ESL FACEIT Town Hall meeting reports include information on losses, job cuts, and AI

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 04/11/2025

A report on the ESL FACEIT Town Hall meeting reveals that ESL is wrangling huge losses, the aftermath of widespread restructuring, and the integration of AI into company practices post-layoffs. 

The report also claims that ESL’s business structure is now focusing heavily on catering to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

A “flatter hierarchy” and “organisational re-alignment” – key takeaways from the ESL FACEIT meeting 

Highly regarded esports journalist Richard Lewis exposed exclusive insights into ESL’s Town Hall meeting in a Substack post. He was able to outline the key messages delivered to ESL FACEIT employees. 

Notably, Lewis also reports that there was no Q&A session for employees to seek additional information.

Key takeaways are as follows: 

• ESL FACEIT’s “new operating model” intends to result in a “flatter hierarchy” across the company. Whether this accurately describes the employee experience is unknown. However, this is how ESL FACEIT wants to present its internal structure. 

• The company has suffered monumental losses. This includes 54% losses between 2023 and 2024. Despite these recent heavy losses, the company confidently claims “everything but DreamHack will be profitable in 2026” 

• Although reassurance was made that “the worst is behind us,” there are more tumultuous changes on the horizon. Post-layoffs, ESL will see “approximately 300 employees” changing departments. This includes splitting and restructuring the marketing and commercial teams. 

• AI is expected to play a central role in operations moving forward. ESL FACEIT wishes to replace the work of individuals completing “bread and butter tasks” such as talent contracts and NDAs with AI. They also aim to involve AI in data processing. It is unclear whether this will lead to further layoffs if the AI proves effective.  

ESL’s Saudi ownership – from past controversy to recent questions

ESL and FACEIT were merged after being acquired by the Savvy Gaming Group (SGG) in 2022. SGG is 100% owned by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund. 

The ESL and FACEIT acquisitions were quickly criticised for their links to Saudi Arabian government funding at the time.

Most of this criticism centred around Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, which continues to be a highly relevant discussion today. 

More recently, ESL FACEIT Group has faced intense backlash for deciding that the ESL Impact CS2 Women’s Circuit is indefinitely suspended. This appears to have been part of the loss-cutting described in the ESL FACEIT Town Hall meeting. 

Additionally, the Town Hall meeting report suggests that Saudi Arabia’s Project 2030 is becoming increasingly central to ESL FACEIT operations. 

Richard Lewis reported that presentation slides referenced a “Middle East Growth Engine” and shared goals to expand the company’s “global footprint.” 

ESL FACEIT is already responsible for the production of the Esports World Cup.

The Esports World Cup has faced intense criticism for various reasons, including its broadcast quality and a system that appears to unfairly benefit Saudi Arabian teams, which have significantly more disposable funds to spend on rosters.

ESL’s intrinsic association with the EWC, combined with the axing of programs like ESL Impact (which seemingly does not align with traditional Saudi Arabian values), is significantly eroding trust in the organisation. 

There is no plan to improve this trust or demonstrate that ESL is working towards a system that actively supports esports communities. 

Instead, ESL FACEIT appears to primarily serve the Saudi Arabian government.    

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Hannah is a journalist specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports, Apex Legends, and advocating for women's esports initiatives. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ALGS LANs, ESI London, EGX, and watch parties.

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