Igor Celso, communication and content strategist

Results you can measure

Three fronts of my work at Player1, each with a number: press relations, journalism and social.

R$ 16.47M
in earned media from the Prêmio eSports Brasil 2025 coverage, reaching 889 million people. That was 331 stories, 77 in tier 1 outlets. In that edition, on top of curation, I set up the press room and was the backstage spokesperson.
See the case
263
stories published on ge between 2021 and 2026, 104 under my byline. I joined Player1 writing for ge's projects and, for years, was the only journalist covering competitive eFootball in Brazil: 133 stories about the game alone.
See the articles
94K
likes and 745 comments across the 62 Instagram reels in the portfolio, from Player1 series like X1 com a Mari, Entrevistas and Resenhas. Buffa ou nerfa with Yuri22 alone got 33K.
See the reels

Career

I'm a journalist with a degree from UFRRJ and spent the last five years at Player1, Globo's games and esports agency. I started writing for ge and left coordinating content, PR and creators for KONAMI, Betano and Prêmio eSports Brasil.

Along the way, I covered competitive eFootball when almost nobody did, scripted the Portuguese-language broadcast of the Rocket League World Championship, wrote the stage for all three editions of eFootball Carnival and set up the press room for Prêmio eSports Brasil.

What drives me has been the same since my thesis on esports journalism: take a loose piece of information and find the story that makes someone want to follow it. That applies to an article, a press release, a script or a creator brief.

I'm looking for an agency, brand, publisher or event team in games, esports and entertainment that needs someone who understands stories, brands and communities at the same time.

Igor Celso

Download CV (PDF)

Skills

Content strategy
Editorial planning
Press relations
Stage, live and video scripts
Production and shoot direction
Real-time coverage
Creator and talent management
Brand and publisher client service
PR vendor management
Awards curation
Market research
Internal communication

Languages

Portuguese: Native
English: Fluent
Spanish: Basic

2020
Journalism at UFRRJ
Journalism degree from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, with a thesis on esports journalism.
Mar to Nov 2021
Esporte News Mundo
Esports editorial lead, until I joined Player1.
2021 to 2026
Player1
Writer, scriptwriter, editor, content specialist and content coordinator
I started writing for ge's projects and left coordinating strategy, PR, talent and the team, with Prêmio eSports Brasil curation and campaigns for KONAMI and Betano.
2024 and 2025
Freelance work
Bilingual games specialist at Senac's booth at BGS 2024, presenting students' games and connecting them with investors. For Artplan, in 2025, I planned two months of BETMGM's social media in a two-week contract.

From business to results

A story, a campaign or an event: the path is the same. It starts with what the brand needs and ends with a number someone can read.

1
Business
Understand what the brand needs to sell, prove or protect.
How I did it
Business
It starts with what the client needs that week. At Betano, I handled client service and turned the brand's requests into weekly briefs for six creators, with suggestions for last-minute campaigns. At eFootball Carnival, the stage script was aligned with KONAMI, including directly with KONAMI L.A. in 2024.
- Betano Creators
- eFootball Carnival
2
Opportunity
Find the moment, the audience and the topic where it has something to say.
How I did it
Opportunity
Before pitching, I look for where the brand has something to say. In the NBA 2K study, I mapped the community, influencers and players to see if there was an audience before any activation. In eFootball, I saw a competitive scene nobody covered and was, for years, the only journalist telling that story in Brazil: 133 stories about the game.
- eFootball
3
Story
Choose the angle that turns data and calendar into something people want to follow.
How I did it
Story
The angle decides whether data becomes a story. At eFootball Carnival, the activation was born inside the game, with Player1 as the first agency in the world to create custom content in eFootball, and then got a stage with Cafu, Denilson and Bebeto. For the PEB at 10 launch, the awards' story was told by the people who lived it: I interviewed Nobru, Nyvi Estephan, SRN, brTT, Paulinho o Loko, CamilotaXP and MT7.
- eFootball Carnival
- PEB at 10
4
Strategy
Define format, channel, spokesperson and timeline.
How I did it
Strategy
The right format, channel and spokesperson for each audience. At Prêmio eSports Brasil, I was the bridge between Player1 and Globo in the first two editions and part of the curation board in the last three. At Rio2C, I prepared talking points and questions for almost every Player1 panel in 2022 and 2023. For PEB at 10, I led the partnership with Login House eXP to bring the awards to the VCT Americas final watch party.
5
Execution
Scripts, copy, press releases, filming and coordinating teams and creators.
How I did it
Execution
Where the plan meets event day. I wrote the stage script for all three editions of eFootball Carnival and set up the press dynamics, including being Cafu's point of contact in 2024. I produced the Game+ stage at Rio2C in 2023, shot with Gabigol and Zico for eFootball and wrote the scripts for the Rocket League World Championship live shows.
6
Results
Measure reach, reads and press, and carry the lessons into the next cycle.
How I did it
Results
Numbers and lessons for the next cycle. PEB 2025 coverage generated 331 stories, 77 in tier 1 outlets, and R$ 16.47 million in earned media, reaching 889 million people. The PEB at 10 launch reached 46.9 million people in a month. The Rocket League project aired on sportv and was discussed on Tá na Área.

