Global esports tournament organiser ESL FACEIT Group has teamed up with Swedish streaming technology company Znipe Esports to create FACEIT Watch, a new esports-focused streaming platform.
The platform will allow viewers to watch esports matches directly through FACEIT, and will offer several notable features such as multi-perspective views and kill cameras.
The new streaming platform will be free and ‘available to all’ according to FACEIT. This move marks the first time FACEIT has created a product that is not directly related to gameplay, and sees ESL FACEIT Group launch a streaming platform similar to that of Twitch and YouTube Gaming.
ESL FACEIT Group created FACEIT Watch together with Znipe Esports, an esports broadcast technology company based in Sweden. The company has worked with the likes of Riot Games for Pro View and ESL on the Digital Pass. Some features created for the Pass, such as individual player streams, are included in FACEIT Watch.
The platform will offer several features that are not very often seen in esports streaming platforms, such as the ability to pause and rewind and access to kill cameras, a notable feature of some games such as Call of Duty. In addition, viewers will be able to adjust the volume of even casters and disable potential spoilers.
As of right now, the platform supports CS2 and Apex Legends streams, and has attracted a reasonable amount of viewers during the play-in period of the IEM Katowice. Still, the numbers are much lower when compared to the competitors, which is expected at this stage.
Interestingly, EFG’s market competitor BLAST also has a custom streaming platform called BLAST.tv, which offers a similar experience to users. Riot Games, the creators of VALORANT and League of Legends, also aimed to create a custom streaming platform but scrapped the project.
