Tournament organizer ESL has taken an important step towards building a more diverse CS:GO ecosystem.
The recently announced ESL Impact all women’s circuit is focused on attracting more women into the game through a safe environment to compete in. ESL Impact features two league seasons with live finals, a standalone event, and online cash cups for all women.
ESL IMPACT LEAGUE (US$150,000)
GLOBAL FINALS AT DREAMHACK DALLAS
The global finals of the first league season will take place at DreamHack Dallas June 3-5 and welcome the eight best teams from all participating regions. Six teams will qualify from the ESL Impact League season (top two of Europe, North America & South America each). The other two teams will be wildcards coming in through open qualifiers in South Africa & Asia/Oceania**.
**For ESL Impact Season 1 the wildcard slot will go to Oceania, for Season 2 it will go to Asia
THE LEAGUE SEASON
The league season will feature 24 teams spread equally across the three core regions (EU, NA, SA). For the inaugural season, we will invite two teams directly whilst the other six teams will be determined through two open qualifiers.
Season Team Breakdown per Region (EU, NA, SA)
Starting on March 17th, ESL Impact League will be played and broadcast every Thursday and Friday for six weeks. The eight teams per region will be split into two groups of four and play out a round-robin best-of-three format with each team facing each other twice to create more frequent play days and matches for the all-women teams to compete in. The winner of group A will then face off against the second-placed team of group B and vice versa for the two slots at the global finals. At the same time, the last-placed teams of each group will go into relegation against the best teams from open qualifiers.
After Season 1 the format will be reviewed with the women players council to make adjustments based on their feedback.
THE QUALIFIERS
The qualifier for the first season of the ESL Impact League kicks off in less than a month, starting in early March. Start your journey and see if your team has what it takes to make it all the way to DreamHack Dallas and play in the global finals.
Qualifier Dates
Open Qualifier #1: 08 – 09 March (3 teams qualify for the league season)
Open Qualifier #2: 11 – 12 March (3 teams qualify for the league season)
Wildcard Qualifiers
Open Qualifier ZA: 23 – 24 April (winner qualifies for Global Finals)
Open Qualifier OCE: 23 – 24 April (winner qualifies for Global Finals)
