(Cologne, Germany) June 3, 2015 - ESL One Cologne 2015 has now officially been named a CS:GO Major Championship. The event is set to run from August 20-23, with an offline group stage in the ESL Arena to begin two days prior to the LANXESS arena event on August 22-23. Organized by the world's largest esports company, ESL, the event is set to pit sixteen of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams against one another for a grand total of US$250,000 in prize money.
Sixteen teams, comprised of eight invited and eight qualified teams, will make their way to Cologne for ESL One: the top eight teams from ESL One Katowice and eight of the best teams from Europe, North America and Asia.
As a CS:GO Major Championship and with support from Valve, ESL One Cologne 2015 will showcase a host of special features leading up to and throughout the event.
For the first time at a CS:GO Major Championship, the lead-up to ESL One Cologne will feature regional offline qualifying events in Burbank (USA) on August 1-2, Cologne (Germany) on July 25-26 and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on July 18-19, to cement the eight advancing qualified teams. All regional qualifiers are available to watch live on Twitch.
The main event's group stage will be played out over two days in the ESL Arena from August 20-21, with the playoffs taking place in the LANXESS arena (August 22-23) on what will be the biggest stage Counter-Strike has ever seen. An additional stream will be organized so as to be able to broadcast all group stage and playoff matches, with every tournament match available to watch in-client via GOTV.
As another new feature, extensive behind-the-scenes and "out of game" footage featuring players and Counter-Strike personalities will be made available on YouTube throughout the event.
In addition, CS:GO fans will also have an opportunity to support their favorite teams by purchasing exclusive ESL One Cologne team stickers, each functioning as a game piece in the ESL One Cologne 2015 Pick'Em Challenge.
"After CS:GO surpassed one million concurrent viewers at ESL One Katowice, we now intend to raise the bar even higher with ESL One Cologne," said Ulrich Schulze, Managing Director of Pro Gaming at ESL. "By bringing teams from all over the world to the largest indoor arena in Germany, we are confident to make it the biggest and best CS:GO event ever hosted."
Tickets for the event are on sale and available through Eventim. Prices range from €41 for the weekend to €219 for a Premium ticket. Those unable to attend the Cologne stadium event, can either watch online through Twitch, or live in movie theaters thanks to the global ESPORTS IN CINEMAS project. With the aim of bringing esports to silver screens around the world, the project is led by ESL and BY Experience in order to expand the reach and audience of the esports industry.
For the latest updates on ESL One Cologne 2015 be sure to follow @ESLCS on Twitter and Like the ESL Counter-Strike page on Facebook. Use to hashtag #ESLOne to join the conversation.