Why — and how — ESL/FACEIT Group is spinning up its own esports streaming platform

As esports companies large and small look to monetize more effectively, one of the industry’s leading league operators is standing up its own livestreaming service in a bid to capture eyeballs — and ad dollars — from the space’s pre-existing players.

ESL/FACEIT Group, the Germany-based, Saudi Arabian-owned esports giant, launched its streaming platform, FACEIT Watch, on Feb. 8. The service comes loaded with a suite of relatively in-depth viewing tools, including multi-perspective viewing featuring the points of view of active players, a kill cam and a custom sound mixer.

EFG’s streaming platform is one of the first attempts by a major esports league operator to create a livestreaming product independent of competitors such as Twitch and YouTube. In 2019, Riot Games partnered with broadcast company Znipe Esports to develop Pro View, another in-depth streaming service sold as a premium subscription product, but the company sunsetted Pro View in 2022. EFG has similarly partnered with Znipe to launch FACEIT Watch — but unlike Riot’s past experiment, FACEIT Watch is free to use.

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