FACEIT has just announced a partnership with Barcraft United and ODEON Cinemas to bring the Major Finals to new audiences.
FACEIT forges new partnerships
FACEIT has just come out with another interesting announcement. In addition to streaming the Finals to the Major on Twitch and hosting the event at the SSE Arena in Wembley, it has also struck a deal with Barcraft United and ODEON Cinemas to bring some of the most important games of the year to a wider audience.
ODEON Cinemas are one of the top cinema brands in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway operating over 130 different locations. According to the new deal, ODEON will show the Finals in multiple cinemas in the United Kingdom. More specifically, the list of cinemas includes Basingstoke, Birmingham New Street, Blackpool, Braehead, Cardiff, Chatham, Coventry, Edinburgh Lothian Road, Greenwich, Kingston, Manchester Trafford Centre, Milton Keynes Stadium, Norwich, and Southampton. The viewing will begin at 18:10 local time and will show the Semi-Finals and the Finals in 2D.
Additionally, @BarcraftUnited have organised #FACEITMajor viewing parties in locations all over the world!
Find a local venue, or submit your own 👇https://t.co/ss5hpMkvzV
— FACEIT (@FACEIT) September 18, 2018
In regards to the Barcraft arrangement, dozens of locations all over the world will show the FACEIT Finals. A BarCraft is an event where gamers are brought together in real life to watch some eSports competition. Originally limited to Starcraft 2, BarCraft has expanded to many other eSports, including Counter-Strike. You can see the full list of venues that will show the FACEIT Finals on the Barcraft website.
FACEIT is aggressively promoting CS:GO to mainstream audiences
FACEIT seems to be focused on pushing CS:GO competitions more and more into the mainstream. Not too long ago, they announced a partnership with Sky Sports to broadcast the Major Finals on the channel. More on that story here. While eSports have been slowly making their way into the mainstream, but never before have we seen an organization promote them as aggressively as FACEIT has in the span of a month.
The FACEIT Major is one of the largest CS:GO events in the world and it seems fitting that it can break through. Moreover, FACEIT is also a major force in the gaming world in its own right. It certainly has the resources to see this through and make a real impact on the eSports industry for the better. If this venture proves successful, then we may just see a lot of similar developments in the future.
