The arena was filled for four days with online gaming enthusiasts
UK - When Capital Sound successfully responded to a tender document issued by production manager Simon Barrington (Sibar Production & Design) for the ECS Season 5 finals, Capital project manager, Robin Conway won the bid by proposing Martin Audio’s MLA loudspeaker array. “Such a hi-tech event as ECS required an equally hi-tech loudspeaker solution,” he rationalised.
That was back in June at the SSE Arena, when the venue, reduced to half size for the preliminary round, was serviced by two single hangs of 11 MLA enclosures. September saw the organisers of ECS, FACEIT, present the 13th CS:GO Major, the FACEIT Major, which saw the full arena filled for four days with online gaming enthusiasts all fixated on the 50m wide screen (and six repeater screens), so a different approach was needed. This time two hangs of 11 MLA elements (including two MLD Downfill boxes) were accompanied by eight MLX subwoofers arrayed across the front, with a DD12 Differential Dispersion loudspeaker stationed atop each of the sub enclosures to provide near-fill.
Capital also rigged three hangs of 10 MLA Compact in delay positions, set between the screens at the rear of the auditorium
So who are FACEIT? The answer is the creators of the leading competitive online gaming platform, and the Esports Championship Series (ECS). The event itself was the 13th CS:GO Major - billed as the UK’s biggest esports tournament to date. Known for offering competitive gaming opportunities for players of all levels through their platform while delivering premium live event experiences for top-level teams, FACEIT brought players in from around the world for the occasion.
“They are doing something unique,” said Conway. “It has a tremendous outreach and there are millions of people around the world tuning in.” The final game of the event saw just over a million people tuning in, with over 61m hours viewed over the whole tournament which started at Twickenham Stadium at the beginning of the month.
Said Simon Barrington, “I have had the pleasure of working with Capital on several music events over the years and they have never failed to deliver a highly professional but also very personable service. This is something I feel is very important in the stressful and tiring world of live events. Bringing them into the world of competitive computer gaming was an obvious step for me. I was very pleased that Robin specified the MLA system which I have come to love. When space is at a premium it’s a massive help, especially when the weight is nowhere near what you might expect such a powerful (and high quality) box to be.”
(Jim Evans)

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