A new bold visual for Intel® Extreme Masters and a dedicated anniversary campaign to enhance celebrations for fans worldwide
Cologne/New York/Katowice – ESL Gaming is proud to invite everyone to experience one of the longest-running series of live esports tournaments in the world, the Intel® Extreme Masters. For the first time in almost two years, the Intel® Extreme Masters Katowice 2022 competition will star the world’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) teams competing in front of a live audience for their share of the $1 million prize pool.
In addition to CS:GO, IEM Katowice 2022 will host the StarCraft® II EPT Championship, where 36 players from around the world will battle it out for their share of the $500,000 prize pool. Fans are welcome to attend the highly anticipated esports competitions live in the iconic Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland on February 25-27, 2022. An IEM Expo at the International Congress Center is not planned for this years’ edition.
To celebrate the unique anniversary within the esports landscape, ESL Gaming is launching a dedicated campaign: “X Years of IEM Katowice — Celebrate the heroes” to commemorate ten years of Intel® Extreme Masters.
As part of the anniversary campaign, ESL is planning unique activations in Katowice to honour the legendary heroes of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and StarCraft® II in cooperation with the city of Katowice.
“Thinking back to when this place held an Intel® Extreme Masters tournament for the first time, what followed would not have been imaginable. This event represents a dream come true to everyone that wanted to build esports into something bigger and unforgettable memories shared by fans and players,” says Michal “Carmac” Blicharz, VP Product Development. “We are proud to be coming to Katowice again as an in-person competition and we are so looking forward to celebrating the commemorative anniversary together.”
New for 2022, ESL has refreshed the Intel® Extreme Masters visual brand. Starting with IEM Katowice 2022, the anniversary edition will be the first event with a new and fresh design. The changes build on top of the overall brand refresh for ESL, initially launched in 2019, with the aim of emphasizing the characteristics of each and every individual ESL product, while maintaining the common identity of brands within the portfolio of the ESL ecosystem.
“The modern and bold visual identity will reflect the legacies and history that is carved out at Intel® Extreme Masters, and in particular, IEM Katowice,” comments Shahin Zarrabi, VP Brand & Corporate Marketing at ESL Gaming. “The identity sets us up for success in many more years to come, and ensures the high quality our fans deserve.”
IEM Katowice 2022 will also provide fans with access to exclusive photos, BTS-materials and articles that summarize a whole decade of esports tournaments. With each week preceding IEM Katowice 2022, ESL will reveal the campaign’s following stages and “behind the scenes” components.
We invite you to visit the IEM X website to learn more about the history of the legendary tournament series in Katowice.
To stay up to date with all news, head to eslfaceitgroup.com or follow ESL Gaming on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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About ESL Gaming
ESL Gaming is the world’s leading esports company. For more than two decades, we have been shaping the industry and leading esports and gaming innovation globally across the most popular video games, creating a comprehensive ecosystem with opportunities for players to go from zero to hero, and for fans to witness the best stories esports has to offer. Our portfolio consists of high-profile products such as the ESL Pro Tour, Intel® Extreme Masters, ESL Mobile, DreamHack Festivals, and many more, ranging from grassroots to global elite competitions. ESL Gaming is part of MTG, the leading international digital entertainment group.
More information is available at eslfaceitgroup.com.
Intel® Extreme Masters – Intel® Extreme Masters is the longest-running global professional esports tournament circuit in the world. Started in 2006 by Intel and ESL, the competition has now traveled to over 30 cities around the globe and conducted tournaments for 11 different competitive gaming titles. Esports fans from more than 180 countries regularly make IEM events record-breakers in terms of stadium attendance and viewership, with the tournament’s inaugural event in Australia in May 2017 marking the fifth continent for the global competitive circuit. Throughout more than 75 IEM events, over US $11 million in prize money has been awarded to some of the world’s top esports talent (www.intelextrememasters.com).