PROSTUDIO
PLG RAISES THE STAKES
Power League Gaming, MENA’s full-service gaming and esports activation company, has upped its game with a state-of-the-art $1.5m virtual production studio designed to give it an edge over the competition. PLG’s Product and Production Director Arnor Jonsson and Tech Director Gisli Gudnason share an overview of the technologies used at the facility with BroadcastPro ME As one of the region’s largest esports and gaming events operators, PLG has reinforced its market leadership with the opening of a sprawling 10,000sqft corporate headquarters in Dubai Production City, with offices as well as studios. Previously based in Dubai Marina, PLG used to outsource its studio requirements to various outlets around the UAE. Spurred by the pandemic and the restrictions that rental facilities presented, the agency finally decided to create its own studio. Seeing the limitations of physical sets and the huge opportunities that virtual productions presented, with more sturdy and robust technologies to back those decisions, PLG decided to go in for a virtual production studio. Virtual production was the perfect match for the ‘Arabic first’ company that actively seeks to engage Arabic audiences. PLG then took a leap of faith with a $1.5m investment into its own facility, which houses a flexible virtual studio that boasts multiple green screens and presenter stages, allowing quick turnaround between productions. “We’ve seen a huge increase in content creation, with brands turning to us to target the Arabic-speaking gaming market,
22 | www.broadcastprome.com | June 2022
in particular through game launches and activations, talk shows and sponsored competitions,” explains Arnor Jonsson, Product and Production Director at PLG. “Content for these channels has to be fresh and engaging, so we required an agile solution that could support our growing client roster and their production needs.” But was putting in place a virtual production studio easy? “We are still learning,” explains Jonsson. “It took months of research into various aspects of virtual production just to be able to launch our first live-streamed broadcast. Even a simple thing as lighting could potentially pose a challenge when it comes down to virtual production.” This is where Technical Director Gisli Gudnason stepped in, spending countless hours researching virtual production for e-gaming just to determine the correct start point. “I don't know how many hours of YouTube videos he watched. Then there were online seminars and video tutorials on Unreal Engine by Epic Games,” says Jonsson. One of the key technology investments PLG made was in Blackmagic Design technology. “Our entire studio is designed around Blackmagic’s URSA Broadcast camera
