Adam Apicella announced Thursday that he is joining the ESL FACEIT Group as senior vice president of esports for North America, effective immediately. Apicella left Esports Engine (a company he led as a co-founder and president) when parent company Vindex was sold to ESL FACEIT Group in March 2023.
In a social media post Apicella said that after more than 20+ years being a peer or ESL executives, he was becoming a colleague:
“After 20+ years as a peer, I’m excited to share that I’m joining ESL FACEIT Group – EFG. Thank you to Craig Levine, Niccolo Maisto, and Sebastian Weishaar for the opportunity to join the team and continue our shared ambition of building the gaming and esports space for our communities and customers. GGs.”
While Apicella did say that he would emphatically take the reins of what remains of the Esports Engine team in North America, it is assumed that he will in fact handle competitions and stakeholders in the region, many of which moved on to BLAST following EFG’s acquisition.
On X/Twitter, Apicella said the following:
“Happy to share that I’m re-entering the space with the ESL FACEIT Group. Stoked to be rejoining former teammates & getting the chance to work w/ peers I’ve known for 20+years. I’m excited to get back to building opportunities for communities, players, & our publishing partners.”
The news is a bit surprising, as the exit from Esports Engine was not considered an amicable one due to the nature of the sale of the company to ESL FACEIT Group. The Esports Advocate chronicled the deal in June of this year in an exclusive report.
ESL FACEIT Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group—which in turn is owned by the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund and its Chairman of the board is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler HRH Crown Prince MBS. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, Esports Engine, competition platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack.