SVG Esports Production Summit Brings Industry Leaders Together as the Sector Undergoes Drastic Change By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Thursday, November 16, 2023 - 4:00 pm
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The SVG Esports Production Summit returned to Los Angeles on Thursday for its sixth-annual edition, drawing more than 225 industry leaders to the Sheraton Universal Hotel for a full day dedicated to the philosophy and technology behind esports storytelling.
In addition to a keynote presentation from burgeoning esports giant ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), the Summit took attendees behind the scenes of both major events like The International and smaller, community-fueled tournaments. In addition, panels explored new remote-production workflows, the latest technological developments, the integral role of observers in a live production, the in-venue fan experience, and more.
More than 225 industry leaders were in attendance at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles.
While the overall esports sector is undergoing a market correction of late, the total number of event productions is up and viewership remains high. StreamHatchet reported that fans watched 7.6 billion hours in 2023 Q3 - almost equal to peak pandemic numbers in 2020 and 90% more than Q3 2019. During his welcoming remarks, SVG Esports Production Advisory Committee Chairman Joseph Lynch offered up plenty of reason for optimism in 2024 and beyond.
This event opens up a lot of doors and conversations; it's a place where we can all come together and talk about ideas and technology in a safe environment, said Lynch, who serves as EA's Group Director of Esports Content and Programming. It's been quite astounding to see how this event has evolved from its beginning. When we first started, there was a lot of explanation to the industry about what esports was and what we do, but we've moved beyond that. Now, we're at the point where we're talking to colleagues and other [esports production] professionals about the blocking and tackling of producing events and using real-world examples to explain what we do and how we do it.
I'm excited for this year's conference because we are taking a new approach, adding new voices, and have new topics to discuss, he continued. And the format is going to lend itself to greater insights into some world class productions.
ESL FACEIT Group: How an Esports Production Giant Came to Be The opening keynote conversation went inside the rapidly growing esports-production operations of ESL FACEIT Group, which was formed by Savvy Games Group last year after it acquired ESL and FACEIT in hopes of creating an esports powerhouse. Since then EFG has continued to add key acquisitions (including Vindex and Esports Engine) to its portfolio to create one of the largest esports ecosystems on the planet.
EFG's Senior Director of Broadcast and Production Andrew Lane, Director of Festival Operations Guillermo Parga, and Esports Engine Co-Founder and Chief Production Officer Ryan Thompson provided a deep dive into the company's sprawling production and broadcast operations across the globe and how they pull off major events including DreamHack, ESL Pro Tour, Intel Extreme Masters, and More.
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The Esports Production Spectrum: From Major Championships to Community-Based Events The keynote was followed by a pair of back-to-back sessions that focused on large-scale major-championship productions and smaller-scale community-based events, respectively.
From The International to LoL Worlds to CS:GO Major Championships and beyond, esports boasts some of the largest annual live-event productions of any kind. Lynch joined PGL Esports Broadcast Producer Sebastian Honciuc and Esports Engine Senior Director of UK Operations Paul Kent for a behind-the-scenes look at the live-production workflows to deliver these elite events to thousands of fans onsite and millions more across the globe.
While major tournaments may grab the headlines, the majority of the live productions currently being done today are smaller-scale, grass-roots events that resonate with passionate, often niche communities. Whether it's a LAN event or online play, these productions require a very different toolset than large-scale events and often feature the integration of co-streamers and influencers. ADNVCR's EVP of North America Wade Beckett , Optic Gaming's Executive Director Corey Dunn, and Esports Arena's Founder/CEO Tyler Endres provided an inside look at how these shows are pulled off.
A Packed Afternoon of Esports Production: REMI, New Tech, Observing, and the In-Venue Experience In order to confront the realities of today's esports market, live productions are increasingly being forced to find more efficient, cost-effective ways to get the job done. After lunch, a panel entitled The REMI Reality: Creating More Efficient and Cost-Effective Esports Productions took an in-depth look at how this is being done. The panel, which was moderated by CBS Sports' Corey Smith, featured Appear's Geoff Bowen, Riot Games' Allyson Gormley, OS Studios' Lydia Pendergrass, OpenDrives' Andr Rievers, and The Switch's JD Wu.
PGL's Sebastian Honciuc and Esports Engine's Paul Kent joined EA's Joe Lynch for a discussion about producing major championships and large-scale events.
No live-production sector has pushed the boundaries of technology over the past decade more than esports when it comes to creating a unique fan experience. From virtual production and augmented reality to AI and machine learning and beyond, esports productions are always looking to embrace the latest and greatest tech. Riot Games', Esports Engine's Randell (Guru) Hammond, Pixotope's Andy Smith, and Panasonic's Keith Vidger discussed today's
