Jens Hilgers appointment

Turtle Entertainment co-founder moves from CEO to chairman's seat.

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on Jan. 25, 2010

Cologne, 25th January 2010 – After ten years as CEO of Turtle Entertainment GmbH, on 1st February 2010 Jens Hilgers will be transferring to a new role as Chairman of the Board. The co-founder is retiring from daily business operations, allowing him to become more heavily involved in defining the company's strategic direction. As Chairman of the Board Jens Hilgers will mainly be responsible for the business areas International Expansion, Business Development and Investor Relations. In future, Ralf Reichert will be the company's sole CEO. Ralf Reichert was appointed second managing director of Turtle Entertainment GmbH eight years ago; since then, he and Jens Hilgers have been jointly managing the company.

Jens Hilgers is a founder and partner in Turtle Entertainment GmbH; launched in 2000, the company today leads the European market in electronic sports (eSports). Under the management of Hilgers and Reichert, recent years saw the company create the world's most successful eSports league, the Electronic Sports League (ESL). Today, ESL operates in 37 countries around the world and has over 2.3 million members, an expansion Hilgers was instrumental in driving. In addition to his role as CEO of Turtle Entertainment, as Vice President Gaming Communities he was most recently also responsible for the business areas of Community Management, Information Technology, Product Desig n and Development.

"When we decided to found Turtle Entertainment ten years ago, we had a clear objective: we wanted to develop a real sport involving computer games and become the world's leading company in the 'competitive computer gaming' segment, also known as 'eSports'", says Jens Hilgers (34), recalling the founding of Turtle Entertainment in 2000. "Ten years later we have achieved this aim – the eSports leagues under the umbrella of ESL are today the world's most renowned. After these successful and exciting years in operative business I feel the time has come for me to make a change; I am therefore transferring to the Chairman of the Board, a mo ve that will give me more space to concentrate fully on our corporate strategy in the future. With my partner Ralf, the company's management remains in excellent hands, so we are well on course for a successful Turtle year 2010!"

A complete profile of Jens Hilgers is available online at: www.turtle-entertainment.com/Dateien/Jens_Hilgers_en.pdf

A photograph of Jens Hilgers is also available online: www.turtle-entertainment.com/Dateien/JensHilgers.jpg

Turtle Entertainment GmbH

Turtle Entertainment was founded in 2000. The company quickly grew to be the European leader in the sector of electronic sports (eSports). The Electronic Sports League (ESL), operated by Turtle Entertainment, is active in 37 different countries worldwide. The league portal www.esl.eu reaches above ten million visits a month generated by more than 2,3 million registered users. Turtle Entertainment has over 170 employees and is located in Cologne, Germany. Fifteen international license holders operate the ESL worldwide. Turtle Entertainment owns the majority of the Chinese eSports league PGL (Pro Gamer League) since 2007. Important business partners of Turtle Entertainment are global corporations and brands such as Intel, adidas, Volkswagen, Dell, Nokia, ASUS, Blizzard Entertainment, BitDefender, Sennheiser, Windows 7, Sidewinder, Razer and Alienware. Turtle Entertainment markets its products worldwide using these specific brands: Electronic Sports League (ESL), ESL Pro Series, ESL Major Series, ESL European Nations Championship (ENC), ESL WC3L Series, ESL TV, Intel Extreme Masters, Consoles Sport League, eSport Schulmeisterschaft, eSports Award, ESL Female and ESL Sports.

Further information is available at www.turtle-entertainment.com

Online resources at a glance:

- This press release as PDF: www.turtle-entertainment.com/Dateien/PR_JH_EN.pdf

- Profile of Jens Hilgers: www.turtle-entertainment.com/Dateien/Jens_Hilgers_en.pdf

- Photograph of Jens Hilgers: www.turtle-entertainment.com/Dateien/JensHilgers.jpg

- Turtle Entertainment (press section): www.turtle-entertainment.com/?press

- Electronic Sports League (ESL): www.esl.eu

- Company Trailer Turtle Entertainment GmbH (browser flash movie): http://files.turtle-entertainment.de/video/eslpromo.html

Contact:

Turtle Entertainment GmbH

Press Office

Ibrahim Mazari