Counter Stike Global Offensive is one of the most widely played competitive PC game. And now, it seems like the bar is going to rise even further as ESL and Dreamhack have joined hands to form the ESL Pro Tour, thereby, combining over 20 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments into the single largest competition circuit in the world.
With this partnership, The ESL Pro Tour is going to become more competitive as the new set up a divides the tournament into Challenger and Masters levels. Challenger includes the DreamHack Open, the Mountain Dew League, along with the ESL National Championships. Those who perform well enough and qualify forward will enter into Masters, which will largely be made up of arena tournaments worth $250,000.
Furthermore, Masters level will include tournaments such as ESL One powered by Intel, Intel Extreme Masters, DreamHack Masters, and the ESL CS:GO Pro League. The best teams judged through the ESL Pro Tour Ranking will then advance into two Masters championship finals, ESL One Cologne in Germany and Intel Extreme Masters Katowice in Poland. The two results will then decide the Champion.
“ESL’s growth in recent years has led us to rethink what we are doing. We have built some of the world’s most impressive esports tournaments, and it was the time to connect the dots where the outcome is a bigger picture that fits better with our vision for esports,” said ESL CEO Ralf Reichert in a prepared statement. “This partnership between ESL and DreamHack will give youths a clearer and more complete path to becoming somebody and a structure that is more welcoming and digestible for new esports fans.”