Tournament Organizers PGL and Perfect World Team Up For 2024-2026 Seasons

PGL and Perfect World, two of the largest esports tournament operators, have entered a strategic partnership for the next three years. As per a release on March 14, the two tournament operators will team up for the 2024, 2025, and 2026 seasons for both Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 competitions. 

The partnership will encapsulate tournaments, competitions, broadcasts, and production while exploring co-branding opportunities. Functionally, the partnership will mean that PGL will produce all Perfect World events in English and have global rights to these tournaments, excluding China. In return, Perfect World will produce all PGL China events, owning exclusive rights to the entire Chinese market. 

In effect, Perfect World will handle all of both companies’ events in China, while PGL will do the same in the rest of the world.

In the release, PGL stated that the “partnership between PGL and Perfect World marks the beginning of a thrilling chapter in the future of esports.”

“As both organizations set their sights on the 2024-2026 seasons, the collaboration is poised to evolve dynamically with innovations that will shape the competitive gaming landscape.” – PGL on its partnership with Perfect World

PGL is one of the largest independent tournament operators in the world. Earlier in March, the Romanian organization announced eight Dota 2 tournaments over the next three years, cementing itself within the ecosystem of the game. The organizer is deeply embedded in CS2 as well, with the upcoming PGL Major Copenhagen being one of its next events. 

Perfect World is also highly connected to both the Dota 2 and CS2 scenes. The Chinese organizer will host the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, and was the company behind every single season of the Dota 2 Pro Circuit China.

The collaboration brings together these two giant operators at a time when independent esports events are increasingly limited. The all-encompassing nature of the ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) and the ever-expanding scope of the Esports World Cup means these partnerships may become increasingly common as other tournament organizers attempt to compete.

Michael Hassall
Michael Hassall

Since: January 31, 2024

Michael has worked in the esports industry for five years after a brief career in marketing. A professional writer for almost a decade, and a lifelong gamer, writing about esports is his one true passion, when he’s not glued to a screen playing the games he writes about.

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