Wikipedia

ESL (company)

(Redirected from ESL (eSports))
For other uses, see European Super League and ESL Investments.

ESL Gaming GmbH (formerly known as Electronic Sports League) is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015,[1] and the oldest that is still operational.[2] Based in Cologne, Germany, ESL has eleven offices and multiple international TV studios globally. ESL is the largest esports company to broadcast on Twitch.[3][4]

ESL Gaming GmbH
FormerlyElectronic Sports League
Company typePrivate
IndustryEsports
PredecessorDeutsche Clanliga
Founded27 November 2000; 23 years ago (2000-11-27)
Headquarters
Cologne
,
Germany
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Ralf Reichert & Craig Levine (co-CEOs)
BrandsDreamHack
Intel Extreme Masters
ParentESL FACEIT Group
Websitewww.eslgaming.com

In 2022, it was announced that ESL and esports platform FACEIT were acquired by Savvy Games Group (SGG), a holding company owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. As part of the acquisition, the two companies merged to form the ESL FACEIT Group.[5][6]

History

edit
 
Logo prior to February 2019

The Electronic Sports League was launched in 2000 as the successor to the Deutsche Clanliga, which was founded in 1997 by Jens Hilgers.[7] The company began with an online gaming league and a gaming magazine. It also rented out servers for game competitions.[1]

In 2015, ESL's Intel Extreme Masters Katowice was at the time, the most watched esports event in history.[8] The event had more than 100,000 in attendance and Twitch viewership was over one million.[9]

In July 2015, Modern Times Group (MTG) bought a 74 percent stake in ESL from its parent company, Turtle Entertainment, for $86 million.[10][11][12][13] That same month, ESL announced its participation in "esports in Cinema," which would broadcast live esports events to over 1,500 movie theaters across the globe. Esports in Cinema included Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coverage from ESL One Cologne 2015 and ESL One New York,[14] as well as a documentary, "All Work All Play," which follows the rise of esports and highlights pro gamers as they work toward the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship.[15]

After a player publicly admitted Adderall use following ESL One Katowice 2015, ESL worked with the National Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency to institute an anti-drug policy.[16][17][18] It was the first international esports company to enforce anti-doping regulations.[19] Random tests for the drugs prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency were implemented for its events.[20][21] Punishments for the use of performance-enhancing drugs range from reduced prize money and tournament points to disqualification and a maximum two-year ban from ESL events.[22]

ESL worked with publisher Valve in August 2015 for ESL One Cologne 2015 at the Lanxess Arena where 16 teams competed in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.[11][23][24] ESL implemented randomized drug testing at the event.[25] All tests came back negative.[26] The tournament had over 27 million viewers,[16][27] making it the largest and most-watched CS:GO tournament at the time.[28]

In October 2015, ESL held a Dota 2 championship at Madison Square Garden Theater.[1] That same month, ESL partnered with ArenaNet to produce ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League, which was one of seven official ESL Pro Leagues.[29]

ESL held its 10th arena event in November 2015 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.[1] The event had over 10 million viewers on Twitch[30] and was the largest Counter-Strike event in America at that time.[31] ESL partnered with Activision for the 2016 Call of Duty World League for the World League's Pro Division.[32]

In November 2015, ESL announced its acquisition of the E-Sports Entertainment Association (ESEA), promoters of the ESEA League, after previous collaborations: ESL uses the ESEA anti-cheat system for the ESL CS:GO Pro League.[33] The ESEA platform is used for ESL events as well as offline finals.[34] As of July 2016, ESL became a member of the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC), a non-profit members' association to maintain integrity in professional esports.[35] In 2017, ESL partnered with Mercedes-Benz for Hamburg DOTA 2 Major.[36]

In 2017, ESL partnered with Hulu to produce four esports series (Player v. Player, Bootcamp, Defining Moments and ESL Replay).[37]

In March 2021, ESL announced a partnership with 1xBet.[38] On 28 April 2021, Intel and ESL renewed their partnership again in a three-year contract, which will see the two companies invest US$100,000,000 in esports, throughout 2024.[39]

Acquisition by SGG and merger with FACEIT

edit

In 2022, it was announced that ESL and esports platform FACEIT were being acquired for a combined US$1.5 billion by Savvy Games Group (SGG), a holding company owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.[5] The ESL purchase is worth $1.05 billion, while the FACEIT deal is worth $500 million; both deals are expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approval.[40] As part of the acquisition, ESL and FACEIT are set to merge and form the ESL FaceIt Group. The new company will be headed by ESL CEO Craig Levine and FACEIT CEO Niccolo Maisto, while ESL co-founder Ralf Reichert will serve as executive chairman.[6]

