IEM champions ready for battle in Global SXSW festival

IEM last took centre stage in Austria just before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the event spanned over a week, throughout April and May. The last 3 IEM events occurred in Sydney in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The popularity of the events in previous years inclined IEM to host their event in one of the most fantastic cities in Australia again this year.

What can you expect from this event?

In previous years, the event has been over a week, but in this year’s edition, the event will only happen over 3 days. IEM Sydney will go hand in hand with the SXSW festival. The SXSW Festival will include live music, art and gaming, making this event even better than previous years. 

The esports tournament is only one arm of the festival there will be multiple different things for anyone attending to make this a fantastic event. The event will include upcoming potential in game creation, publishing, and hardware manufacture, as well as provide game demonstrations, exciting announcements, interactive gameplay, stage discussions, live performances, screenings, networking opportunities, investment sessions, and seminars.

What teams can you expect to see at the event?

There hasn’t been much released about who will be attending the event but we are pretty sure that you are likely to all of the big dogs in the ESL, the likes of Team Liquid, Fnatic and NRG.

History of IEM

IEM Sydney 2019

Team Liquid was the team to beat at IEM Sydney’s third edition in Australia. After easily defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas and MIBR, Team Liquid met European organization Fnatic in the Grand Final, in a NA-vs-EU duel. In an incredible Grand Final in which the renowned audience at Qudos Bank Arena lived up to its reputation, Liquid defeated Fnatic 3-2, capturing the IEM trophy and taking home the top prize of $100,000 USD.

IEM Sydney 2018

FaZe Clan came to the port city in 2018 seeking vengeance. With the acquisitions of GuardiaN and Olofmeister a few months ago, they discovered the remaining pieces of the jigsaw to construct a roster capable of showing up to any tournament in the globe and being counted among the favourites. Although Renegades defeated them in the Group Stage bracket, they came back in style to provide a great performance in the playoffs. The Danish titans Astralis awaited them in the Grand Final, but they managed to FaZe it up and record a clean sweep victory with a final score of 3-0 to capture the IEM trophy.

IEM Sydney 2017

The Brazilian roster of SK Gaming dominated the CS:GO landscape in 2017 with numerous key wins across the pro circuit, with the first IEM Sydney title being one of their most notable triumphs. They were so dominant at the event that they only lost one map throughout the entire tournament. This defeat came at the hands of FaZe Clan, who advanced to the Grand Final thanks in large part to the heroics of a then-recently-signed NiKo, who had an immediate effect on a side that defeated Astralis in the semifinals and would go on to achieve new heights in the months and years that followed.

Luke Lancaster, Head of Games, SXSW Sydney, commented: “I’m incredibly humbled to work with a team that shares the vision of presenting an event designed to showcase the power, creativity, and possibility of games in 2023. From the biggest, most accessible showcase of independent games in Australia, to the sheer spectacle of Intel® Extreme Masters, we cannot wait to put Sydney on the map as an unmissable date in the international games calendar.”

Source for this comment Esports Insider