CS:GO’s Next Major

Today we’re excited to announce that the next CS:GO Major Championship will take place in July at ESL One Cologne, with playoff matches held in the LANXESS Arena.

Taking place July 5 – 10 in Cologne, Germany, the next CS:GO Major Championship will feature the top eight teams (Legends) from MLG Columbus 2016, who will compete against eight Challengers decided by a LAN qualifier. The qualifier will include the eight teams eliminated in the group stage of MLG Columbus 2016, as well as eight teams identified through Regional Minor Championships.

Legends and Challengers will battle for the title of CS:GO Major Champion, as well as the lion’s share of a $1,000,000 prize pool. The entire event will be streamed live via continuous coverage by ESL, with all matches featured on the official stream.

For more information about ESL One Cologne, please visit: http://esl-one.com/csgo/cologne-2016/

Minor Adjustment

For the upcoming Regional Minor Championships, we’re raising the stakes while making some adjustments to format: the winner of the Regional Minor Championship will take home the largest portion of the $50,000 prize pool, and both finalists (identified via double-elimination playoff) will be invited to the Major’s offline qualifier.

To accommodate a wider range of teams, players are now allowed to participate if they played in the most recent Major, provided their team does not consist of three or more players who played together in that event (such teams would already be directly invited to the qualifier or Major).

Regional Minor Championships are set to begin in May:

Europe Region – Hosted by DreamHack

CIS Region – Hosted by StarLadder

Asia Region – Hosted by PGL

Americas Region – TBD