Competitions

edit

ESL hosts competitions around the globe, partnering with publishers such as Blizzard Entertainment,[7][41][42] Riot Games, Valve, Microsoft, Wargaming and multiple others to facilitate thousands of gaming competitions annually.[43] ESL competitors are supported on both national and international levels. Some of their more notable competitions include the following:

ESL Play

edit

ESL Play is an esports platform that provides tournaments and ladders across all games and skill levels. ESL Open, the first cup on the league ladder, is open to everyone, including beginners. ESL Major competitions have entry requirements, and winning on this level is required to earn a spot in ESL Pro competition. However, ESL Major also contains Go4 Cups, which are free tournaments open to everyone. Tournaments at this level require prior qualification.[44]

ESL National Championships

edit

ESL National Championships were region-specific ESL Pro competitions held in various countries. ESL Meisterschaft, the German championship, began in 2002 and is the oldest esports league in existence.[45] The ESL UK Premiership, another regional esports program, has been ESL's largest regional tournament since 2010. National Championships were established to spread local esports competition around the world.[46]

ESL National Championships were held for Battlefield 4, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Halo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Mortal Kombat, Smite, StarCraft II, World of Tanks, and Rainbow Six.

On 15 September 2023, ESL announced that they would be ending all National Championships by the beginning of 2024.[47] ESL Meisterschaft: Autumn 2023 was the final tournament to be played, which ended on 16 December 2023.[48]

ESL Pro Tour

edit

The ESL Pro Tour is a year-round circuit that uses a ranking system for qualification to a major championship event.

As of 2020, ESL hosts three titles for the ESL Pro Tour: Counter-Strike, StarCraft II and Warcraft III.[49] The two major championship events for those titles are IEM Katowice 2021 (for the three titles) and ESL One Cologne 2020 (for Counter-Strike only).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ESL One Cologne was held online in August 2020.[50]

In 2023, ESL Pro Tour hosted tournaments for three titles: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and StarCraft II.

For Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, key events include IEM Katowice 2023, IEM Spring 2023, IEM Dallas 2023, IEM Cologne 2023, and the ESL Pro Tour CS:GO in Sydney.

For Dota 2, major tournaments include DreamLeague Season 19, DreamLeague Season 20, DreamLeague Season 21 [51] and the Riyadh Masters. Notably, the Riyadh Masters is the third-largest esports tournament in terms of prize money, following the Fortnite World Championship and The International.[citation needed]

ESL One

edit
 
ESL One logo

ESL One refers to premier offline tournaments across a variety of games,[52] like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive[53][54] and Dota 2, and are usually considered among the most prestigious events for each game.[55] ESL One events are often selected to be part of the Valve-sponsored CS:GO Major series. The ESL Counter-Strike Majors have been: EMS One Katowice 2014, ESL One Cologne 2014, ESL One Katowice 2015, ESL One Cologne 2015, ESL One Cologne 2016, IEM Katowice 2019. ESL were originally set to host a major in Rio de Janeiro in 2020 under the ESL One brand, until the event was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. After 2020, the CS:GO event of ESL One was merged into IEM brand. As of November 2022, ESL has hosted seven of the eighteen CS:GO Major tournaments, while the last one was IEM Rio Major 2022.

ESL Impact League

edit

ESL Impact League was launched in 2022 to promote women's Counter-Strike:Global Offensive around the world,[56] and is often held simultaneously with other ESL tournaments such as IEM and ESL Challengers. In 2022, 3 LAN tournaments were held in Dallas, Valencia and Jönköping.

Intel Extreme Masters

edit
 
IEM logo
Main article: Intel Extreme Masters

The Intel Extreme Masters is the world's longest-running global esports tournament series.[57]

DreamHack

edit
Main article: DreamHack

After DreamHack merged with ESL in 2020, the DreamHack Open CS:GO events were renamed to ESL Challengers, the DreamHack Masters events were discontinued.[citation needed] The StarCraft II events retained the DreamHack name.[citation needed]

ESL Technology

edit

ESL created the ESL Wire Anti Cheat software to combat online cheating in the increasingly competitive field.[58] In 2015, ESL enhanced its tournament software by integrating Wargaming's "Battle API" into its tournaments. The API makes player and game data available through the API application.[59] That same year, ESL released ESL Matchmaking which uses ESL's API to match competitors based on skill.[60][61] Microsoft worked with ESL to create an Xbox app to use the ESL tournament system through Xbox Live on Xbox One in 2016.[62]