Cases

Awards, campaigns, coverage and research. In each one: what was at stake, what I did and what could be measured.

KONAMI / eFootball2024 to 2026

eFootball Carnival: three editions with legends on stage

eFootball's Carnival event three years in a row, with Cafu, Denilson and Bebeto. Stage script, press room and journalists' access to the legends.

Stage script for all three editions, aligned with KONAMI, including directly with KONAMI L.A. in 2024
2024, with Cafu: press dynamics, interview slots per outlet and point of contact for Cafu, starting from the run of show
2025, at Globo's space with Denilson Show: press on Player1's side with KONAMI's PR agency, Negrete announced as ambassador with an in-game avatar and a story on ge

Read the case

Prêmio eSports Brasil202646.9 million people reached by press coverage in May 2026, the launch month

PEB at 10: launch, new brand and watch party

I planned and ran the launch of the tenth edition and the rebrand of Prêmio eSports Brasil, Brazil's biggest esports awards, presented at Rio2C, and took the awards to a watch party of the VCT Americas final.

Planning and execution of the PEB 26 launch and rebrand, with Player1 and V3A
Gathered every rebrand asset and scheduled the interviews for the main launch piece
Interviews I conducted with Nobru, Nyvi Estephan, SRN, brTT, Paulinho o Loko, CamilotaXP and Matheus "MT7"

Read the case

Prêmio eSports Brasil2021 to 2025331 press stories about PEB 2025, 77 of them in tier 1 outlets

PEB: from Globo liaison to backstage spokesperson

Five editions of Brazil's biggest esports awards. I started as the link between Player1 and Globo and ended up running the press room, on the curation board and speaking to the community.

In the first two editions, point of contact between Player1 and Globo: real-time coverage, briefing TV reporters on the winners and airtime for interviews and video packages
Content planning, production and data in the following editions
PEB curation in the last three editions, stepping in on Superjury decisions that went against the rules

Read the case

Epic Games / Psyonix2021 to 20223,287 reads across the 8 Fall Major 2021 stories on ge

RLCS: from a story on ge to the World Championship broadcast

Psyonix hired Player1 for the Portuguese-language RLCS broadcasts and community. I started in the ge coverage and ended up creating segments for the World Championship broadcast.

Coverage of the Majors and the World Championship on ge
Scripts for the live content
Interviews I designed, conducted by the casters and replayed on the official stream

Read the case

Where I fit

Agencies and brands
Content strategy, PR and creator campaigns for brands that want to talk to people who play.
Publishers, leagues and events
Communication for launches, tournaments and awards, from the story calendar to press relations.
Newsrooms
Editing and reporting on games and esports, with an eye for what gets read and what makes a story.

The same information, told another way

Everyone publishes the result of a tournament. The difference is in what we choose to tell. Pick an example and watch the data become a story. The articles were published in Portuguese on ge.

Rocket League World Championship 2022
Champion: BDS
FURIA: eliminated in the semifinal
Final day: August 14, 2022

Articles on ge

Seven picked from 263 published from 2021 to 2026, 104 of them under my byline. The criteria: the stories and angles I like most. Articles are in Portuguese.

See all 263 articles

Videos and social

101 videos and reels from 2021 to 2025, across 18 series and coverages: from interviews at the CBLOL final to Zico upgrading his own card in eFootball. Videos are in Portuguese.

See all 101 videos and posts

Behind the scenes

Studio, stage, press room and film set. What happens before the story goes live.

PEB and Login House eXP watch partySep 2026At the VCT Americas Stage 2 final watch party, with LOUD in the final.Led the partnershipSee the case
PEB 26 launchMay 2026Shoot with Paulinho o Loko for the PEB 26 launch piece.InterviewSee the case
eFootball Carnival 2026Feb 2026Samba circle on the eFootball Carnival stage.See the case
eFootball Carnival 2025Feb 2025Journalists and creators at the press dynamics.Press dynamicsSee the case
Prêmio eSports Brasil 2025Interviewing AMD, personality of the year, on awards night.InterviewSee the case
Gamescom Latam 2024Jun 2024Producing content with Rawrafaela in the middle of the fair.ProductionSee the case
eFootball Carnival 2024Feb 2024Cafu on stage at the first in-person edition.Stage scriptSee the case
eBrasileirão 2023Oct 2023Mito Abdalla interviews GuiFera after the title.ProductionSee the case
Yu-Gi-Oh! mini-docAug 2023Filming the mini-documentary with Paulo PRRJ.Script and productionSee the case
Rio2C 2023Apr 2023The Game+ stage I produced, during Papo de Streamer.Stage productionSee the case
Shoot with GabigolMar 2023Behind the scenes of Gabigol's shoot as eFootball ambassador.Script and directionSee the case
Rocket League World ChampionshipAug 2022The Portuguese-language broadcast studio for the 2021-22 World Championship.See the case