STOCKHOLM: ESL and DreamHack, both owned by Sweden's eSports and gaming firm MTG, have entered a partnership agreement with livestreaming platform Huya as the Swedish company seeks to expand in the booming Chinese eSports market.

MTG said the deal with Huya, which is backed by Internet giant Tencent, made the Chinese firm an exclusive digital media partner of eSports competitions in several Chinese languages and dialects.

It had said earlier this year that talks with Huya over a joint venture to break into the market were terminated.

As part of the deal, Huya will gain exclusive rights to broadcast and distribute big tournaments from MTG's e-sports companies ESL And DreamHack, the Swedish company said in a statement.

The Chinese eSports market is the largest in the world followed by North America, according to Newzoo. The analytics firm expects global e-sports revenues to grow by 15.7% this year to US$1.1bil .

eSports, which represents around 40% of MTG revenues, is negatively affected by the coronavirus as it is built around large live events, while the company's gaming business has coped better.

MTG said in March that it expects eSports revenues to decline by 35-45% in the first six months of the year, with an improved performance in the second half.

The company, which spun off its media and TV business NENT in 2018, is due to report second-quarter earnings at 1200 GMT.

 - Reuters