The Esports Championship Series is back.

Founded by FACEIT in partnership with Twitch last April, ECS will be returning for Season 3 on Feb. 18, with sign-ups for the Open Qualifiers beginning Feb. 13.

Two Open Qualifiers will allow four teams, two from Europe and two from North American, to earn their spot in the ECS Development League. The Open Qualifiers will be single elimination until the quarterfinals and semifinals, which will be best-of-three matches. The top two teams from each Qualifier will move on.

Four invited teams will compete alongside the four Open Qualifier teams in the Development League. After a series of best-of-two matches, the top two teams from each region will progress to the ECS Promotional Playoffs.

Due to placing last in their Season 2 regionals, Virtus.pro and Fnatic are up for EU relegation in the Promotional Playoffs, while Team SoloMid and compLexity Gaming are on the chopping block for NA.

In the Promotional Playoffs, the EU and NA relegated teams will face off against the qualifying teams from the Development League in best-of-five matches. The winners of the relegation matches will earn their place in the Season 3 league.

Founded in 2016, the Esports Championship Series was the first CS:GO league to offer co-ownership to teams. Season 3 teams will be able to opt in to a co-ownership stake in the ECS league.

According to a news release, ECS hopes to give "participating teams financial support and benefits, akin to the co-ownership arrangements of professional sports leagues like the NBA."

FACEIT has also brought back the Community Caster Challenge. Up-and-coming casters looking to get involved with the ECS will be able to sign up for their chance to cast live Season 3 matches. Those chosen will be flown out to cast on location for ECS.

FaZe Clan, Cloud9, OpTic Gaming and Season 2 victors Astralis will be returning to compete via invite after top performances in their regions and in the Season 2 Finals.

Check out the official schedule of events below:

Kristine "Vaalia" Hutter is a news editor for theScore esports. You can find her on Twitter.