This weekend kicks off IEM’s crown jewel, IEM Katowice. Returning for the fifth year in a row, the event will now span two weekends, serving up gaming action to the Spodek Arena with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, StarCraft II and League of Legends with a total prize pool of $650,000 this year. The event will also serve up new ways to watch the action, including a new deal between ESL and SLIVER.tv that will offer viewers a new virtual esports stadium experience.
Over the last decade, IEM has hit five continents, producing over 60 live events under the management of George Woo, eSports Marketing Manager at Intel. Cynopsis caught up with Woo to break down the company’s evolution from a branding play to esports staple and what we can expect from Poland.
Woo on IEM’s growth strategy: This is our 11th season and we’ve been running these events around the world creating history and growing the brand. Back in 2006, we basically launched this as more of a brand awareness play, just being part of the conversation. Fast forward, in the last couple of years, while we are still creating brand awareness, but we’ve really honed in on what this platform can do for Intel. With the explosion of digital platforms like Twitch or Facebook Live, it now gives us a major platform for our viewers to watch unlike in the past where we experimenting with platforms that weren’t as robust.
Now there are over 4000 tournaments in a year that are taking place, and IEM is among the most prestigious which elevates us and gives us a platform to reach millions of viewers. In addition, IEM has been a great platform for the community, providing unmatched competition and memorable experience with a platform where friends can connect.
On improving diversity: This is also a platform where we can push some of our initiatives such as diversity so we can continue to bring in more females, greater ethnicity, religions, etc. I think finding role models are the greatest challenge in improving diversity. Most developers are men, for example, and they are designing these games more for males. Having female role models in the space is important whether it is in design or as a pro gamer and will give younger female members in the crowd inspiration for their own goals.
On the VR push: We’ve always pushed the boundary of innovation, and this year with Oakland we really focused on VR. That was an amazing experience, we know that not everybody has a headset but we need to be in the forefront and in the leadership position. Through our partnership with Sliver.tv, people who don’t have a headset can still download the app and watch our content in 360. Hopefully, they will buy a headset down the road, but our goal in three to five years will be to get a VR title that is esport friendly, one where there are hundreds of thousands of people who will tune in.
On IEM Katowice: Poland is our crown jewel of the whole schedule. This year, what is exciting about it is that we are splitting it into two weekends. This Saturday and Sunday, we will be hosting our League of Legends World Championship, and in the second weekend, we will be doing our CS:GO and Starcraft World Championships. Adjacent to that, we will be opening up our IEM Expo, which will serve as a trade show with 18-20+ partners featuring their latest products along with side tournaments featuring titles such as Crossfire.
Then there is the whole community aspect of it where fans can meet their favorite players and win prizes. I’m guessing attendance will be in the 130-140,000 range, and last year our stream numbers hit 34 million unique viewer with 2 million concurrent viewership so our numbers are very comparable to traditional sport. We’ll continue with our VR broadcasting, and Sliver will add a virtual arena. One thing that we’re bringing back to Poland will be a cosplay competition, which is an important part of pop culture that we want to be a part of, now that we aren’t really doing IEM at tradeshows.
