ESL Partners with Plays.tv to Provide Exclusive POV Coverage of Intel® Extreme Masters

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and COLOGNE, Germany, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ESL, the world's largest esports organization, and Plays.tv, the video-sharing platform for gamers, today announced a strategic alliance that will give esports fans unprecedented access to the best of ESL's Intel® Extreme Masters in-game action. Beginning with this week's Intel Extreme Masters competition at Gamescom, ESL will for the first time capture point of view (POV) recordings (complete with player audio) of every player and make them available shortly after matches finish, exclusively on Plays.tv, thanks to the new partnership.

"We've always wanted to have POV videos available for all our competitions, but previously it just wasn't feasible. Plays.tv has made it fast and easy to capture and upload video directly from the tournament PCs and we're excited to provide esports fans with a new viewing experience," said Nik Adams, Senior Vice President, Global Sales & Business Development at ESL.  "Now, even if you followed the action live on Twitch, you'll also be able to go back and see precisely what each player was seeing and clicking on, and hear what players were saying to their teammates."

The traditional spectator-view VODs will also be available on Plays.tv first, along with exclusive highlight reels and top plays from the day's matches.  Unlike traditional replays, Plays.tv records matches in video format from a player's POV, including in-game communications and mouse-clicks, and makes them almost instantly available to be watched online, from any device.

"ESL and esports are a perfect fit on Plays.tv, which already has a large, active community of pro and amateur players," said Dennis "Thresh" Fong, founder and CEO of Plays.tv parent company Raptr and the original professional gamer. "We and ESL believe that the key to continued explosive growth of eSports is enhancing the spectator experience and creating new ways for fans to engage with the pros, and this is a big step in that direction."

To catch all the IEM action throughout the current season, follow @ESL on Plays.tv at http://plays.tv/esl.

About Plays.tv

Plays.tv is a video-sharing platform and community for gamers designed to let anyone easily capture, share and watch their favorite moments with friends. Plays.tv is owned and operated by Raptr, Inc., led by CEO and co-founder Dennis Fong. For more information about Plays.tv, please visit http://plays.tv.

About ESL

ESL is the world's largest esports company, leading the industry across various games with numerous online and offline competitions. It operates high profile, branded international and national leagues and tournaments such as the Intel® Extreme Masters, ESL One, ESL Pro Series, StarCraft® II World Championship Series, as well as grassroots amateur cups, leagues and matchmaking systems. ESL covers a broad field of services in gaming technology, event management, advertising and TV production, fully catering to the needs of the esports ecosystem. With offices in Germany, Russia, France, Poland, Spain, China, North America and partners in many other countries, it has a truly global footprint (www.eslgaming.com).

About Intel® Extreme Masters

Intel® Extreme Masters is the longest running global pro gaming tour in the world. Started in 2006 by ESL, the competition features Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, StarCraft II and League of Legends tournaments across multiple continents. ESL's online broadcast of the Intel Extreme Masters reaches over 20 million viewers on Twitch each season. www.intelextrememasters.com 

About Intel® Corporation

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world's computing devices. www.intel.com 

ESL is a copyright of Turtle Entertainment GmbH, Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation, Counter-Strike is a trademark of Valve Corporation, and StarCraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Media contacts:Plays.tvGarth Chouteau[email protected] 415-602-8147

ESLAnna Rozwandowicz[email protected] +49 177 3787070

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SOURCE Plays.tv