Esports World Cup: ESL FACEIT Group Details Its Historic Production in Riyadh

Eight-week event wraps this weekend

With the vision of bringing together the world’s best games, players, and clubs, the Esports World Cup is among the biggest esports events of 2024. And, as the official operating partner for the eight-week event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) is tasked with bringing that vision to the fans.

EFG is responsible for tournament operations and delivering broadcast programming that offers gaming audiences and mainstream sports and entertainment communities a global celebration of skill, passion, and competitive spirit. EFG has also worked in close collaboration with the Esports World Cup to support its product proposition and global marketing strategy.

Esports World Cup host-production control room

The production infrastructure for this year’s Esports World Cup is distributed across several venues: three main stages, three secondary stages, eight analyst studios, eight caster booths, and a dedicated production studio.

“We operate out of a central apparatus room, where we have our flypack solution,” says EFG Senior Technical Project Manager Adrian Segărceanu, who serves as engineer for the production. “These venues give us a lot of creative freedom and allow us to flex our know-how across a range of different spaces and the games that will inhabit each of them.”

Nearly 200 Cameras Are Deployed

There is “a lot that goes into broadcasting the frenetic nature of esports,” he explains. “That includes having enough equipment to capture every big play and impactful elimination.”

Across Esports World Cup, almost 200 cameras are being used, including 120 player POV cameras, four box slo-mo lenses, 24 mounted and unmounted studio cameras, and three Luna Falcon four-point wirecam systems.

“Together, these offer our team an array of tools to provide comprehensive coverage and embed viewers in the action,” Segărceanu notes. “The linchpin in keeping our broadcasts smooth and high quality is a robust Riedel network, which we use for intercoms, distribution, and multiview.”

He describes it as one of the most extensive networks he has ever worked with, comprising 240 key panels and Bolero beltpacks, 76 antennas, several Artist 1024 matrices, and more. Paired with Unity Intercom, it enables easy communication between camera teams, reporters, and production staff.

EFG also uses more than 70 Riedel MicroN UHD and HD devices to handle frame synchronization, video delay, and audio embedding. EFG combines them with several EVS DYVI PM-Y’s for vision-mixing feeds from in-game captures. All combined, Segărceanu says, “this technology allows us to run with creative ideas without being limited by communication or processing power.”

Additionally, an “ambitious” distribution system comprises 60 TX feeds, each with its own assortment of sponsors and audio mappings. Distribution is via a remote broadcast offering streams in more than 30 languages across global streaming platforms and rightsholders, such as DAZN, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube. “Fans around the world can watch in their native language on the digital platforms they use the most,” Segărceanu points out, “contributing to making Esports World Cup a truly global celebration.”

Preparing for the Massive Production

After the Gamers8 esports event in August 2023, EFG “set our sights on building on the successes of that global tournament, but this time with Esports World Cup,” says Segărceanu.

Arena stage integration

Between late 2023 and early 2024, EFG finalized suppliers, did site surveys, and started working on stages as early as May 2024. “The facilities we’re using are purpose-built with esports production in mind,” he says, “but our work in May still included a demanding schedule of finalizing rigging, cable paths, and more.”

Onsite at Esports World Cup are more than 110 team members from around the world: editors, producers, camera teams, and crews for various sets for interviews and podcast-style pieces.

“We use a lot of innovative technology as the backbone for our original content,” Segărceanu notes, “which helps to elevate Esports World Cup competitors but does so in a fresh, exciting way.” For example, EFG has LED volumes to use as a backdrop for shooting key hero shots during Media Day, giving the production team high-tech canvases to play with as they shoot content. EFG can also 3D-scan players, which allows the production team to insert them virtually into the show using digital effects.

“This is hands down the biggest event that I’ve ever been a part of,” he says. “While you can draw some parallels to international sporting events — due to both Esports World Cup’s scale and how it unites the global gaming community across popular competitive game titles — there are many aspects that make it one-of-a-kind.”

According to Segărceanu, the biggest challenge, and opportunity, for the production team is uniting the many game titles and participants under one banner. “The Esports World Cup Totem, which celebrates each game’s victors, and initiatives like the Club Awards give us unique storytelling opportunities that bridge the gap between events and allow us to spotlight themes of unity and competitive excellence that are integral to the tournament. While it has been one of the most technically demanding productions I’ve delivered, it has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”

New Ways To Drive Innovation

Noting that esports is a digital-first competition, he says, “We’ve continued to find ways to lean into that to drive innovation throughout our broadcasts. [For example,] we use a host of tools — including Unity and nDisplay nodes — to render augmented-reality graphics in real time, blending the digital worlds players know with our real-world broadcast.”

Esports World Cup EVS ecosystem

Also, in conjunction with broadcast developers, EFG relies on tools like Resolume and Notch to bring data from a game’s APIs into real-time graphics, lighting effects, and information on in-arena LED screens. Says Segărceanu, “This makes every major objective claim, elimination, and victory feel all the more impactful for fans at home and in the arena.”

Decades of Experience, Specialized Staff

EFG is uniquely positioned to produce a large-scale event like the Esports World Cup, Segărceanu says: “EFG has decades of production experience and [an] incredibly capable and specialized broadcast staff who all have a particular passion for games.” The team of broadcast engineers, producers, designers, and broadcast developers understand game APIs and how to integrate them with broadcast equipment using standard protocols to merge gaming and entertainment.

With the sprawling event set to close out this weekend, the event has gone “smoothly, and we hope to continue that momentum,” Segărceanu says. “It has been inspiring to see all the fans watching live and online, and we’re looking forward to finishing strong.”

One adjustment the EFG team has had to make involves the weather. To protect its equipment from Riyadh’s harsh heat — which can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit — the engineering team performs regular maintenance and monitors constantly, especially after heavy use.

“I’m so proud to be involved in producing such a historic esports event,” Segărceanu says. “It’s an incredible opportunity to showcase our team’s talent and bring the international esports community together. I’m also incredibly proud of my team for all their hard work and dedication to making this event possible. Their efforts make these moments memorable for competitors and fans alike, and I can’t wait to see the impact it will have on the esports landscape after we crown the final champion.”