ESL has announced that it will host a CS:GO tournament in Cologne with $250,000 in cash prizes.

The event will take place from August 22-23 at a 15,000-seater stadium to be built inside the Lanxess Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena that is used by the VfL Gummersbach handball club and the Kölner Haie ice hockey club.

It is the second largest multifunctional arena in Europe, which will make it, in ESL's words, the "world's largest CS:GO event".





Lanxess Arena to stage CS:GO event

ESL One Cologne 2015 will be the fourth $250,000 CS:GO tournament hosted by ESL in just two years, but it will be the first time that the prize pool will be provided directly by the German organisation, without the support of the community.



This is a testament to ESL's commitment to continuing to contribute to the development of competitive CS:GO, claims Ulrich Schulze, Managing Director of Pro Gaming at ESL.

“We had the honour of hosting two US$250,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments last year as part of the ESL One esports tour, and this year we plan on stepping it up," Schulze said. "ESL One Cologne is going to be the largest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event in the world. Taking place in the biggest indoor arena in Germany, we’re sure it’ll be a massive hit for fans from all over."

Details about the qualifying process for ESL One Cologne have not yet been released, but it has been confirmed that the tournament will continue to feature 16 teams.

Tickets to ESL One Cologne will be available for purchase on February 23 on Eventim and all associated ticketing agencies in Germany.

