The Future of eSports
by JR Cook - 10 years ago show comments
In a major announcement today, ESL, the largest and oldest eSports organization out of Cologne, Germany; has revealed plans to build a studio in Los Angeles. They are also acquiring long-standing partner eSports Services or ESS. They will host their first production in April. The Los Angeles studio is not only a top notch studio, but will also have the capability to broadcast high-quality eSports productions in front of hundreds of live audience guests. The venue is a whopping 7,000 square foot facility fully stocked with high performance computers and equipment on par with the ESL studios in Germany. ESL will have two US offices. One office will be in Los Angeles and one in New York City.
“We have known the ESS team for over 10 years and we are excited to have them on board. Los Angeles, with its long history of being the best place to produce AAA content, was a natural choice of location for our new studio,” said the ESL Managing Directors Ralf Reichert and Heinrich Zetlmayer. “Having a permanent team and brand new facilities at the heart of America’s entertainment industry is an incredible milestone on our journey to deliver what ESL is best at – amazing gaming experience.”
ESS is key to ESL’s expansion into the US. ESS was founded in 2006 and has a long, successful eSports history. They have worked with and for most major publishers in North America. “We are excited to join the ESL family and launch ESL America to bring the suite of globally recognized ESL products, world class gaming events, and high quality broadcast productions to North America,” said the President of ESS Han Park. “With the building of a full production broadcast studio in the US, ESL will be established as the premier gaming content provider on a global scale for publishers, sponsors, and eSports fans and players.”
ESL hopes to extend their presence in the US, making the studio a home to the most exciting regular eSports activities on North American soil. More news related to ESL’s American operations will be announced in the coming days. This is certainly exciting for us to hear! With Starcraft 2’s popularity in the eSports arena and Hearthstone kicking off so well, we can only be excited by what the future holds. We, of course, cannot forget Heroes of the Storm. True, Heroes is only in Tech Alpha, but from what we’ve seen so far; I think we can safely say that eSports will become even more of a feature here in North America. What are your thoughts on the future of eSports?
Send us your comments and we will certainly have more coverage of ESL and their new studio.
