BLAST welcomes Anne Banschbach as Programme Director for Valve ecosystems
BLAST has appointed Anne Banschbach as Programme Director for Valve Ecosystems and Development.
Anne brings a wealth of experience at the highest level of esports after four years at French esports giants, Team Vitality, as their Director of Esports. Her time at Vitality saw Anne help create an organisation that was highly competitive and hugely successful across multiple titles in esports - finishing third in the EWC Club Championship 2025 rankings.
In her new role, Anne will oversee the strategic direction of BLAST Premier and BLAST Slam, the company’s flagship Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 tournament series. She will focus on strengthening relationships with partners, teams, players and key stakeholders, while also becoming a prominent voice within the Valve ecosystem, Anne will engage with fans and media to amplify the company's voice in the industry.
The Valve landscape is a continually evolving space within esports and BLAST and Anne’s attention turns to 2026, with a host of changes and a new direction in the works to improve BLAST’s operations in the upcoming competitive year.
Anne Banschbach, Programme Director for Valve & Development:
“I’m super excited to be jumping onboard with BLAST leading Premier and Slam as well as helping with new projects. I’ve gained lots of knowledge from my time on the other side of the industry and I’m ready to help BLAST step up their game and deliver great events. BLAST is already delivering a strong product and I think we could communicate and interact with the community more and I ’m excited to take on this more public-facing role within the org.”
Andrew Haworth, SVP Ecosystems at BLAST:
“As BLAST has kept growing, we realised we needed to bring in more resources to push Premier and Slam onto the next level. When I looked around the ecosystem and the people I’ve worked with, I could think of no better person than Anne for this task. I feel like we went into the transfer window over summer and have pulled off the biggest signing. I’m incredibly excited to work with Anne and to see what she can bring to the team.”
Next up for the Valve ecosystems is BLAST’s South East Asia tour, with BLAST Dota heading to Singapore for Slam IV (7-9th November) and BLAST Premier heading to Hong Kong (12-16th November) for the final Rivals of 2025.
