MLG, ESL and DreamHack team up to drive eSport popularity

Written by David Hing

November 16, 2012 | 08:06

Tags: #esl #league-of-legends #starcraft-2

Companies: #dreamhack #esports #mlg

Major League Gaming (MLG), Electronic Sports League (ESL) and DreamHack have joined forces to help boost the popularity of eSports.

The three eSport-organising giants will co-ordinate their tournament activity for the rest of 2012 and in 2013's upcoming season.

This united front includes implementing a universal ranking system for all the major tournament titles to allow for consistent seeding and event qualification and a single calendar to minimise conflicts and ensure that player or fan schedules are not too hectic. A single competition structure across all tournaments will also be put in place.

'The growth of competitive gaming over the last few years has been staggering and we have now reached the point where we need to align our efforts to advance eSports on a global scale,' said MLG chief executive and co-founder Sundance DiGiovanni. 'The collaboration between our organisations is the first step in a united effort to take the sport to the next level while benefiting all of those involved.'

The partnership will also bring together the three organisations' marketing efforts and involve cross promotion and support for all of the leagues and will share a roster of commentators.

'DreamHack’s philosophy has always been about inclusion and never exclusion,' said DreamHack chief executive Robert Ohlén. 'This joint initiative by MLG, ESL and DreamHack is something that will insure the continued growth of eSports that we have been seeing during the past 24 months, for the players, the audience and the industry as a whole.'

Within the eSports community, mutterings have been made that Starcraft 2 is declining in popularity with League of Legends rising to take its place. Last month, professional Korean team SlayerS, founded by infamous Starcraft legend Lim "Boxer" Yo Hwan, announced its disbandment with three of the team's high profile members also announcing they were quitting Starcraft 2 to compete in League of Legends instead.

As a whole however, eSports to appear to still be growing in popularity. Earlier this year, MLG boasted that its Anaheim Spring Championship tournament drew in more than 1.35 million viewers in a single day.
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