling and comedy, so having creators who enjoy acting and aren’t afraid to embrace that side of our content makes it much easier for them to become part of the wider G2 story. For us, it’s about finding the balance between competition and entertainment, and the creators who fit G2 best are the ones who can enjoy both.

That’s one of the reasons we’re excited about PUBG MOBILE. It’s already established itself as one of the world’s leading mobile esports titles, and we believe Western Europe has significant room to grow. That’s something we want to help build over the long term, both through creators and eventually through competition.

ESI: What does G2 bring to a grassroots setup like PMCO that a specialized amateur circuit wouldn’t do better?

Alban: A thriving esports industry relies on two things, a clear path for players to develop and compete, and role models who inspire the next generation. You can build the best amateur competition in the world, but if players can’t see what comes next or don’t have role models they relate to, it’s much harder to keep that momentum going.

Game Changers in VALORANT is a great example of that – Riot created a dedicated competitive platform for women and marginalized communities, opening the door for more players to pursue esports professionally. Players like G2 Gozen’s mimi have built on that by showing what life as a professional actually looks like through her streams and by giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into competing at the highest level.

That’s where G2 can add something different. We can’t replace a grassroots circuit, and we wouldn’t want to, but what we can do is give talented players a bigger platform, help tell their stories and turn them into role models. When young players can see someone they admire succeeding, understand what it takes to get there and believe they could follow the same path, the whole industry becomes stronger.

ESI: Do you have a concrete example of a player or team that G2 has taken from an early, unproven stage to real competitive success. What made that work, and is that repeatable here? Can this be repeated at scale?

Alban: The first person that comes to mind is Flakked, one of our former League of Legends players. When he was 12 years old, he had the chance to meet one of our professional players and, more than a decade later, he joined G2’s LEC roster himself. I’ve always loved that story because it shows how much those moments can matter, even if you don’t realise it at the time.

I don’t think there’s a formula you can repeat at scale because every player’s journey is different, but it’s a great example of the importance of giving young players people they can look up to. Talent and hard work will always be some of the biggest factors in whether someone succeeds, but seeing somebody who’s already made that journey can give you the confidence to believe it’s possible for you too.

Initiatives like the PUBG MOBILE Community Open give players that first opportunity, and if we can help inspire even a few of them to believe they could one day compete professionally under the G2 banner, then we’ve done something worthwhile – that’s ultimately the long-term ambition

ESI: What was the actual selection criteria for choosing Janička specifically as the first Western Europe ambassador? Was it her audience size, her audience’s demographics, content style or a combination?

Alban: It was really a combination of things – Janička has been part of the PUBG MOBILE community for years, so she’s built real credibility and trust with her audience. When she talks about the game, it’s obvious that it comes from a genuine place, and that mattered a lot to us.

Her personality and the way she creates content also felt like a good match for what we wanted to do, and she was super excited about collaborating with G2 from the start. Of course we looked at audience and reach as well, but those weren’t the deciding factors. We wanted someone the community already believed in and who was excited about the project.

What really stood out to us is that she cares about both sides of the game. She’s not just an entertainer, she’s actually covered PUBG MOBILE esports competition in the past, so she understands the competitive side just as much as the content side. That combination is rare, and it’s exactly the balance we look for at G2: someone who brings the entertainment factor we’re known for, while also having real esports savviness.

ESI: Is one ambassador enough to represent an entire region as diverse as Western Europe, or is this a pilot that you can push out to more creators depending on results?

Alban: I don’t think one ambassador can represent a region as diverse as Western Europe, and that’s something we’re very aware of. At the same time, building a network of local creators across multiple markets brings its own challenges, not just in terms of managing those relationships but also making sure they work well together.

There isn’t a perfect answer because there are real advantages to both approaches. In this case, we felt Janička was the right person to help introduce more people to PUBG MOBILE alongside G2. It’s the first step in what we hope becomes a much longer journey for G2 within PUBG MOBILE.

ESI: Is there a risk to G2, either from either a reputational or financial perspective if this partnership underdelivers versus the numbers PUBG MOBILE Esports has already achieved in Asia?

Alban: Of course, whenever you invest in something new there’s always an element of risk. But from our perspective, competitive mobile esports is going to continue growing globally, and we believe Europe will follow that over time. Because of that, we don’t see this as a short-term play. Any risk in the near term is really an investment in where we believe the market is heading, and that’s how we’ve approached this partnership from the beginning.

ESI: If I had a dollar for everytime I hear buzzword salad about “ecosystem growth” then I’d be a very rich man. If we remove wishy-washy terms such as “ecosystem growth”, what is the commercial outcome G2 needs from this in 18 months for it to be considered a success internally? What are PUBG MOBILE looking for on their side?

Alban: I know “ecosystem” is a word that’s used a lot, but I still think it’s the right one. It means creating something that’s sustainable, where everyone involved has a role to play in helping the game grow long term. I’d actually like to see more publishers take that approach because it’s what gives a competitive scene the best chance of succeeding.

From G2’s perspective, success means establishing a genuine long-term presence in PUBG MOBILE. We’d like to continue investing in the competitive scene, grow alongside the title in Western Europe, and, over time, develop a roster capable of competing on the international stage under the G2 banner. We believe Tencent is ultimately working towards the same long-term vision of growing PUBG MOBILE esports across the region.