A Monumental Unity!?

Background:

Two of the biggest gaming organizers in the esports industry are ESL and Dreamhack, as of this past week, they will be united in one. These two giants have merged to create and funnel their resources towards a singular mission. From the statement, it was said that their goal is; “to shape the future of esports and gaming – and to create a world where everybody can truly be somebody.” It sounds as if they will not be focusing on just the gaming component of the industry either, they will be heavily invested in everything from fan festivals to gaming conventions and everything in between, as long as the common denominator involves gaming. One aspect of this mergence that will make it so great is that neither entity needs the other to flourish. There will be no name change from either ESL or Dreamhack but they will be operated under the same leadership going forth while working towards the same goal. Both companies have each hosted events for some of the biggest game titles in the past, so teaming up will be wonderful for their audiences.

ESL:

ESL is coming off one of it’s best years yet, finishing with 9.5 million total users registered on ESL Play as well as 170% growth in their tournament and league audience viewership. They have clearly been thriving, this industry is booming and only on the rise. ESL even had one of their tournaments reach 54 million watch hours, this is incredible! They have also partnered with some of the world’s biggest brands, some of them being; McDonalds, Pepsi, AT&T, and Mercedes Benz.

Here are some of ESL’s organizer statistics for a look at how influential they are within the gaming world; their total prize pool sits at $28,695,787, their peak viewership is 1,205,103, they have a total of 373,687,349 hours watched and have overseen 284 tournaments! ESL is a huge staple within the gaming community.

Dreamhack:

Dreamhack is a Swedish company that was founded in 1994, with many of their events taking place throughout Europe, but not all of them. Dreamhack’s event list is expansive, they are incredibly diverse when it comes to their organizing, from hosting festivals to tournaments. Luckily enough, thry have been able to carry out many of their scheduled tournaments in Europe this year, due to Covid-19 not being as wide-spread in Europe as of recently. Many of their events they had planned to carry out in America this year were postponed or canceled though unfortunately enough but don’t be sad, they’ll surely be back in 2021 with some amazing events!

Here are some statistics to give you an idea about just how massive Dreamhack’s influence is; their peak viewership number sits at 475,236, and they have a total of 203,432,688 hours watched as well. They also have 5,930 air time hours and a total prize pool of $14,348,017!

The numbers for Dreamhack and ESL are so big they are tongue-twisters! It will be amazing to see what both of these incredible groups can create now under the same management.

Here are the links to the official statements that released regarding the mergence if you’d like to check them out:

https://www.eslgaming.com/article/one-passion-many-worlds-next-chapter-esl-dreamhack-4373