FACEIT is partnering up with European esports giant Dreamhack for the conclusion to the second leg of its Counter-strike: Global Offensive League.
FACEIT League, which is currently knee-deep in the Stage 2 online group matches, will combine all three regions—Europe, America, and Oceania—for their Stage 2 Finals, which will take place at next month’s DreamHack Open in Valencia, Spain.
The move comes as Counter-strike is in the midst of its hottest year in a history that spans more than a decade and a half. The game’s newest iteration, Global Offensive, had its biggest breakthrough yet in March, when 1 million viewers tuned in to watch the ESL finals. Shortly thereafter, ESL and ESEA teamed up to start a Pro League.
FACEIT, an online matchmaking platform, made its own statement earlier this year, when it announced a three-stage league with $250,000 in prizes —a huge increase in funds from its previous seasons. The first stage put together some impressive viewing numbers in May, despite a DDoS attack that temporarily knocked the tournament offline.
Staging the end of its second leg at DreamHack is a perfect way to top Stage 1. DreamHack is the largest LAN tournament in the world and its Valencia Open has hosted many important esports tournaments in the past. Last year, DreamHack events brought in more than 100,000 attendees and 32 million online viewers.
This partnership provides another benefit: As Counter-Strike is beginning to become saturated with tournaments, imposing an exhausting schedule on pros, this actually reduces the number of tournaments out there. As Michael Van Driel, DreamHack’s project manager, explained:
“With more and more tournaments popping up in CS:GO, teams are being more and more exhausted, and fans are being overwhelmed… With this partnership we’re confident we’re taking the right steps to have a sustainable and balanced long term ecosystem within CS:GO.”
Details are still a bit hazy on what kind of prizes will be available—FACEIT only mentions an “increased prize pool”— but fans are sure to get a treat as the top teams in the world compete in their favorite game on a new, massive stage.
Photo via DreamHack/Flickr | Remix by Jacob Wolf
