EPICENTER in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to take place on October 22–28th in Moscow



The international esports tournament EPICENTER in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive returns to Moscow. The group stage is scheduled for October 22–25th, and the finals will take place on October 27–28th in the CSKA Arena ice palace (previously known as VTB Ice Palace). Viewers will enjoy an impressive battle of the world’s best teams, spectacular and unforgettable show, and signing sessions with professional players and casters.



Ten teams will take part in the tournament. Five of them will receive direct invitations to the group stage. Four EPICENTER participants will be determined in regional qualifiers in Europe, CIS, Americas and Asia. Another team will get a Wild Card invitation from organizers. The tournament’s prize pool is $300,000.



Closed qualifiers in Europe will take place on September 5–6th, and the dates for Americas are September 8–9th. The CIS closed qualifier is set for October 5–6th. On October 19th, the strongest team according to HLTV ranking from the pool of 5 teams: 4 regional qualifiers leaders and the team invited via the Wild Car, will receive the direct invitation in the group stage. Four other teams will compete for the last two spots in the group stage during the first day of EPICENTER on October 22d in a double-elimination bracket.



Open qualifiers start on August 19th in Europe and on August 21st in Americas. The sign-ups in these regions are already live. The CIS open qualifiers will begin on September 24th and run through October 1st. Sign-ups notice will be given at a later time. All qualifiers will be held on the FACEIT platform.



The federal mobile operator Yota will become the general partner of the tournament. The energy drinks company Black Monster is an official partner of the tournament.



Registration forms for open qualifiers for Europe and Americas are available via links below:



America qualifier #1, August 21st

Europe qualifier #1, August 19th



America qualifier #2, August 25th

Europe qualifier #2, August 23d



America qualifier #3, August 29th

Europe qualifier #3, August 27th



America qualifier #4, September 2rd

Europe qualifier #4, August 31st



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Federal mobile operator Yota was the first Russian brand to actively support esports, after joining the EPICENTER project in 2016. To date, five EPICENTER tournaments in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have been organized in partnership with the mobile carrier. The core product of the company is mobile internet. Besides, Yota prevents extra expenses during travel within Russia, which will help all fans to watch the events from practically anywhere in the country.

Black Monster has traditionally supported action-filled spectator sports including car racing, motorcycle speedway, MMA, hockey and others. The energy drink manufacturer devotes particular attention to electronic sports, being a sponsor of leading esports tournaments and teams and creating an esports content for gamers. This has provided Black Monster with efficient channels and tools of communication with its target audience of active, forward-thinking young people.

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Epic Esports Events is focused on organizing international esports events and has been hosting the series of EPICENTER tournaments in Dota 2 and CS:GO in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg since 2016. Over 24 million viewers around the world followed the first EPICENTER: Moscow tournament. At Europe’s leading EuBEA awards in 2016, that tournament got the prize for the best event in Europe in the Live Entertainment industry.



The second EPICENTER: Moscow, Russia’s first world-class CS:GO tournament, received ample coverage in domestic as well as international media. Over 12 thousand spectators attended the finals of October 2017’s EPICENTER: Saint Petersburg in CS:GO, and a total of over 30 million viewers watched its livestreams online.



EPICENTER XL in Moscow, held in May 2018, was the first Major series tournament in Russia. The competition was organized with support of the developer and publisher of Dota 2, Valve, and the top 4 teams of EPICENTER XL earned qualifying points for direct invitations to The International 2018, the biggest championship in one of the world’s most popular games in the MOBA genre.



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ESforce Holding is one of the worlds' biggest esports organizations and the leader of the Russian cybersport. The holding combines all key directions of the esports business: from the organization of international tournaments and creation of professional content to publishing, advertising, and net retail of esports-themed products. ESforce owns more than 220 popular Internet-resources with a total audience of 12 million subscribers and 114 million unique viewers per year, which covers more than 90% of esports broadcast in Russia and CIS, plus a significant portion of an international target audience. In 2018, the holding became a part of Russia's biggest technological company – Mail.Ru Group.