Press Release

WUPPERTAL September 13, 2019

Riedel Rules Esports at ESL One Cologne and PUBG Mobile Club Open

Two recently completed, high-profile esports tournaments in Germany — ESL One Cologne and the PUBG Mobile Club Open (PMCO) in Berlin — relied on Riedel’s MediorNet real-time network, Artist digital matrix intercom, and Bolero wireless intercom solutions for sophisticated and reliable signal transport and communications.

Before a capacity crowd at Cologne’s Lanxess Arena on July 8, Team Liquid defeated Team Vitality in the championship round of the ESL One Cologne tournament and completed the prestigious Intel Grand Slam in a record time of 63 days, taking home a total of $1,115,000 in prize money. ESL was able to leverage an Artist-based intercom infrastructure that had been recently installed as part of a technical overhaul of the Lanxess Arena. In addition, NEP relied on a Riedel Artist frame with 11 Desktop Control Panels deployed to in-game directors and front-of-house engineers to support the broadcast.

ESL tournament organizers used Riedel-provided 2-way radios that seamlessly linked to the intercom backbone via Riedel RiFace interfaces to enable fast and reliable comms between crews in the Lanxess Arena and the nearby Hyatt Regency Cologne hotel, which hosted the group stages. In addition, ESL gaming experts and commentators used Riedel keypanels via the Artist system to provide color commentary for viewers. NEP deployed numerous Riedel MediorNet MicroN high-density media distribution network devices and MediorNet Compact Pro stageboxes to facilitate signal distribution between the production van, in-game director, front of house, stage/backstage, partner lounges, the expert studio, and the commentary set.

On July 28, the PMCO Spring Split Global Finals wrapped up at the Estrel Congress Center in Berlin with Top Esports winning the championship match. The event was the year’s first global esports competition for the mobile Battle Royale game, and 27 teams from across the globe qualified for the prelims and finals. Organizers deployed an Artist mainframe with 30 SmartPanels and 30 Bolero beltpacks to facilitate crew communications for this marquee esports tournament, which was streamed in 10 languages via YouTube, Twitch, and other streaming platforms.

“Our advanced signal transport and communications solutions are perfectly suited to the rapidly emerging and exciting world of esports. Like other large arena-based sports events, esports tournaments require clear and reliable communications between all members of the production team,” said Olivier Görts, Senior Account Manager at Riedel Communications. “We’re honored that our Artist, MediorNet, and Bolero systems played such a key role in the ESL Grand Slam and PMCO events, two of the most important tournaments on the global esports calendar.”