World Esports Association founded
"A critical milestone on our way to grow eSports globally"
ESL and eight professional gaming teams have joined forces to create the World Esports Association (WESA) in the hope of professionalizing eSports and setting standards for event organizers, players, and streamers.
The eight teams involved are Fnatic, Natus Vincere, EnVyUs, Virtus.Pro, G2 Esports, Faze, Mousesports and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
"The formation of WESA is a critical milestone on our way to grow eSports globally, and we're incredibly excited to work with some of the world's best professional teams," said Ralf Reichert, ESL MD.
"Their continuous support to the formation and structuring of the Association only further cemented our belief that esports is well on its way to become the leading source of entertainment of gaming fans around the world."
The ESL Pro League for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be the first eSports tournament that will take place under WESA regulations.
"WESA offers many opportunities to the Member Teams and their Players, but we're most excited about the esports's first official player representative finally becoming a reality", added Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas, from Team Virtus.Pro.
"For the first time in the history of eSports, players will come together to organize themselves, and that will enable all of us to get a real say in decisions that directly influence us. With a Player Council sitting at the table with the rest of the decision makers, we're going to continue to improve the tournament and league organization".