ESL Play axed TF2 a few weeks ago after low interest responses in the NA Interest Form survey (needed ~>45 teams, got only ~38 or something) and low player numbers in the EU cups.

https://i.imgur.com/qgcnx9K.png

https://youtu.be/ZAErD8xzjCM

https://i.imgur.com/Ph2pDyl.png

http://saber07.ytmnd.com/

https://i.imgur.com/nIlOA5U.png

nothin personnel, froyo

https://eu.pug.champ.gg/player/76561198868826636

https://i.imgur.com/TaBEvzM.png

big best buy energy

how and why would ESL have a TF2 LAN

i miss the bbq ranch burger :(

what a great way to kick off the final season of esea tf2

tf2 devs:

csgo devs: here's a fucking ballistic shield

https://media1.tenor.com/images/4495febcf4164476d2f8ae35740a7597/tenor.gif

https://i.imgur.com/73kVcVD.png

The reason why ESEA dropped TF2 wasn't because they were losing money; Premium Fees + League Fees likely gave them a slight profit with TF2. ESEA dropped TF2 because the game's league wasn't growing and because "TF2 only comprised of 1% of ESEA's population and the resources put into the game could be instead put into CS:GO and thus impact a greater number of people." Essentially ESEA sought to centralise its resources into CS:GO and TF2's low rate of return just made the game a tumour that ESEA put off cutting.

ESL Play, in comparison, is much broader and much more open in its catalogue of games, which includes over 25 at the moment. It's much easier for ESL Play to branch into TF2 because its backend is more flexible and because their structure is more oriented towards different games rather than just CS:GO and CS:GO alone.

There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding mitch's statement regarding ESL Play and a possible upcoming league through the service.

First, it's best to get the elephant in the room out of the way. While mitch is a league admin for ESL Play's TF2 division, he is not an employee of ESL (in regards to their ESL Play division) nor does he necessarily have massive influence on the direction of ESL Play's expansion into TF2 — at least to my knowledge. While I've been told by mitch that plans are currently underway to start a league, and I trust that he's relaying this information in good faith, his word is not final.

Secondly, ESL Play and ESL (i.e. ESL Pro League, ESL One) are basically semi-autonomous entities in relation to their connection and influence. ESL's event organizing division will usually use ESL Play for said event's qualifiers, but a game being on ESL Play does not automatically segue the game into a possible LAN event. ESL Play's actions have little impact on the actions of their live event organizers.

Thirdly, ESL does own ESEA, yes. However, it's important to understand why ESL acquired the league in the first place. ESEA was acquired by ESL in late 2015 as an investment in the rapidly expanding CS:GO competitive scene. ESEA had not only the largest CS:GO league in the world, but also the largest paid pug system, and a professional division (Invite). After the acquisition, Invite was folded into ESL ESEA Pro League and TF2 was dumped as a result. It's also important to note that ESL Play likely has little-to-no influence or authority regarding ESEA's actions or administration.

This is not to say that ESL Play expanding into TF2 is a bad thing; I'm excited to see what might come out of this. I just wanted to clear up some wrong assumptions I've been seeing here and on Twitch.