ESL is bringing its ESL One tournament series to the United Kingdom to stage the country’s first big Dota 2 event this May.
ESL One Birmingham, an official Major event in the Dota 2 Pro Circuit, is scheduled for May 25 to 27. With previous events such as the ECS Counter-Strike: Global Offensive finals previously staged in London, this will be the first major event in the U.K.’s second city.
The main event will take place in Arena Birmingham—previously known as the Barclaycard Arena—an indoor stadium with a seating capacity of 15,800. As with previous Majors in the Pro Circuit, ESL One Birmingham will have 1,500 Pro Circuit points and $1 million in prize money on the line.
Unlike ESL One Genting and ESL One Katowice, however, Birmingham will play host to just 12 teams as opposed to 16. Six teams from each of the major regions in Dota 2 will be invited, while the other half of the field will come from regional qualifiers.
“This is a dream come true for the ESL UK team and a fantastic win for the UK scene,” said James Dean, managing director of ESL UK. “Dota 2 was the very first tournament we ran just after starting up in 2012. We are honored to have this opportunity and hope to make the community extremely proud.”
ESL’s press release mentions that the bidding process for this leg of the ESL One series came down to three countries that had never hosted Dota 2 Majors before. In the end, the city of Birmingham won the bid, which West Midlands mayor Andy Street described as a major win for the city.
“It’s tremendous news for the city to be playing host to such a prestigious international esports event,” said Street. “We very much look forward to welcoming the Dota 2 community.”
In addition, the event will include what ESL is calling a “wider festival celebrating Dota 2,” and opportunities for fans to get involved with the event itself outside of simply being spectators.
Tickets for ESL One Birmingham will go on sale starting this Thursday, March 15.
