Esports World Cup 2025: Inside EFG's Hybrid Production

Esports World Cup 2025: Inside EFG's Hybrid Production For the complex operation, the emphasis was on scale, integration, localization' By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor

Thursday, August 14, 2025 - 10:43 am

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The Olympics of the esports universe are heading into the final stretch. Concluding on Aug. 24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Esports World Cup, which began July 8, has featured competitions around two dozen gaming titles and a total prize totaling more than $70 million. To produce the eight-week event, ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), Official Operating Partner of EWC, deployed a hybrid model combining baseband workflows with ST 2110 architecture.

Describing the Esports World Cup 2025 as merely large' would be an understatement, says George Cristian Ciobanu, head of broadcast engineering, MEA, ESL FACEIT Group, which handled the production. This year's event represents the culmination of over four years of continuous iteration.

The event launched in 2022 as Gamers8 and was rebranded in 2024 as the Esports World Cup, with each festival expanding in scale, technical depth and creative ambition, he says. What began as an ambitious esports festival has evolved into the most complex and prestigious esports broadcast ever staged.

Performers kicked off the opening ceremony for the FC Pro 25 World Championship at the Esports World Cup. Team Liquid's Manuel ManuBachoore Bachoore eventually defeated Team Vitality's Brice Brice Masson.

This year's EWC, he explains, adopted a hybrid production model that combines traditional baseband workflows with modern SMPTE ST 2110 IP architecture. It has two main server rooms as the key control points of the complex operation, which comprises several buildings housing stages, analyst studios, production galleries, and technical areas.

Global Distribution to 100+ Platforms in Three Primary Languages The distribution model combined public internet and multi-cloud, with points across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, North America, Latin America, and Asia Pacific and Japan. In total, the network enabled live-content delivery to 100-plus platforms and partners globally. Ciobanu notes that numerous elements of the broadcast were fully developed in-house but the host broadcast was delivered in close partnership with NEP, which provided key infrastructure and operational support.

For the host broadcast, NEP served as EFG's main production partner to broadcast each stage in English and Arabic. There were four feed variations to support the event's different commercial obligations. A full SMPTE ST 2110 system was installed following the general distribution plans.

In addition, NEP managed about 1,500 video signals across the entire production. The distribution infrastructure was built on an IP fabric featuring Cisco spine architecture. It was managed through NEP's own TFC broadcast-orchestration platform.

EFG's custom-built systems powered the in-game production for the 25 gaming titles via the EVS DYVI vision mixer, and API-driven automations created real-time graphics triggers and automated player-camera switching. The internal broadcast-development team also provided real-time data to manage stage lighting and special effects and to translate gameplay moments into synchronized visual effects on LED screens.

Magnus Carlsen beat Alireza Firouzja to claim the first-ever Chess title at the Esports World Cup.

Grass Valley K-Frame XP switchers served as the central hub for vision mixing. Replays and highlights operations were handled by 32 EVS XT3 and VIA servers. An additional 15 EVS XT3/XT4K units were dedicated to managing time-delay requirements. The Chinese-language production line was managed remotely from Shanghai by Hero Esports, which handled switching, commentary, local graphics, and media-content adaptation in real time using the host broadcast provided by the master control in Saudi Arabia.

The event has 15 fully operational onsite production lines and seven remote workflows running concurrently at peak times. There have been four main stages and three secondary stages for the competitions, with content distributed in English, Arabic, and Chinese as the primary languages. Additionally, there's been support for other in-demand regional languages based on each game title.

Achieving this level of customized output, says Ciobanu, required meticulous planning and a deep commitment to creating tailored broadcast experiences that respect the identity and pacing of each individual game title. It was, by every measure, a logistical and creative feat on a scale previously unseen in competitive gaming.

The overall scope of the event expanded significantly from 2024 to 2025, with more game titles, a fourth main stage, and the introduction of Chinese as a primary broadcast language. EFG created 15 analysts and 18 caster studios, which operated across Riyadh and Shanghai to support multilingual coverage.

Another modification for 2025 is an enhanced Totem area, where winning teams walk to the Totem and insert their key to mark a victory. Now a dedicated area, Ciobanu notes, it has become one of the defining visual elements of the Club Championship.

This new setup, he continues, allowed for more-dramatic staging and camera coverage, turning what was already a meaningful ritual into a powerful, broadcast-driven celebration of each title winner.

Crowds watch a match between Fnatic and Team Heretics at the STC Esports Arena during the Esports World Cup.

From a camera and technical perspective, the EWC was covered by one of the largest camera setups ever for an esports event, according to Ciobanu. EFG deployed 160 OBSBOT Tail 2 POV cameras to capture close-up moments from players and coaches. Additionally, 80 broadcast cameras (GV LDX150 an

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