Why ESL is undergoing a 25th anniversary brand refresh

As it celebrates its 25th year — and a marquee deal with the Esports World Cup — ESL has announced a brand refresh intended to bring the esports company closer to its roots.

Formerly known as Electronic Sports League, ESL was founded in Germany in 2000. Since merging with the esports platform FACEIT after both companies were purchased in 2022 by Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the company has signed deals to run competitive gaming leagues for prominent publishers such as Activision Blizzard and Riot Games. It is a leading figure in the transformation of the esports industry from its previous publisher-run model to a system of leagues operated by third-party vendors.

ESL’s brand refresh, announced yesterday at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024 (an ESL-run “Counter-Strike” tournament), is the company’s first rebrand since 2019, when it adopted a green and yellow color palette. This latest brand refresh, which uses the tagline “Live Legendary,” maintains these colors but includes a new font inspired by traditional stone carvings, as well as classical marble statue imagery based on three-dimensional scans of actual audience members taken at ESL events over the past six months.

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