Image: Talon Official Website
TALON EMPRESS aims to create a unique esports girl group culture in Taiwan and Asia.
Talon's League of Legends division, PSG TALON, has announced the formation of the first-ever esports girl group, "TALON EMPRESS" on Friday (30 August). The initiative was launched collaboration with Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba.
The group comprises five well-known cheerleaders in Taiwan: GaLin, Wendy, Showshowz, Mina, and KAii.
They will be guided by LoL PCS caster and coach Chang "Zod" Po-Cheng. The team will focus on content creation and training, and participate in amateur competitions and female esports events.
TALON, established in 2017, is an esports and gaming lifestyle platform based in Hong Kong, operating across 12 esports titles in the Asia-Pacific region, including Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Korea.
The organization has won over 42 championship titles and is active in games such as League of Legends, VALORANT, Dota 2, Rainbow 6 Siege, PUBGM, and Arena of Valor.
Sean Zhang, CEO and Co-founder of TALON stated that the aim of creating TALON EMPRESS is to merge traditional sports and esports, adding that they want "to inject new life into both spaces through our group members' incredible energy and personality."
"We have long been dedicated to the sports and entertainment sector, whether it's integrating traditional professional sports like baseball and basketball or engaging in cheerleading entertainment marketing, providing innovative marketing experiences for numerous brands,”
– Ben Wei, Sports Marketing Department manager of Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba
Ben remarked on the collaboration's goal to combine cheerleading culture with esports, aiming to create new trends in the sports and entertainment industries.
The members of TALON EMPRESS are active gamers. GaLin and Wendy expressed their enthusiasm for joining this esports venture, with GaLin reminiscing about her college days spent playing ranked games.
Mina, who has recently begun streaming, mentioned that her primary interest in League of Legends lies in the aesthetic appeal of skins. KAii, an avid player of both League of Legends and Arena of Valor, shared that she has even achieved the rank of "War Legend" in Arena of Valor.
Upcoming Debut at the Pacific Championship Series
Fans will get the chance to see TALON EMPRESS in action at the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) Grand Finals, taking place at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium on 1 September.
The group will host a meet and greet during the event, offering fans a chance to connect with the members between the Grand Finals games.
Not the First Cheerleading Group in Esports
While TALON EMPRESS represents the first time a League of Legends esports organisation has signed an entertainment group, the concept of cheerleaders in esports is not entirely new.
In 2015, AHQ eSports Club introduced a female cheerleading squad named “PentaKiss.” Additionally, in the earlier days of the LCS and LEC, cheerleaders were occasionally featured to add flair to the events, like the EU Cheer Squad.
However, TALON’s concept of a girl entertainment group now includes other aspects like content creation and gaming—allowing the members of the group to show what else they’ve got and create their own following in the process.
