In 2016 SLIVER.tv raised $6.2 million USD to promote eSports in virtual reality (VR), going on to partner with ESL to cover Counter-strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and League of Legends (LoL). Today the VR specialist has announced a broad-reaching 2017 partnership with ESL and DreamHack, which will see the company broadcast 14 tournaments this year.
ESL’s events like ESL One and the Intel Extreme Masters series, DreamHack’s DreamLeague, DreamHack ASTRO Open and DreamHack Masters bring together the best eSports teams and players in the world, for competitive games of CS:GO, LoL and Dota 2.
Over the past three months SLIVER.tv has been beta testing its VR Live Cast tournament platform in collaboration with ESL, at events such as ESL One New York and Intel Extreme Masters. Using the company’s patented Virtual Camera array technology, spectators can step into and experience top flight eSports games in fully immersive 360-degrees. Most recently, the IEM event in Oakland drew over 130,000 unique viewers across SLIVER.tv’s web 360, mobile and VR apps platform claims the company.
Mitch Liu, founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv, said in a statement: “We are thrilled to be working closely with two of the largest esports tourney organizers in the world in 2017. Our vision is to forever transform the esports spectating experience by providing new perspectives and insights into live esports streams. In partnering with ESL and DreamHack across these 14 global events, we have the opportunity to showcase our 360 virtual reality, live replays and stats technology to millions of esports fans worldwide.”
“Our partnership with SLIVER.tv at ESL One New York and IEM Oakland last year exceeded our expectations, and our fans, teams and players were blown away by the first-ever live broadcast of CS:GO and League of Legends in VR,” said Stuart Ewen, Product Manager of ESL. “We are delighted to partner with SLIVER.tv this year across 7 events starting with Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, Poland where in 2016 we saw over 100,000 attendees and nearly two million peak concurrent online viewers. With the help of SLIVER.tv we hope 2017 will be even bigger and better.”
The full rundown of events and dates can be found below. To watch any of SLIVER.tv’s events, visit the company’s website or download the SLIVER.tv app for Android and iOS to view in 360 video or on Google Cardboard. For the best experience, download the app for Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
SLIVER.tv – DreamHack 2017 Events
DreamHack Masters Las Vegas – Feb 15-19
DreamHack Masters – Q3 Date and Location TBA
DreamHack ASTRO Open Austin – Apr 28-30
DreamHack ASTRO Open Atlanta – Jul 21-23
DreamHack ASTRO Open Montreal – Sep 8-10
DreamHack ASTRO Open Denver – Oct 20-22
DreamHack ASTRO Open Winter – Nov 30-Dec 2
DreamLeague Season Seven Playoffs – Dates and Location TBA
DreamLeague Season Eight Playoffs – Dates and Location TBA
SLIVER.tv – Intel Extreme Masters 2017 Events
Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, Poland – Feb 25-Mar 5
3 Addtl IEM Global events – Dates and Location TBA
SLIVER.tv – ESL One 2017 Events
ESL One Cologne – Jul 3-8
ESL One New York – Sep 1-15
ESL One Addtl event – Date and Location TBA