Cologne. 2nd of September – ESL, the world’s largest esports company, today announces the forming of a strategic joint venture together with Chinese game live streaming platform HUYA inc. to bring ESL’s global competitions to China. After entering a binding term sheet, HUYA will invest into ESL, a MTG portfolio company.

HUYA is a leading game live streaming platform in China with a large and active game live streaming community. The forming of a joint venture between ESL and HUYA creates a natural alliance to facilitate the expansion of ESL’s offering in the Chinese market. Both partners will build local Chinese esports competitions connected to the global ESL tournament calendar to ensure maximum Chinese esports athlete participation on a global scale. ESL has recently announced their first standalone tournament in China: IEM Beijing.

“When we founded ESL almost 20 years ago, we wanted to bring esports to fans all around the world and establish it as a global sport,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO at ESL. “Our cooperation with HUYA, the largest esports media in China, will allow us to bring our global properties and content to China while enabling the best players from China qualifying to the biggest global ESL tournaments. What an exciting prospect.”

“We are pleased to establish a close partnership with ESL, which demonstrates Huya’s further penetration into the global esports sector. Together with ESL, we are thrilled to bring more world class global esports content to Chinese gaming enthusiasts,” says Rongjie Dong, Chief Executive Officer of Huya. 

Under the terms of the agreement, HUYA will become a minority shareholder in ESL and start a Joint Venture in China together.