Hulu Taps Into the eSports Market With Four New Shows
Hulu is getting into eSports and video gaming media, and the media platform is not holding back. The streaming service announced that it has ordered four new original TV series from ESL, home to some of the biggest eSports events worldwide today.
The streaming platform announced their new deal with ESL for the latter to bring exclusive eSports content later this fall in the form of four original shows. All these programs will explore various aspects of eSports and gaming in general, as Hulu announced in a press release on Monday, Oct. 9.
Lisa Holme, Hulu's vice president for content, noted how the streaming service is looking to eSports to bring a quickly growing segment of new viewers onboard.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Esports is one of the fastest growing areas of media and entertainment, and, through this first-of-its-kind deal with ESL, we can now bring the popular world of esports to Hulu," she said in a statement, as quoted by Fortune.
The four shows in the deal add "Player V. Player," a talk show couched in a debate format where casters and eSports celebrities face off over topics related to the hobby. "Bootcamp" is also added, and it is a weekly reality segment that follows the training and events attended by The Immortals, one of the top "Counter Strike: Global Offensive" teams out there today.
There's also "Defining Moments," a news format show that centers around a theme for the week, where casters and analysts look back at recent and not-so-recent events in eSports connected to that topic.
Finally, there's "ESL Replay," an edited, documentary-style coverage of the biggest eSports events currently being held around the world. It will offer backstage views as well as in-depth commentary surrounding the biggest eSports matches for the week.
The video below shows ESL's recap of the latest Intel Extreme Masters in Shanghai last July. Shows like this will be coming soon to Hulu via one of the four shows commissioned by the streaming platform as they dive into the world of eSports coverage.