Friendly Fire won two main awards at the Franchise Brand Leader Awards and will represent Croatia at the European Franchise Awards in Brussels.
In Croatia, franchise operations include 220 networks in 13 industries and employ more than 17,500 people, but the title of Franchise of the Year 2025 did not go to a food chain or a commercial giant – but gaming cafeu.
Friendly Firethe Croatian esports and gaming cafe franchise, was declared Franchise of the Year 2025 at the Franchise Brand Leader Awards ceremony held at the Zonar Hotel in Zagreb on June 12, as part of the three-day Brand Forum celebrating World Franchise Day. The company also took home the award for the largest Croatian franchise exporter, making Friendly Fire the only double winner of the evening.
The Franchise Brand Leader Awards is based on a simple principle: every franchise active on the Croatian market is automatically nominated, without registration or registration fee. The winners are selected by an international jury of experts from Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates – a panel consisting of university professors, representatives of national franchise associations and European experts in franchise business.
“These awards are not given as consolation prizes. In a sector that is growing 20 percent a year, with 16 finalists chosen from 220 active networks, winning in both of these categories tells us that what we’ve built is recognized without self-promotion.” – he declared David Kosirfounder and CEO, Friendly Fire
For Friendly Fire, the Franchise of the Year title has a concrete consequence: the company will 17.9. of this year to represent Croatia at the European Franchise Awards in Brussels – at a competition that measures the very top of franchise business on the continent. The previous Croatian representatives at that level were the Museum of Illusions and Tinker Labs, both of which then won European recognition in their respective categories.
Friendly Fire started as an idea in Zagreb – what would a gaming cafe look like if it took over the warmth and nostalgia of crowded internet cafes from the 90s and 2000s and built something that today’s gaming community needs and truly deserves. Since then, this concept has spread beyond the borders of Croatia, and the award for the largest exporter reflects the scale of that international reach.
Friendly Fire cafe is available in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Slovenia and the Netherlands.