BLAST Premier, a professional esports league, has announced that the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships of 2023 will take place in Paris, France, between May 8th and May 21st.
CS: GO, popularly known as the Majors, is an international esports tournament sponsored by the game's developer Valve Corporation. The inaugural CS: GO Major was hosted by DreamHack in 2013, which took place in Sweden and included a grand prize of $250,000. In the years after that, the Major circuit has grown substantially, with recent tournaments boasting a USD 2,000,000 prize money and comprising twenty-four teams from all over the globe. The Majors are widely regarded as the pinnacle of competition in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive arena.
The BLAST Paris Major 2023 will be the first large-scale tournament hosted by the esports powerhouse, which has already established itself as one of the world's leading CS: GO tournament organizers. The Paris CS: GO is shaping up to be a spectacular event that will provide players and fans with an unforgettable experience. French President Emmanuel Macron made the official announcement for the Majors, keeping his promise from last year's election campaign to bring popular esports tournaments like the CS: GO, League of Legends World Championships, and Dota 2's The International to France.
As interest in esports increases, several countries are already in pole position to host major tournaments. Esports events are becoming increasingly popular in Australia, making it the second-most preferred location for CS: GO competitions in 2022, after Europe. The ESL Melbourne 2022 featured a prize pool of $100,000 which attracted teams from all around the world to compete. Two Brazilian teams, Imperial Esports and paiN Gaming, made it to the championship game. The latter ended up winning the series title, as anticipated by substantial pre-match wagers on Unibet and Picklebet, both of which offer the best sign-up bets for esports fans. Nonetheless, it was FalleN and his team that qualified for a spot in the EPL Conference.
The Paris Major is expected to be high on competitiveness as previous champions, the Outsiders, defend their title. Top teams from across the globe will gather to compete for a podium finish, and the winner will receive the bulk of the prize money and an invitation to the IEM Cologne 2023 finals.
Commencing in the middle of 2023, the CS: GO esports landscape will be packed with excitement courtesy of the BLAST Paris Major, which will determine which team will represent the region in the next major event. The qualifying rounds for the RMR (Regional Major Ranking) tournaments will take place in February and March, with the major competitions happening between April 3rd and 9th. As of right now, the dates for the Challengers stage are May 8th through the 11th, while the dates for the Legends stage are May 13th to 16th. From May 18th through May 21st, the final competitors will face off in the Champions stage. The first two rounds of the CS: GO Major will be contested on a local area network (LAN) behind closed doors, with only the finals, known as the Champions Stage, moving to the famous Accor Arena, an indoor sports venue and music hall located on the Boulevard de Bercy that can hold between 7,000 and 20,000 people.
Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST, has spoken about the company's excitement for the Paris 2023 Major and how BLAST has "always had an ambition" to host a CS: GO international tournament. When asked about the esports league's strategy, Douek said that they had been waiting for the "right moment" to provide an "unforgettable" championship experience for players and fans around the world. According to Blast.tv sources, the forthcoming event will have cutting-edge, fan-first viewing options that will let viewers personalize their viewing experience, relive memorable moments, and interact with the tournament in real-time. As a result, fans are optimistic that the 2023 tournament will be as exciting as the 2022 IEM Rio championships, thanks to BLAST's massive launch, innovative features, and significant promotion for the event.
Comments