Cologne / New York / Stockholm — ESL, the world’s largest esports company, and DreamHack, the premier gaming lifestyle festival, today announced they have merged organizations to further accelerate their mission to shape the future of esports and gaming. This combines some of esports’ greatest competitions, unique gaming lifestyle festivals and online competitive platforms with an organization that maximizes the value of these properties for gamers, brands and publishers worldwide. Together as ESL Gaming, DreamHack and ESL will push forward new innovations to serve fans and communities across events, platforms, formats and game titles — from casual to professional levels — in every region around the world. This new structure is effective immediately, and the combined company will be led by ESL Gaming Co-CEOs Craig Levine and Ralf Reichert.
Creating the best gaming lifestyle experiences, and the most professional and legendary competitive experiences for players and fans alike, are at the heart of both ESL and DreamHack. “Through maximum cooperation and collaboration, and the melding of some of the best creative and visionary gaming minds in the industry, we will, together, continue to advance the innovation that drives this space via the most exceptional products and events”, said ESL Gaming Co-CEO Craig Levine. “For our partners, there will be more opportunities to engage with us through a wider range of activations across all levels of esports, and all aspects of gaming. And for our fans, it means we will offer one of the most expansive esports and gaming lifestyle portfolios available.”
Esports, and the gaming lifestyle in general, is a dynamic space serving more than 500 million esports enthusiasts, a multi-billion dollar industry, and approximately 2.6 billion potential gamers, according to the latest data from Newzoo (source). By combining forces, ESL and DreamHack will have expanded flexibility and skills to continue meeting the ever-changing desires, demands and needs of its fans, community, players and partners while connecting with this broader audience.
“DreamHack has always brought communities together and created the ultimate gaming lifestyle experience for our fans all around the world. This will not change — but by combining our resources with ESL, we can continue to grow these events into something even more spectacular. Whether first-timers or long-term attendees, we have always offered something for everyone by featuring everything gaming under one roof,” said DreamHack Co-CEO Marcus Lindmark. “With ESL, we will be able to offer a more tailored approach for both our community and our partners across all regions through an array of gaming and esports opportunities, all while creating impactful and memorable experiences. The future of gaming is now, and we are excited to create the future together.”
For more information, please visit about.eslgaming.com, or follow ESL Gaming and DreamHack.
