ESL Pro League season 12 goes online

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ESL Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Pro League Season 12 is going online.

In addition, the government of Malta agreed to host any ESL Pro League tournaments in 2021. Despite the fact that the last ESL season went online, Malta’s government still wants this business relationship to continue.

ESL Pro League Season 12

This next season will happen across five different regions, including South America, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. For the prize pool, Europe holds the biggest one at $450 thousand, followed by North America with $225 thousand. The remaining regions will fight for $25 thousand each.

Image credits to ESL Pro League

Starting on September 1 and ending on October 6, some of the best CS:GO teams will compete to win one of the most prestigious tournaments of the season. The teams who already announced their participation are Europe’s G2, Na’Vi, Vitality, OG, BIG, OG, Astralis, Fnatic, mousesports, NiP, Heroic, FaZe, and more.

For North America, three teams are still unknown but Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, FURIA, 100 Thieves, and Triumph are participating.

Malta 2020 Online

The government of Malta and ESL extended its partnership agreement to 2021. Even though this season will be held online, there are some hopes that 2021 will be the year to return to in-arena tournaments.

This “aims to strengthen the industry in Malta across all levels of the zero to hero pyramid of ESL,” ESL stated.

IT’S BACK! #ESLProLeague XII Malta 2020 Online is coming your way starting September 1st! ?

We’re also excited to announce that we’ll be extending our partnership with #GamingMalta for Season 12 and to host Pro League on LAN in 2021! ?https://t.co/qBKLSlP8Z9 pic.twitter.com/qNjaLoH5gf

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 20, 2020

Furthermore, there will only be 24 total teams that will compete in 2021. It was the organizer’s wish to reduce the number of teams for the previous iteration. However, going online required many sacrifices like the number of teams.

In 2021, 13 spots are already reserved for squads possessing agreements with ESL. As a result, only nine spots will be available for other teams.

In addition to taking care of the online play happening now, this ESL Malta partnership already focuses on the future. Thinking that 2021 will be the return of physical play is risky, but planning that far ahead is required to survive in this industry.

Written by Charles FUSTER