ESL One Cologne will be held as an entirely online tournament, according to a blog post released by the tournament organizer. Additionally, Cologne will be turned into a regional tournament, with Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania all competing in separate tournaments. According to the announcement, teams from the CIS region will compete in what is now ESL One Cologne’s main European division.
While ESL One Cologne was originally set to be held in Cologne, Germany, the ongoing global situation forced ESL to declare that the tournament would be played without a live audience. Since that decision, ESL had held firm on Cologne’s LAN status until its July 16 announcement that the tournament would move entirely online.
The move makes ESL One Cologne the fourth major CSGO tournament to be rescheduled or to transition from a LAN setting to online, alongside CSGO’s 2020 Major, ESL One Rio, the entirety of ESL Pro League Season 11, DreamHack Masters Spring, and CS Summit 6. Originally billed as a $1,000,000 tournament, ESL One Cologne’s prize pool has been halved to $500,000 and distributed between each of the four major regions. ESL says that the remaining $500,000 will be “redistributed equally” between IEM Katowice 2021 and ESL Cologne 2021.
Here are the participating teams in each individual division of the revamped ESL One Cologne, complete with prize pools, total teams, and group stage and playoff formats.
Curious about what it’s like to play in front of an empty stadium? Check out WIN.gg’s inside IEM Katowice 2020 video below.
Prize Pool: $325,000
Teams: 16
Format: Double elimination, best-of-three series
Playoff Format: Single elimination, best-of-three series, BO5 grand final
Prize Pool: $135,000
Teams: 8
Format: Double elimination, best-of-three series
Playoff Format: Single elimination, best-of-three series, BO5 grand final
Prize Pool: $20,000
Teams: 4
Format: Double elimination, best-of-three series, BO5 grand final with the upper-bracket winner holding a one-map advantage
Prize Pool: $20,000
Teams: 4
Format: Double elimination, best-of-three series, BO5 grand final with the upper-bracket winner holding a one-map advantage
ESL One Cologne officially starts its new online format when the tournament kicks off on August 18. The modified event will run through August 30.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
