The Cologne-based Esports organiser Electronic Sports League, or ESL for short, has been sold to a sovereign wealth fund from Saudi Arabia. The organiser is merging with competitor FACEIT.
The Electronic Sports League (ESL) is considered the world market leader for esport events and competitions. Originally from Cologne, this company is particularly known for its CS:GO and Dota 2 events. Tournaments like the IEM Katowice shaped the esports landscape. Now, big changes are coming to the organiser.
ESL and FACEIT bought
ESL has been sold to Savvy Gaming Group (SGG) for a billion dollars. This is a company set up by investment funds from the government of Saudi Arabia. But not only ESL was bought out, but also FACEIT, a London-based organiser of esports competitions. In total, Saudi Arabia is investing 1.5 billion dollars in the industry. The two organisers will now be united under the Savvy Gaming Group.
ESL 🤝 FACEIT
Esports is about starting your own path, challenging your game, and becoming a world champion one day. This is at the core of what FACEIT and ESL have built independently; until now. We are teaming up.
Read about our shared vision here: https://t.co/ZAPdLr9AhZ pic.twitter.com/O9H34vh1fD
– ESL (@ESL) January 24, 2022
The ESL regularly hosted well-known events in CS:GO and Dota 2, as well as the ESL Pro League, Intel Extreme Masters and ESL One. FACEIT is also a leading organiser for titles such as CS:GO and Rainbow Six Siege. Current executives Craig Levine and Niccolo Maisto are to remain the heads of the company. ESL’s co-founder Ralf Reichert will now be the company’s chief executive officer.
Commenting on the decision, Niccolo Maisto said, “By uniting these complementary skills and with the support of SGG, we are taking a long-term approach to developing a more robust platform that can better support the future of the entire competitive gaming ecosystem and generate more value for all stakeholders in a sustainable way.”
Savvy Game Group is currently led by former Activision director Brian Ward. SGG is said to be keen to put more resources into the growing Esports scene. With this mega-deal they could definitely underpin the ambitions.
