SAN FRANCISCO, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Twitter today announced that it has partnered with the world's leading esports companies, ESL and DreamHack, to live stream esports events and original content in 2017. More than 15 events in the ESL One, Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) and DreamHack circuits will be live streamed globally on Twitter and connected devices.

Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, kicking off on Saturday, March 4th, will be the first tournament to be live streamed on Twitter through the deal. In addition to all Intel Extreme Masters and ESL One tournament content, ESL will also produce live original content for Twitter, including a weekly 30-minute show featuring highlights and behind-the-scenes footage. All DreamHack events will also be live streamed, starting with DreamHack Austin in April.

"Esports is growing at a rapid pace and we see this collaboration as a way to tap into the engaged audience of gamers that are already using Twitter as a primary source of content," said Anthony Noto, COO at Twitter. "By partnering with the leading esports companies like ESL and DreamHack, we look forward to bringing the best of esports live video and conversation together on Twitter."

"Esports fans are endemic to digital and this partnership with Twitter expands ESL's reach for all of our major tournaments for fans around the globe," said Johannes Schiefer, Vice President Social Media & Editorial at ESL. "Intel Extreme Masters Katowice is our most anticipated live event, and we are excited to bring premier content from this tournament and beyond to more fans in a premium experience."

"Twitter is a very strong esports platform, where many of our fans and followers already engage with DreamHack events," said Marcus Lindmark, CEO & President at DreamHack. "This will be a shortcut for fans, as they can both watch and engage on the platform at the same time."

The live content on Twitter, which is set to begin on March 4th, will be available globally at esl.twitter.com, iem.twitter.com, and dreamhack.twitter.com. The live streams on Twitter will also include advertising packages with TV style ad spots combined with original highlight and recap clips that advertisers can sponsor and promote on Twitter.

About Twitter

Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is the best and fastest place to see what's happening and what people are talking about all around the world. From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, from big events to everyday interests. If it's happening anywhere, it's happening first on Twitter. Twitter is where the full story unfolds with all the live commentary and where live events come to life unlike anywhere else. Twitter is available in more than 40 languages around the world. The service can be accessed at twitter.com, on a variety of mobile devices and via SMS. For more information, visit about.twitter.com or follow @twitter.

About ESL

ESL, a part of the international digital entertainment group MTG, is the world's largest esports company, leading the industry across the most popular video games with numerous online and offline competitions. It operates high profile, branded international and national leagues and tournaments such as the Intel® Extreme Masters, ESL One, ESL National Championships and other top tier stadium-size events, as well as grassroots amateur cups, leagues and matchmaking systems. ESL covers a broad field of services in gaming technology, event management, advertising and television production, fully catering to the needs of the esports ecosystem. With offices in North America, Germany, Russia, France, Poland, Spain, China, and partners in many other countries, it has a truly global footprint. www.eslgaming.com

About DreamHack

DreamHack, a part of the international digital entertainment group MTG, is the world's largest computer festival. DreamHack's core, and origin is the LAN party, with the two major festivals in Sweden, DreamHack Summer in June and DreamHack Winter in November. DreamHack also arranges festivals, events and competitions in several locations in Europe and North America.

The events are a platform for esport, knowledge and creative competitions, music acts, lectures by game developers, Internet & game culture, cosplay, the fair DreamExpo and much much more. DreamHack is also a production company with a focus on gaming, esports, music and arena productions for both traditional TV and the Internet.

During 2016 DreamHack had 233,000 visitors to its events and more than 135 million viewers who followed the live broadcast online. More information is available on www.dreamhack.com

SOURCE Twitter, Inc.

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