SVG Europe
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EWC2026 runs for seven weeks and caters individual
production for 24 games and multiple games publishers. It’s a mammoth
undertaking but in the sprawling production area of the Paris Expo Porte de
Versailles, south of the city centre, the engineering philosophy is pragmatic.
“Instead of trying to rely on one brand for everything we
really look at the challenge we need to solve per game and try to bring in the
right tool for the right place.,” says Sebastian Fjellström, Technical Manager
for the EWC at ESL FACEIT Group (EFG). “Our main TD sits with a Grass Valley
Maverik modular control surface for GV Kahuna. We also use Blackmagic ATEMs (20
of them) for sub‑switching or sponsor streams. For converters, we run
Blackmagic Micro Converters, YelloBriks and Barco.”
Each of the four big stages runs two ATEMs plus a Kahuna.
The smaller stages run two ATEMs or more depending on needs.
“When we need additional language streams or specific
localised sponsor stream for regions instead of throwing in a giant mixer it's
sometimes easier to just go for a Blackmagic, key some graphic on top and then
send it out again always ensuring that the graphic is triggered with the rest
of the package.”
There are 110 physical encoders sending out around 280
streams concurrently for different platforms, different media partners and also
for monitoring and remote productions. The goal is to build a flexible,
scalable system that can support dozens of simultaneous outputs.
“We’re producing almost 10–12 live hours per stage, four to
five days a week — sometimes Monday to Sunday,” he says. “On top of that, we
produce in multiple languages. There are dedicated Chinese, French and English studios
on site, plus studios across the world.”
Some 7000 hours will be produced over the tournament. Content
is stored on EVS systems and NAS arrays.
“We dump clips weekly to archive or media services, then
clean out the rest,” he explains. “It’s rotational content.”
Real‑time game data
Where traditional sports rely on manual data entry or AI‑driven
analytics, esports offers direct access to game servers.
“We work much more with computer sources and real‑time game
data,” Fjellström explains. “We can grab stats directly from the game server
and integrate them into graphics packages, stage elements, and triggers.”
This allows for dynamic storytelling, instant stat overlays,
and automated triggers that sync with in‑game events.
“It’s something traditional sport can’t do in the same way,”
he says. “It lets us build features around the game that would be impossible
otherwise.”
Sync is a huge deal and relies on automation. “We have a
whole dedicated team for developing our internal tools and supporting us with
game integration. That’s really helpful for a project like this. We also have
our own IT department on site making sure that all the data packages arrive at
the right time at the right place. That means that our broadcast engineers and
producers can focus on what they need to focus on while everything in the
background works.”
EVS setup
Instead of a mix of EVS XT-3s, XT-4s and LSM-VIA controller
of previous years, the production has equipped entirely with VIA “because we
wanted to make sure that we can use a lot of the IP features and send content
back and forth in real time, to be able to edit and also for integrating
cameras with Xtra Motion.”
Last year Xtra Motion was on one stage; now it is a feature
on every stage for capturing player emotions.
“We also have some areas where we use VMix for different
reactions, where we feel like an EVS might not be needed or that we have a
limitation because an EVS cannot do the compositions we want.
“For instance, we may want to do a composition with a whole
team's camera with a replay. We could do that by creating it and sending it to
an EVS and so on but in a VMix you can make a composition, turn it into virtual
source and replay it all in one place.”
Setup began on June 1st with remote testing beforehand, some
of it in Poland. Last year’s event in Riyadh used a full SMPTE 2110 core. This
year, however the team opted for baseband and 125 Riedel MediorNet Micron
nodes.
“Everyone has their preferred solution,” he says. “We
evaluate what scales best each year.”
In-game observers
Esports also requires a specialised form of camera
operation: in‑game observers.
“Our in‑game camera operators specialised for each game,”
Fjellström says. “They know exactly what is most interesting for the viewer.”
The multiplayer Battle Royale titles such as Free Fire, Apex
Legends, PUBG: Battlegrounds and Fortnite (introduced for the first time) add
another layer of complexity.
“For games with many teams playing at once, we use scouts
around the stages to follow the action and alert observers,” he explains. “It’s
about capturing the most interesting action and creating the best
storytelling.”
EFG already do REMI productions for other events and is
looking to expand that for EWC. Its broadcast team numbers around 300 people,
with additional remote operators working virtually from Sweden.
“In our facility in Stockholm, we have a team working with
different remote tools to control, either the gear here, or do stuff on their
own and send it to here. So we can, for example, have graphic editors working
remote and sending the packages to us, and we can have operators sitting in one
of our facilities and physically controlling devices here.”
“We’re always looking to adapt. For instance, how do we
improve the space for our co-workers on-site and also the experience for the
viewers? It's always a balance of what can we do without risking anything
because games are so time sensitive.”
The players play on their own gaming computers and the game
server [from the publisher] they're playing against are also located nearby.
This means that the game data is able to be tapped in real time and in turn
that enables EFG to build new features around the game’s on-screen
presentation.
“We're trying as much as we can to have the game server and
the players and a lot of the API machines together on one network to maximise
what we can do and minimise the amount of delay.”
The venue’s dark fibre is connected to a local data centre
“so we have the possibility of really scaling the amount of bandwidth we need.”
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