ESL Reveal the Schedule for their CS:GO Events in 2021

ESL have revealed the schedule of all their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive events planned for 2021. While the dates of the events might still change, the schedule is intended to help both teams and fans to better prepare for the upcoming season.

The company has prepared some changes for the upcoming season. First and foremost, they are reducing the number of events from 10 to 8 – this was done in response to numerous reports of players experiencing fatigue and emotional burnout due to a heavy schedule. Besides that, the reduced number of events means that players will have to travel less, which is essential in the time of the pandemic and various travel restrictions. The time between the competitions will be used to create more content focused on players and storytelling.

In addition to it, ESL are planning to build a new studio in Europe, which will host the group stages of all ESL Pro Tour tournaments. Meanwhile, the playoffs are expected to be played at arenas across the world. The group stages will be played from Thursday to Sunday, while the playoffs will be played on Saturday and Sunday of the following week.

The Schedule:

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The schedule includes two events with a $1,000,000 prize pool – IEM Katowice (February 16 – 18) and ESL One Cologne (July 6 – 19), as well as two seasons of ESL Pro League, each of them featuring a $750,000 prize pool. The rest of the events will have $250,000 at stake each.