ESL National Championships in CS:GO will soon cease to exist as the company decided to scrap them ahead of Counter-Strike 2‘s launch.
The company announced the news on Sept. 15, explaining that focusing on both nation-based CS ecosystems and the “borderless system based on pan-regional online tournaments” led to “a number of compatibility issues across different ESL Pro Tour properties.” As a result, CS:GO National Championships will end immediately or after the next upcoming season, depending on the country.
Benelux, France, Spain, and Turkey won’t have the opportunity to hold their final season this year. The case is different for Australia & New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, Poland, and the U.K., which will have their last season in 2023, before ceasing operations in 2024.
Polish and German teams will still have distinct chances to qualify for IEM Katowice and Cologne, respectively, which take place in their home countries.
“There is still room for regional and national competitions, but it will not be an active focus of ours,” ESL added.
National Championships in CS have been a part of ESL’s schedule for the past 20 years. They helped in growing local esports scenes and teams and were vital for many tier two and tier three squads. Therefore, many fans, players, and esports personalities are saddened to see such a decision being made, especially with CS2 on the horizon.
These aren’t the only changes coming to ESL’s ecosystem in Counter-Strike. At the beginning of August, Valve announced CS2 will have an open circuit in 2025, and tournament organizers, like ESL, won’t have “unique business relationships” with the attending teams.
As a result, ESL will lose the opportunity to partner with certain organizations in exchange for direct invites for their events, like the ESL Pro League. On paper, this should be another major blow for ESL, which could be looking to reorganize its business model following the changes.
Published: Sep 15, 2023 04:29 am