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On January 25 2022 09:20 Waxangel wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2022 08:44 Chris_Havoc wrote:
Considering this group is not only buying ESL but also FaceIT for an additional $500 million, means this deal is primarily about acquiring CS:GO assets and not so much about StarCraft 2.
Now how this deal affects SC2 obviously remains to be seen. Well, the 2022/23 EPT plan is already laid out, and SC2 is so minor for ESL I imagine it doesn't affect the operations of the league much at all. I think the way fans will notice it most is if random Saudi ventures (NEOM, etc) become the main sponsors of EPT and are prominently displayed/ads played every break. Mind you, this is just talking about how it might affect ESL SC2 in practical terms, not the underlying issue of principle.
The question is, what happens after Katowice 2023.
Does ESL pull out of SC2 Esports altogether and go all in on CS:GO using the combined power of IEM, Dreamhack, FaceIT, and ESEA similar to how MLG tried (and failed) to monopolize Call of Duty Esports from 2013-2015? It's a possible scenario.
Honestly, as long as Carmac, Apollo, and Heyoka remain with ESL I wouldn't worry much about StarCraft 2's future with ESL.
As far as the underlying political issues and fallout from this is concerned, I am not going to wade into that topic.
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On January 25 2022 07:22 Waxangel wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2022 07:13 Nakajin wrote:
Saudi Arabians becoming the main international diffusers of a game based on killing generic turban-weering middle-estern terrorist fighting the West is a trully facinating exemple of the mind-bogling realities of modern international capitalism.
But past the irony, not sure I like it for SC2, I'd preffer if no one looked to closely at us. Were there old versions of CS where the terrorists were stereotype middle-eastern? From what I've played of CSGO and source, it seemed like that was avoided pretty intentionally.
Dust 2 and Mirage (the most popular maps) have sterotypical looking mid-east terrorists, but there are diff maps with diff terrorists like mirage with euroterrorists
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Northern Ireland25630 Posts
Not as conflicted with this as regime money in sports, I assume they’re in it merely as a business venture to make money, rather than throwing money at prominent sports teams as a PR exercise
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totally unexpected, what the fuck..
wondering if it will have any impact on the competitive e-sport scene..
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South Korea2105 Posts
time for microsoft to dust that mlg they just bought?
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On January 25 2022 16:31 Ziggy wrote:
time for microsoft to dust that mlg they just bought?
That would be nice, Microsoft Macrohard.
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Really sour taste in the mouth with this one. I won't be able to support ESL as an organisation anymore. Of course the every day crew who have been working there and have no involvement in deals like this still have my respect.
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I'm hardly an expert on Saudi law, but my understanding of the state of gay and trans rights there is that a number of prominent members of this community would be at risk of being jailed and beaten if they were to set foot in Saudi Arabia. Having that government owning our premier tournament series is seriously troubling.
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According to xiaose of the Chinese caster duo scboy, this Saudi group is owned by a prince who is a dota2 fan, and one of the owner of DPG know him and played games together before.
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France12891 Posts
Unexpected news but idk what is gonna come out of it
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Truly disgusting news... these evil klerofascists are putting their dirty paws on everything that once made western culture great. I used to play a watch football alot, stopped playing due to age and injuries, stopped watching due to investment news like this one.
Goodbye ESL.
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On January 25 2022 20:28 killtech8080 wrote:
Truly disgusting news... these evil klerofascists are putting their dirty paws on everything that once made western culture great. I used to play a watch football alot, stopped playing due to age and injuries, stopped watching due to investment news like this one.
Goodbye ESL.
Wow nice first post. Welcome to TL.
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Czech Republic12129 Posts
On January 25 2022 18:22 AmericanUmlaut wrote:
I'm hardly an expert on Saudi law, but my understanding of the state of gay and trans rights there is that a number of prominent members of this community would be at risk of being jailed and beaten if they were to set foot in Saudi Arabia. Having that government owning our premier tournament series is seriously troubling.
I wanted to reply with a sarcastic comment about US but then I realized I don't know any gay or trans SC2 progamer(I'm not saying they don't exist, just that I don't know who they are ). I've always considered this to be a personal information I shouldn't care about... anyway, I hope there won't be any issues.
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On January 25 2022 21:28 deacon.frost wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2022 18:22 AmericanUmlaut wrote:
I'm hardly an expert on Saudi law, but my understanding of the state of gay and trans rights there is that a number of prominent members of this community would be at risk of being jailed and beaten if they were to set foot in Saudi Arabia. Having that government owning our premier tournament series is seriously troubling. I wanted to reply with a sarcastic comment about US but then I realized I don't know any gay or trans SC2 progamer(I'm not saying they don't exist, just that I don't know who they are ). I've always considered this to be a personal information I shouldn't care about... anyway, I hope there won't be any issues.
3 trans/gay/bi SC2 personalities come to my mind imediatly
(At least one of them is retired allready though)
Probably there are even more Who didn t disclose it.
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They might have disclosed it, but that doesnt mean everybody knows about it. This topic doesnt come often during streams from events.
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great another instances of Blood money of a corrupt State trying its best to appease people by pumping money into it.
The fact that people have forgotten that the Saudi Crown Prince, and everybody linked to this "Royal" family, were linked to the killing and dismembering of a journalist but applauding when the same people put money into eSport or Soccer or anything PR related is mind boggling
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Czech Republic12129 Posts
On January 25 2022 21:55 Silvanel wrote:
They might have disclosed it, but that doesnt mean everybody knows about it. This topic doesnt come often during streams from events.
IMO it shouldn't, feels to me like it would an intrusion into their privacy.
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On January 25 2022 21:28 deacon.frost wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2022 18:22 AmericanUmlaut wrote:
I'm hardly an expert on Saudi law, but my understanding of the state of gay and trans rights there is that a number of prominent members of this community would be at risk of being jailed and beaten if they were to set foot in Saudi Arabia. Having that government owning our premier tournament series is seriously troubling. I wanted to reply with a sarcastic comment about US but then I realized I don't know any gay or trans SC2 progamer(I'm not saying they don't exist, just that I don't know who they are ). I've always considered this to be a personal information I shouldn't care about... anyway, I hope there won't be any issues.
There's one in the Oceania scene (I want to say Probe, but am not sure), but Scarlett is the one that immediately comes to mind...
Ontopic: just as I deplore the oil states buying up football clubs, I deplore this as well. But I can't really blame the ESL owners/investors for selling the org for 1billion dollars. It's an absurd amount. I want to think about how that meeting went:
"Saudi investors said they are interested in buying ESL"
"Errr... no. KSA are awful, and sportswashing their nation with eSports is not something we should support"
"Agreed. Lets tell them we'll sell for 1billion dollars. No way they go for that, and we don't look like haters"
"Good idea"
...
"Guys, they said yes"
"Well shit. But at least we'll be rolling in cash"
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EPT
