ESL UK loses much of its staff in restructuring shakeup

Tournament organizer ESL’s UK branch of operations has announced that staff whose roles were under risk have accepted voluntary redundancy. 

Earlier this month, an internal memo confirmed that a number of roles were at risk at ESL while the company broadly entering into a period of global change. ESL UK was put under assessment as a part of this process. In just a few weeks, over 30 staff have since accepted voluntary redundancy and left the company. 

CEO of ESL UK James Dean commented on the changes, promising that the ESL UK office would resume normal operations in the new year and would continue supporting the development of esports across the United Kingdom.

“The ESL UK mission has always been to grow UK esports and we remain 100% committed to that cause,” Dean said. “I am incredibly proud of the achievements the UK entity has had over the past eight years.”

Dean went on to point to both ESL Premiership and ESL One events organized around the UK as examples of the regional office’s successes in promoting esports domestically, describing both events as “hugely successful.”

ESL UK will continue all of its UK-based esports productions, such as ESL One Birmingham, which is a Dota 2 arena event, and the ESL Premiership that operate in Dota 2, Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, and Rainbow Six Siege.

The ESL Premiership has proven a regionally popular tournament circuit that gives a stage for teams, players, and production talent to make a mark in esports. ESL UK will also be supported in their operations by ESL Germany and ESL Poland. 

According to a report by Esports News UK earlier in December, all staff affected were met with by a senior staff member and talked through the changes facing the company. Many staff took to Twitter to thank the company for the time they had spent with ESL UK, suggesting that there is little bad blood between some of those who accepted redundancy.

Fans of the UK esports scene will hope that such dramatic change to the largest provider of esports events will not infringe on the ability to maintain its high quality output going into 2020 and beyond.