Esports Competitions at ESL’s 2017 Events to be Livestreamed in VR
Wonderworld VR, the leading VR esports development and production studio, and ESL, the world’s largest esports company, announced today a partnership in which ESL’s major events will be livestreamed in immersive 360° VR. Intel® Extreme Masters Sydney, the inaugural event for IEM Season 12 that will be held May 6-7, is the next event set to broadcast in VR featuring an in-arena VR experience to give viewers the best seat in the house from every angle.
Wonderworld VR and ESL have worked together for over a year to integrate VR broadcasts into esports events. Wonderworld VR has already introduced this technology at ESL One New York in 2016, where the VR broadcast gave fans from all over the world a taste of the live event atmosphere and the ability to browse through stats, scores and replays in real-time. The popularity and engagement of VR broadcasts have been growing steadily, with ESL registering triple-digit percentage increase in viewership and engagement event-on-event.
“Wonderworld VR has demonstrated a strong ability in delivering a flawless live camera stream, as well as creating a solid foundation for driving the whole production,” said Stuart Ewen, Product Manager at ESL. “We look forward to continue offering premium experiences for our audiences, including innovative and unique VR broadcast features, throughout the duration of 2017 and beyond.”
Simon Romanus, Founder and CEO of Wonderworld VR commented, “We are thrilled to be able to build on the ESL relationship. There are millions of esports fans out there that deserve the opportunity to be part of the action during the big arena events, even if they can’t physically be there. In live VR, we give audiences an extraordinary experience that will bring them closer to the players, in addition to exclusive backstage and behind-the-scenes access that isn’t accessible to live visitors. We also want to build a relationship with brands and give them an opportunity to be a part of VR and esports. With our creative production, we will bring the whole essence of competitive gaming into the future.”