Following yesterday’s controversy where ESL wasn’t streaming several CS:GO qualifier matches for IEM Katowice, the company has said that it’ll share the game’s IP with selected streamers if it can’t provide a stream of its own.
The biggest tournament organizer in CS:GO faced backlash from fans and community figures, especially after not providing a stream for MIBR vs. INTZ and Complexity vs. Gen.G, two of the bigger games that were played yesterday.
ESL’s vice president Michal “Carmac” Blicharz said that ESL is revising the policy regarding community coverage. “I came here to say that we got it wrong,” Carmac said. “If a live broadcast of a given match is not being provided on a good quality international stream and we say that no one else is allowed to stream it, that is not okay.”
The tournament organizer, however, said that not just anyone will be allowed to stream matches, especially if there’s already one of ESL’s partners streaming that game in the same language or region.
“The bottom line is this: is there’s a game we don’t cover, we prefer that someone stream it than for people to get nothing,” Carmac said.
This is great news for CS:GO fans and community casters who may get permission to stream matches in the future.
North America’s closed qualifier for IEM Katowice will resume today with Chaos vs. MIBR and Complexity vs. Cloud9. Both games will be played at 5pm CT.
