SK Gaming, Cologne, Germany
League of Legends, Valorant/Valorant League German, Brawl Stars, Clash Royale
Esports
20 staff & freelancers, 2 production locations, 9 key sponsors, including Deutsche Telekom and Mercedes-Benz, +7M Followers, 8.7M Monthly Hours Watched, 320M monthly impressions, set up includes 80+ audio channels & 20 NDI sources
SK Gaming is a hallmark of the esports world, originating in 1997 when a group of friends united to play the Quake game competitively. Since then, it has grown into one of the trailblazers of global esports, managing professional teams and hosting major competitions for games such as League of Legends, Valorant, Brawl Stars, and Clash Royale. Their growing reputation has positioned them not only as key contributors to gaming excellence but also as pioneers of high-quality production for in-person and online audiences.
With operations running out of two key facilities—its headquarters in Cologne and bespoke gaming spaces at the nhow Hotel in Berlin—SK Gaming produces globally acclaimed game tournaments, streamed to audiences worldwide. From securing sponsorships with Deutsche Telekom and Mercedes-Benz to developing state-of-the-art technical setups, SK Gaming has cemented its position at the heart of esports innovation.
Esports production operates much like traditional broadcasting—but typically with tighter budgets. For SK Gaming’s production manager, Bastiaan Brands, the rising complexity of managing multiple audio streams became a pressing technical challenge.
With a setup largely built around advanced tools like the Waves eMotion LV1 mixing console, Dante AoIP, and NDI (Network Device Interface) protocol for streaming, the team was ready to deliver broadcast-quality coverage. But routing and processing audio via the vMix video system proved inefficient, adding unnecessary steps to the process, increasing equipment demands, and complicating workflows.
“We needed a solution that allowed us to de-embed and route audio seamlessly between systems—without requiring overly complex setups or breaking the budget,” explains Brands.
Additionally, esports audio comes with its own set of complexities. These include managing gameplay audio, remote contributor feeds, operator-specific mix-minus feeds, and multiple communication lines—all while maintaining impeccable flexibility and quality.
The team at SK Gaming had one clear objective in mind: simplify their audio management while enhancing flexibility and staying within realistic budget constraints.
After evaluating several technologies to tackle their broadcasting hurdles, SK Gaming selected LAMA Connect—a software-based audio patchbay and protocol converter. From the outset, LAMA Connect offered SK Gaming exactly what it needed:
“We chose LAMA Connect because nothing else offers the same functionality at this price point,” says Brands. “The installation was straightforward, and the smooth connectivity we experienced exceeded our expectations.”
Designed specifically to address modern audio production issues, LAMA Connect bridges the gap between traditional audio hardware and IP-driven formats like NDI and AoIP. Its features—such as virtual routing, clean feed outputs, and format conversion capabilities—are ideally suited to dynamic, multi-channel setups required in esports broadcasting.
“LAMA Connect became the Swiss Army Knife of our production chain,” says Brands. “It handles everything from routing NDI audio to embedding clean feeds for virtual systems.”
SK Gaming’s audio systems, which already leveraged powerful gear like the Waves LV1 console and Dante AoIP infrastructure, were enhanced by the integration of LAMA Connect.
Key components of the setup include:
Here’s how LAMA Connect fits into the ecosystem:
“With LAMA Connect, our sound engineer can instantly access separate audio streams—this was impossible under the old setup,” says Brands.
By implementing LAMA Connect, SK Gaming experienced a total transformation in its production workflow.
Key Benefits
LAMA Connect provided a direct solution to audio connectivity issues, removing unnecessary steps and consolidating multiple workflows into a single, streamlined system.
The team gained the ability to route return feeds and de-embed sources easily, offering greater operational control over production environments.
As an affordable, software-based tool, LAMA Connect eliminated the need for costly additional hardware, fitting within SK Gaming’s budget without compromising performance.
Despite the budget constraints typical of esports, SK Gaming maintained the high production standards required to engage global audiences.
“LAMA Connect gave us configurability, usability, and—most importantly—stability that was missing in our previous setup,” says Brands.
Competitive Advantage
With LAMA Connect, SK Gaming now operates a cutting-edge broadcasting pipeline, ensuring their events meet the demands of both in-person audiences and global viewers. These enhancements have fortified SK Gaming’s reputation as an innovator in the esports industry.
The integration of LAMA Connect has enabled SK Gaming to overcome long-standing challenges with elegance and efficiency. By uniting disparate systems under one scalable, software-driven framework, LAMA Connect has redefined what’s possible in esports audio production.