After reviving the iconic esports organisation, the Lightning Pandas, earlier this year, the company behind the venture, Kairos Media, has announced that it is returning to Call of Duty by signing a top level Canadian squad.
The team of Jevon "Goonjar" Gooljar, Matteo "Royalty" Faithfull, Nicholas "Proto" Maldonado and John "Xotic" Bruno will now compete under the Lightning Pandas brand, starting this weekend at the Call of Duty World League Dallas Open event, where they enter as one of the top 10 North American teams.
They become the second esports team for the new look Pandas, joining the org’s FIFA division that is home to top four Xbox player Sean ‘Dragonn’ Allen and popular YouTuber Jamie ‘Bateson’ Bateson.
“Following the successful relaunch of the Lightning Pandas, the concept of returning to Call of Duty was one we we’re keen to explore, however, we wanted to ensure we returned in the correct manner with a team who shared our ambitions as an organisation,” said Rahul Uppal, esports manager at Kairos Media. “As a result, I’m delighted to welcome Royalty and co. to their new home.”
Founder of Kairos Media, Mike Craddock, was a member of the original Lightning Pandas Call of Duty team that played back in the Ghosts era. They had some reasonable success in the scene, but Craddock eventually retired and formed Kairos in the following years. Now he is returning to the series that started his journey in the world of esports, by signing one of the most promising teams in the world.
“As one of the founding members of the Lightning Pandas, I’m excited to return to the competitive Call of Duty community and take the organisation back to it’s roots,” said Craddock. “Call of Duty has been one of the most influential titles in my career and I look forward to a new chapter.”
