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Global esports company ESL has revealed it will host the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Major tournament of 2020. With the playoffs taking place in Rio De Janeiro’s Jeunesse Arena between May 21-24, it will be the first Major held in South America, and the first housed under the new ESL Pro Tour—a combined tournament circuit with over $5M USD in prizing featuring both ESL and DreamHack CS:GO events.
This will be the seventh Major hosted by ESL, the first of which was ESL One Katowice 2014, and the most recent being this year’s Intel Extreme Masters Katowice. It is also the third tournament the company has hosted in Brazil. According to the announcement, tickets for the previous events were some of the fastest-selling in the company’s history, with ESL One Belo Horizonte in 2018 bringing in 11,000 attendees.
CS:GO publisher Valve awards two Majors per year, typically to different tournament organizers. These events feature a special format, with four separate stages (explained here) leading to a playoff stage with a $1M prize pool.
The Brazil Major, as part of the ESL One brand, will also fall under the Intel Grand Slam—which awards an additional $1M to the first CS:GO team that can win four top ESL or DreamHack Masters events during a window of ten tournaments. The second Major of 2020 has not yet been announced, but will reportedly take place between Nov. 2-15.
