Get to Know PGL, the Team Behind the Manila Major
When the Manila Major has been announced, many Dota 2 enthusiasts have been asking about PGL. Why did Valve and the local organizers entrust this company with the task of co-producing the Spring Dota 2 Major?
Who are these guys?
PGL, otherwise known as “Professional Gamers’ League”, is an eSports brand registered under the SC Computer Games Online SRL company. It is based in Bucharest, Romania and it is headed by Silviu Stroie, who is also the vice-president of the International eSports Federation (IeSF).
PGL offers the following, according to its portfolio on the European Union (EU) trademark database:
Computer software
Online retailing
Games streaming
Entertainment services
Software services
What did they do so far?
They started producing top-notch events back in 2011 and they own the right to use the DreamHack (DH) brand in the Balkan region. Their past events with DH are as follows:
DreamHack Balkan 2011
DreamHack Bucharest 2012
Counter-Strike Global Offensive (DreamHack Bucharest 2013)
League of Legends (DreamHack Bucharest 2013)
Dota 2 (DreamHack Bucharest 2014 Invitational)
Hearthstone (DreamHack Bucharest 2014)
DreamHack Bucharest 2015
DreamHack Cluj-Napoca 2015
They have done all of these in addition to their own tournaments under their brand, which are considered as among the events that have the “best production” in recent eSports history.
Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett, a renowned CS:GO commentator, said the following regarding the PGL CS:GO League on Reddit late 2015:
I was blown away in March for the kick off season. As a new league they killed it, and were great to work with. This season has been great so far and they are always looking for new ways to make the game more visually appealing!
For the Dota 2 community, their most prominent body of work is the production at the TI 5 EU Hub, which was done in impromptu…and turned out to be one of the best coverages of the latest iteration of The International.
However, they did something that redefined how eSports production should be done: In October 2015, PGL hosted DreamHack Cluj-Napoca, which was the last CS:GO major of the year.
There can be many words to describe the quality of their production, but this video sums it up all nicely:
What can they bring to the Manila Major?
At the very least, PGL brings with them five years of production expertise and with the possible exception of the recently concluded Major Gaming League (MLG) Columbus, there were no significant delays in their tournament schedules.
Given that this is a Valve-sponsored Dota 2 Major and that they already had experience in handling Dota 2 tournaments efficiently, it can be safely said that they will be able to deliver the same top-notch production that they have shown in the past year.
Conclusions
Five years of production experience? Check.
A portfolio of stellar work? Check.
Innovative production? Absolutely check!
Get your popcorns ready, for PGL certainly has new tricks up their sleeve for the Manila Major!
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