ESL and SLIVER.tv have partnered to launch the first visual eSports stadium experience to fans in 360° virtual reality at the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) World Championship 2017 held this weekend and March 3-5 in Katowice, Poland.
IEM Katowice 2017 is expected to surpass last year’s 113,000 attendees, and more fans are expected to be watching through different online live streams as well as in 360° Virtual Reality on SLIVER.tv.
“The IEM World Championship is one of ESL’s most prestigious events and is coming back bigger than ever in 2017 with competitions taking place over two weekends for the first time,” Ulrich Schulze, vice president of pro gaming at ESL, said in a statement. “We always aim to echo the passion and energy of our fans in the stadium with our online viewing experiences and are excited to extend the feeling of being in the crowd to the IEM VR livestreams.”
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The new VR exports stadium experience captures the excitement of being at a live event and includes dynamic lighting that is synchronized and changes as the game is played.
Online viewers will see their avatars in the stadium, interact with other viewers through emojis, view other gamer profiles via integration with Valve’s Steam API and access live stats, replays and scores in real-time.
“We’ve had an amazing product development partnership with ESL thus far and are thrilled to bring to the market the first virtual stadium experience in 360° VR,” Mitch Liu, CEO of SLIVER.tv said in a statement. “We’re excited to take this first step towards making esports spectating a into a highly social, live and engaging experience. This is an integral part of our mission to transform the interactive esports entertainment industry.