IEM Shanghai to take place during the CS:GO player break in August

ESL is taking the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive series to China for the very first time—but due to a scheduling issue, the world’s top teams won’t be attending.

The event was originally scheduled for the last week of July, with arrangements well underway and the venue booked. The event then had to be moved into the first week of August, however, due to what ESL called “an event beyond our control.”

That means the event falls into the agreed August player break. The world’s top teams have all agreed on taking the month of August off, to recover from the grueling schedule of circuits and leagues. Tournament organizers generally respect that break too, and ESL weren’t keen to ruin that—but in the end, they decided to run the event anyway with the agreement of players.

“In the short term,” ESL vice-president of gaming Michal “Carmac” Blicharz said on Reddit. “running an event during a player break and missing out on some top players isn’t optimal—but in the long run, the future of CS:GO is in the guys that will replace the ones in FaZe, Astralis and SK Gaming. And the highest potential for growth for CS:GO has to be outside of Europe.

IEM Shanghai will not count towards the IGS standings in any way: winning won’t count as an IGS victory, nor will the event will cause a prior IGS victory to expire. We’ve discussed all of the above with a number of players and their liaison, Scott Smith. The whole process was of mutual understanding.”

The Intel Grand Slam (IGS) is a $1 million prize awarded to the first team to win four top tier DreamHack or ESL events. Astralis, FaZe Clan, and SK Gaming currently lead the race with two wins each. That incentive could have led to teams wanting to compete during the break, so ESL has removed that option.

Instead, the tournament is an opportunity for teams below the very top tier to compete for a big prize and a tournament title. The five invites have been handed out to Virtus Pro, NRG Esports, Gambit Esports, Tyloo, and HellRaisers.

IEM Shanghai takes place Aug. 1 to 6, with qualifiers getting underway June 16.