From April 8 – 14, global esports tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), part of Savvy Games Group, hosted its flagship esports competition – Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) in Chengdu, China. Held in Chengdu Financial City Art Centre and in conjunction with Chinese tournament organizer VSPO, over 8,000 attendees witnessed the U.S. esports organization FaZe Clan hoist its first IEM trophy this year, taking home $100K USD in prize money and qualifying for IEM Cologne 2024, often referred to as the “Cathedral of Counter-Strike.”
The IEM Chengdu 2024 is China’s first Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) event after Valve upgraded the game from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). It’s also a major business return for IEM and EFG, as the company has not hosted any esports events in the region over the past five years.
“It has been nearly five years since we’ve been in China, many of our staff come to China for their first time,” Marc Winther, head of game ecosystems-Counter-Strike at EFG, told The Esports Advocate. “We had a plan to return to China in 2020, but the pandemic put a stop to all international events and travel. Today is really the first time we are able to bring IEM into China, and we are really happy about it.”
It should be noted that Chengdu was actually the first stop for EFG in IEM China’s history. EFG has been running esports events in China for the last 15 years, ever since the IEM Chengdu 2009, back when ESL was called the “Electronic Sports League.” Winther also attended the IEM IV 15 years ago as a reporter for HLTV (An esports outlet that focuses on CS events).
“Let’s take a time machine back just give me a second,” The Esports Advocate showed Winther a picture from 2009 and he recalled the event and shared his thoughts about industry changes in the past 15 years:
“The vast difference is how the esports industry has grown in the last 15 years. The picture shows that the space was quite small, and now we are hosting events in an arena with thousands of live audiences. The industry also created various jobs for different teams and players. It becomes more and more professional.”
As for sponsorships and partnerships, alongside long-term IEM series chief partner Intel, EFG brought ten brands to the event: international shipping company DHL, energy drink Monster, computer brand Predator, the U.S. Air Force, betting outlet 1XBET, CS2 digital trade market White Market, local night club and restaurant INS, Culture Club, Radi, and KEZEE. It should be noted that VSPO founder and CEO Dino Ying owns INS, Culture Club, Radi, and KEZEE. The entertainment complex INS is located in Shanghai and will also open soon in Chengdu.
Looking at the brand activations, Intel, DHL, and Monster Energy set up booths alongside the venue. In addition, Chinese fans can also buy ESL branded merchandise and team jerseys at the ESL Shop.
The Monster Energy booth featured a sampling bar where fans could grab their preferred drink. The DHL booth had screens on which attendees could play games. DHL and the host of the main event also invited attendees to play some games. Attendees who played the game received a DHL gift box.
The Intel booth showcased not only Predator’s gaming laptops and computers, but also other brands like Razer, Jing Dong Esports, and Micro-Star International. Fans are invited to try out the latest games and hardware here.
An Intel staff at the booth who wished not to be identified told The Esports Advocate that Intel provides over 400 PCs with high-end configurations to EFG for the IEM series. He also mentioned that as a global chip provider, Intel positioned a connector between PC brands and esports tournament organizers.
During the event, The Esports Advocate also discovered that executives from Tencent, NetEase, Moonton, Perfect World, Snapdragon, and Chengdu-based esports organization All Gamers (AG) also attended and discussed esports business and potential deals at the event. An open space for all game publishers and esports organizations can be an advantage of a third-party tournament in China, as most esports events in China are directly operated by game publishers.
Editor’s note: following the publication of the story, TEA learned that another CS2 tournament, CS Asia Championships 2023, took place at the end of 2023, so it is technically the first CS2 event in China’s history. Nevertheless, IEM Chengdu is the first major CS2 event in China for 2024, and is also the most watched in China, according to Escharts.com:
