Today the Electronic Sports League, the leading tournament organizer in Europe, announced the launch of their American division with ESL in America. Featuring World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike 1.6, and Bomberman Online, the ESL plans to move aggressively into North America with their Extreme Masters tournament.
The ESL has built a tournament structure utilizing online events for their Master Series and Intel Extreme Masters that culminate in LAN finals, and ESL America will be the first step towards doing that for this year's Intel Extreme Masters III featuring World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike 1.6 and over $750,000 in prizes.
ESL in America, powered by Dell and Alienware.
"eSports has a long history in the United States," said Jens Hilger, founder and managing director of Turtle Entertainment, "backed by a huge audience of gamers. We believe that now is the perfect time for us to make our move into the US market. We will launch the full set of features and tournaments step by step over the next few months. Furthermore we will connect ESL America to our international tournament structure. Live events and video coverage are an essential part of our strategy and will not to be missed."
ESL Extreme Masters will begin later this year, featuring three tournaments in the United States culminating in an eventual World Finals. You can find more information on the
ESL America website.
