ESL Vice President Michal “Carmac” Bliharz gave an interview to HLTV in the middle of this week, talking about the merger of ESL and FACEIT and what the future holds for the company. On Monday it became known that both organizations were purchased by Savvy Gaming Group – a large company from Saudi Arabia.
Commenting on this event, Carmac noted that from an organizational point of view, the unification looks quite logical: all tools and resources, from anti-cheat programs to competition organizing platforms, become part of a single ecosystem, which is easier to develop. At the same time, the creation of the ESL FACEIT Group does not at all mean that the company will become a monopolist in organizing tournaments: Valve has always supported an open market and the creation of an environment in which different organizers can act on equal terms. In addition, Carmac believes that ESL lags behind other organizers such as BLAST in a number of ways, and the company will have to work hard to make up for this gap.
One of the fundamental innovations will be a change in the selection system for the two most prestigious events of the year – IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne. Now participants will be determined not by the number of ESL Pro Tour points, but by results in the ESL Pro Tour Masters competitions and place in the ESL world ranking. This will make the format more understandable for viewers. In addition, in the future, the selection may begin to take into account the results of competitions that are held outside the ESL system.
At the same time, the values that the company follows will remain unchanged. Blicharz puts it this way: “It will still be the same ESL and FACEIT, and if this is not so, then the blame for this will undoubtedly fall on us.”
