Saudi Arabia lands on CS:GO with $1.5 billion

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Saudi Arabia lands on CS:GO with $1.5 billion

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The CS:GO competitive scene has been through a real earthquake. With money printing, a sovereign investment fund directly supported by Saudi Arabia has bought two of the biggest organizers. Hang on tight, we’re talking about $1.5 billion.

Photo: ESL

ESL changed ownership from The Modern Times Group at Savvy Gaming Group. The transaction is causing a lot of talk and reaction on social networks and to understand why, you have to broaden the spectrum a bit. This transaction is not limited to a change of ownership, since the new owner in question is a “state” investment fund, supported by the public sovereign investment fund ofSaudi Arabia. This simple fact is already disturbing, but when we add that Savvy Gaming Group also acquired at the same time FACEITanother CS:GO tournament organizer, passions are running high.

A merger but a lot of controversy

This is not Saudi Arabia’s first attempt at esports.

ESL organizes very big tournaments on CS:GO like the Pro League, the IEM or the ESL One Cologne. In comparison, FACEIT weighs a little less, but for its part the organization is still behind other big competitions and it is in particular he who managed the London Major in 2018. Long independent, the two will now merge and in themselves, this is not necessarily bad news. The management teams are not going to fundamentally change and they have promised to be more complementary in order to gain in efficiency and continue to shine on the competitive scene.

What poses a problem for the community is the nature of the new owner behind the behemoth created: Saudi Arabia. The relations between this state which shines by its oil industry and the Savvy Gaming Group are not very well defined and for the most critical, there is in reality no real difference since the group is owned by the public fund of sovereign investment of the country. And since this one is not known for its democracyhis respect for human and women’s rights or his treatment of the community LGBTQ+… There are plenty of reasons to moan. Last year, this same fund had tried to join the LEC (European League of Legends scene) and Blast, but had caused a massive outcry that had derailed the deals. But the third time seems the right one…

esport-csgo

On January 28, the competitive CS:GO season resumes its full rights and the big Western teams invite you to the Blast Premier Spring. While the numbers have changed a lot, several players will be scrutinized and some are already playing big.





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