AnyKey

edit

AnyKey is a diversity initiative created by ESL and Intel to include underrepresented members of the gaming community in competitions including women, LGBT people and people of color.[63][64] AnyKey is made up of two teams for research and implementation.[65][66] AnyKey has researched and implemented a code of conduct, which aims to address an inclusion policy for esports events and online broadcasts and the harassment issues underrepresented populations face. It has also created and hosted women's tournaments. The two teams continue to research and implement inclusion in the gaming community.[67]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Conditt, Jessica (1 July 2015). "Swedish media house buys world's largest esports company". Engadget. Archived from the original on 3 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ^ Bryan Armen Graham (23 July 2015). "Anti-doping in e-sports: World's largest gaming organization will test for PEDs". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  3. ^ Wawro, Alex (10 June 2016). "Report: ESL is the top esports tourney broadcaster on Twitch (that's not Riot)". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  4. ^ Alexander, Julie (10 June 2016). "People have watched more than 800M hours of esports on Twitch since August". Polygon. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  5. ^ a b Wilde, Tyler (25 January 2022). "Major esports host ESL Gaming is now owned by Saudi Arabia". PC Gamer. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b Jeffrey, Rousseau (24 January 2022). "Savvy Gaming Group purchases ESL Gaming and FaceIt". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b Katharina Pencz (28 October 2015). "Phänomen E-Sport: ein neues Themengebiet für Journalisten". Fachjournalist. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  8. ^ O'Neill, Patrick Howell (25 March 2014). "IEM Katowice was highest-rated European esports event ever". Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  9. ^ Ren, Victor (10 April 2015). "Promise for esports: Record Breaking Numbers For IEM Katowice 2015". Game Skinny. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  10. ^ "MTG acquires majority stake in ESL for $86 Million". theScore. theScore. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ a b "ESL sells majority stake to MTG". HLTV.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  12. ^ "MTG to acquire the majority stake in the world's largest esports company". Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ "MTG invests in world's largest esports company ESL". Archived from the original on 1 July 2015.
  14. ^ Barker, Ian J. (17 March 2015). "ESL is bringing live esports to more than 1,500 theaters around the world". Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  15. ^ "esports in Cinema Live Event Confirmed for All Work All Play July 28 Premiere Broadcast from Cologne, Germany to over 465 European Cinemas". Reuters. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2016.[dead link‍]
  16. ^ a b Molina, Brett (25 August 2015). "Video gamers drug-tested ahead of competition". USA Today. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  17. ^ Rovell, Darren (23 July 2015). "ESL announces plans to test for PEDs". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  18. ^ Wingfield, Nick; Dougherty, Conor (23 July 2015). "Drug Testing Is Coming to E-Sports". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  19. ^ Lumb, David. "Anti-Doping Regulations Come to Esports: A Q&A With Electronic Sports League's Michal Blicharz". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  20. ^ Sarah E. Needleman (23 July 2015). "Now Coming to E-Sports: Random Drug Testing". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 3 January 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  21. ^ "Video Game League Announces Random Drug Tests For Competitors". NPR. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  22. ^ Tach, Dave (12 August 2015). "ESL adopts World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited substances list, like steroids and pot". Polygon. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  23. ^ MIRAA. "ESL One Cologne with $250,000". HLTV. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  24. ^ "ESL Announces World's Largest CS:GO Tournament This August". IGN. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  25. ^ Chalk, Andy (24 August 2015). "ESL One Cologne drug tests come up empty". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 15 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  26. ^ Mueller, Saira (22 October 2015). "esports Is Big Time: Pro Video Gaming League Eyes Global Distribution, Drug Testing". IB Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  27. ^ Wynne, Jared (26 August 2015). "ESL One Cologne pulls in $4.2 million in revenue for teams, sets viewer records". Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  28. ^ "27 Million People Watched the Biggest Counter-Strike Tournament Ever". IGN. 25 August 2015. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  29. ^ Richard Procter (14 October 2015). "Guild Wars 2 Gets Its Own Esports League". Forbes. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  30. ^ Lee, Kevin (28 March 2015). "esports: the latest 21st century phenomenon or passing fad?". TechRadar. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  31. ^ "IEM San Jose With $100K CS:GO Tournament". Domination esports. