Tournament organizers DreamHack and ESL (both part of digital entertainment group Modern Times Group) have announced a one-year streaming deal with Chinese platform DouYu. The deal makes DouYu the exclusive streaming partner for the ESL Pro Tour’s StarCraft II and Warcraft III content in “standard Mandarin and other Chinese languages and dialects,” according to a release.
Earlier this month, ESL and DreamHack signed a similar partnership with DouYu competitor Huya focused on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 events. A merger between both companies has been speculated on for several months, as both companies have received large investments from tech giant Tencent Holdings. In June, Beijing News reported that a merger is already in the works, citing people familiar with the matter.