EMG and StarLadder partnership to bring the best esports Action to Dubai

EMG - Dubai’s biggest gaming and esports event organizer – and StarLadder – one of the largest global esports operators and content providers, have partnered to host a whole new class of esport events in the Middle East region. 

The partnership will see StarLadder exclusively manage esports production of EMG’s annual gaming and esports festival from 2023 to 2025. As part of the festivals, the region’s best esports teams and professional gamers will be invited to participate in tournaments hosted in Dubai. These competitions bring a whole new level of excitement and innovation to esports in the region. EMG’s experience combined with StarLadder’s expertise will deliver larger events that attract interest from around the world. StarLadder’s know-how is helping to expand EMG’s esports offerings with a wider range of tournament formats and game selection.  

In their role as the main tournament operator, StarLadder will be responsible for bringing world-leading esports tournament management to EMG’s festivals. StarLadder has earned a respected reputation based on their track record of managing a diverse range of esports competitions around the globe over the last 20 years. These include such high-profile events as the Berlin CS:GO Major, Chongqing Dota2 Major, Star Series and the PUBG Continental Series in Europe, as well as Global Esports Tour Riyadh and Global Esports Tour Dubai in the Middle East region along with a series of white-label tournaments for world’s prominent game developers & publishers. This in turn is enabling EMG to raise the overall standard of the esports scene across the UAE. 

Commenting on the partnership, Darrach Campbell, Management Director at EMG said: “The esports community has seen large-scale growth on a global level, and we aim to replicate that growth in the Middle East with the support of the Emirates Esports Federation. With the games culture surpassing new boundaries every day in this region, we feel that our partnership with StarLadder is the key element towards developing an all-inclusive esports community in the UAE. We look forward to having StarLadder on board and creating larger and more frequent tournaments that will bring fans a new level of esports experiences.” 

“Middle East and UAE in particular, is a rapidly developing esports market that has a strategic importance for us. We hosted our first event in Dubai back in 2016 and are now glad to strengthen our presence in the region by partnering with such a strong partner as EMG, following our successful Global Esports Tour Dubai event earlier this year”, said Roman Romantsov, CEO of StarLadder.

Earlier this summer more than 8,000 spectators attended EMG’s debut esports and pop-culture festival over a three-day period at Dubai World Trade Center with Starladder managing the broadcast production, as well as esports operations. Thousands of visitors watched the onstage playoffs of the international CS:GO competition with Ninjas in Pyjamas emerging as the eventual winners and taking the lion’s share of the USD 250,000  prize pool. Attendees enjoyed meet and greets with esports and anime legends while taking part in interactive gaming areas such as the PC gaming zone, the VR zone and football zones.