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  32. ^ Keshav (28 October 2015). "ESL confirms they're partnering with Activision for Call of Duty World League Pro Division". Charlie Intel. Archived from the original on 30 October 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  33. ^ "ESL Acquires ESEA, Largest CS:GO Platform". IGN. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  34. ^ Trevor Schmidt. "ESEA partners with IEM for CS:GO Qualifiers". ESEA. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  35. ^ "ESPORTS INTEGRITY COALITION LAUNCHED WITH IAN SMITH APPOINTED AS THE FIRST ESPORTS INTEGRITY COMMISSIONER". 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  36. ^ NikShiP (21 August 2017). "ESL partnership with Mercedes-Benz kicking off with Hamburg DOTA 2 Major | EGameTube". EGameTube. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  37. ^ "ESL and Hulu strike deal for exclusive esports content". Hulu. 9 October 2017. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  38. ^ "1xBet becomes Official Global Betting Partner for ESL Pro Tour CS:GO and ESL One Dota 2 - ESL Gaming GmbH". Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  39. ^ "ESL and Intel Celebrate 20 years of Collaboration". Intel. 28 April 2021. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  40. ^ Šimić, Ivan (24 January 2022). "ESL Gaming and FACEIT merge, companies bought by Saudi-backed group for $1.5bn". Esports Insider. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  41. ^ "Kontrola antydopingowa wkracza do e-Sportu". Miasto Gier. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  42. ^ "La montée de l'e-Sport dans le monde". Labo G4. 15 November 2014. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  43. ^ John Gaudiosi (3 July 2015). "This esports company just got acquired for $87 million". Fortune. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  44. ^ Desk, The Bridge (26 October 2021). "ISL: FSDL launches revolutionary e-sports platform eISL to reiterate youth appeal". thebridge.in. Retrieved 2 March 2022. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  45. ^ "Germany's best gamers come in Duisburg against each other". WAZ. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  46. ^ Chris Higgins (16 February 2015). "ESL reveals biggest UK tournament for CS:GO and LoL". MCV. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  47. ^ "An update on the ESL National Championships - ESL". esl.com. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  48. ^ freaks4u.com, Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH. "ALTERNATE aTTaX gewinnt Finalausgabe der ESL Meisterschaft". 99Damage.de (in German). Retrieved 2 September 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  49. ^ "ESL Pro Tour - Game Titles". www.eslgaming.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  50. ^ "Update: Much-anticipated ESL One Cologne 2020 will transition into an online event due to ongoing COVID-19 measures". www.esl-one.com. 23 July 2020. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  51. ^ "DreamLeague Season 21". hawk.live. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  52. ^ Drall, Pranjall. "ESL Announces $ 1 Million USD Prize Pool for ESL One events". GosuGamers. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  53. ^ MIRAA. "ESL One Cologne with $250,000". HLTV. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  54. ^ Striker. "ESL One Katowice with $250,000". HLTV. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  55. ^ Kim, Sovann. "ESL One 2015 announced for June 20th". GosuGamers. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  56. ^ Stacco, Dom (23 November 2022). "ESL Impact 2023 women's CSGO program and schedule revealed, including three live finals". esports-news.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  57. ^ "3 Things to Know Before Watching Intel Extreme Masters". Unikr. 21 November 2015. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  58. ^ Evan Lahti (24 July 2015). "After drug scandal, ESL says "esports needs to mature"". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  59. ^ Will M (6 March 2015). "ESL Gaming Network to use Wargaming.net Battle API". Programmable Web. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  60. ^ Chris Higgins (12 February 2015). "ESL releases matchmaking devkit to debut in WipEout spiritual successor". MCV. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  61. ^ Jeff Grubb (13 February 2015). "ESL is using its e-sports expertise to offer developers a multiplayer matchmaking tool". Venture Beat. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  62. ^ Stephany Nunneley (16 March 2016). "ESL working with Microsoft to integrate esports tournament system into Xbox Live". VG 24/7. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  63. ^ Melanie Emile (29 February 2016). "AnyKey Focuses on Supporting Diversity in Competitive Gaming". CG Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  64. ^ Linscott, Gillian (27 May 2017). "Diversity in Dota 2: Why Aren't There More Female Casters?". Esports Edition. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  65. ^ John Gaudiosi (29 February 2016). "Intel and ESL Aim for More Women in esports". Fortune. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  66. ^ Angus Morrison (28 February 2016). "ESL and Intel launch esports diversity initiative AnyKey". PCGamer. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  67. ^ Chris Higgins (29 February 2016). "ESL and Intel create AnyKey diversity program for esports". MCV. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ESL_(company)&oldid=1256253326"