Emmanuel Macron confirms BLAST Premier 2023 in Paris

The CS:GO Major will make its return to Europe in 2023 in the wake of the IEM Rio Major 2022 which will be held from 31st October to 13th November.

President Emmanuel Macron announced that Blast will host the 2023 CSGO Major in Paris, staying true to his pre-election campaign promises to ignite the esports spark in France. The President has welcomed the event, referring to it as the “Major international esports tournament in 2023,” which will take place in May of 2023. Despite having some of the best CS:GO players, including Richard “shox” Papillon and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, France had never previously hosted a CS:GO Major.

In a brief update video posted to Twitter, French President Emmanuel also sent his gratitude to the numerous participants of ZEvent, a charity streaming event that took place over the weekend. This year, Sébastien “Ceb” Debschose, a two-time Dota 2 World champion, also took part in the charity tournament and helped raise money for environmental causes. They have raised more than ten million dollars, which they will donate to five nonprofits with an ecological focus.

With more than $11M donated to Action Against Hunger in less than three days the previous year, the event shattered its previous record and was enthusiastically praised by both the gaming community and President Macron. There are more significant esports competitions that France will stage soon in addition to the BLAST Premier Major. Trackmania Games will also visit the nation in 2024, according to Macron’s announcement.

The CS:GO Major will return to Europe

The CSGO Major 2023 will be held in Bercy, Paris which previously served as the site of the previous LoL World Championship, the President further stated. The Regional Major Ranking) qualifiers for the BLAST Paris Major 2023 are set to take place in the months of February and March, with the main RMR tournaments taking place in April. The CS:GO Major will take place from May 8 to 21 with the first two stages of the event taking place on LAN without the live audience. The Accor Arena, an indoor sports arena and music venue with a capacity of over 20,000 spectators, will host the Champion stage.

This event will be the first time ever an international event has been hosted in the country. Also, this marks the first time that the Danish company, previously RFRSH Entertainment, will host a Valve-sponsored tournament since it was founded six years ago. First with their novelty-tailed BLAST Pro Series event series, then with their truly world-class Premier circuit, BLAST has firmly established itself as the leader in CSGO production. However, organizing an event of this magnitude will be the company’s most important project to date.

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