In what could be one of the greatest developments to grace the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) scene, ESL, the largest eSports entity in the world as well as ESEA, the largest competitive CS: GO communşty worldwide, join forces in order to host the ESEA ESL Pro League, which is the largest of its kind in CS: GO history.
The league features 12 teams from North America and 12 teams from Europe in its first season and will expand to other regions in the following seasons. These teams will brawl it out for a whopping $1,000,000 prize pool, which is equivalent to the total prizes given out across four CS:GO major tournaments.
Two seasons will be held this year, with each season having a prize pool of $500,000. The first season will begin on May 4 and the matches will be played on the ESEA client, which boasts an anti-cheat system that is reputed to be one of the best in the world. The offline finals of the said tournament will be held in both Cologne (Germany) and Los Angeles (US), featuring four days of LAN action between the top CS teams in the world.
The partnership between these two giants aim to “bring almost thirty years of combined experience in high quality esports production and broadcasting to what will be the world’s most prestigious Counter-Strike league.”
In addition, it states that “seasons scheduled around Valve-supported majors aim to consolidate the Counter-Strike market by providing consistent high quality content to the global esports audience.”
Finally, the league promises to “see prize money increase over the coming years as it strives to strengthen the competitive scene.”
More information about the league will be known in the upcoming days.
Source: ESL Official Website
*Banner image also taken from the same website.
