Photo: Naekranie.pl
A report from today by German news outlet Golem.de says that Turtle Entertainment, the company that operates the premier esports brand ESL, might have been sold.
Turtle Entertainment and their various esports circuits are a pillar in the esports industry and have been so for many years. The organization is involved with competitive gaming on all layers of the scene, from weekly online tournaments to offline major events for the biggest esports titles, including StarCraft 2, CS:GO, Dota 2 and League of Legends. Bundesanzeiger – the official public information on German businesses – gives us some raw data on Turtle Entertainment, listing generated 16.2M EUR in revenues with 15.5M EUR in costs in 2013.
An article from Monday, May 11th published by German IT media site Golem.de points to Turtle Entertainments allegedly being sold, with the acquisition “expected to be virtually complete.” According to the report, ESL co-founders Ralf Reicher and Heinrich Zetlmayer have agreed on the purchase of the contract and will stay with Turtle for at least five more years.
So far, information is missing on what the purchase price is and who’s the buyer, though Golem.de’s report mentions that Swedish-based MTG Media Group has expressed interest in acquiring Turtle. Though primarily focused on traditional sports, MTG is also involved in the esports industry through DreamHack Studios and Viagame’s events.
GosuGamers has reached Turtle’s chairman of the board Jens Hilgers but was denied comment.
