ESL Challenger to take place in Katowice

Following the cancellation of DreamHack Hannover, originally scheduled to run from June 9 to 11, ESL has revealed an update on the ESL Challenger, which was supposed to take place as part of the festival.

The ESL Challenger tournament will take place as scheduled between June 9 and 11. However, the location will change and due to the timing, there is no alternative to DreamHack to tie the tournament to.

ESL Challenger Hannover Update

The tournament will still be held on LAN and as such, the ESL Challenger will be held at the studios in Katowice, Poland instead. Although the location has changed, the tournament format remains the same, featuring eight teams and a prize pool of $100,000.

With four seasons per year, the ESL Challenger League is a direct route to the ESL Pro League, with regional champions of each season of the ESL Challenger League receiving a direct slot into the upcoming season of the ESL Pro League. A total of 48 teams from over 20 different countries competed in three divisions between January 17 and March 26 for a  total of $120,000 in prize money.

The ESL Challenger aims to give aspiring teams the opportunity to compete with the best in the world and allow them to compete in the ESL Pro Tour, where they can prove themselves and earn a chance to establish themselves on the professional CS:GO scene.

Why was DreamHack Hannover canceled?

Freaks 4U Gaming, the organizers of DreamHack from Spandau, say it was a “difficult but necessary decision”. With this statement on Twitter, DreamHack Germany apologized to its visitors and event partners.

The statement read:

“We regret to inform you that we have decided to cancel this year’s DreamHack Hannover Summer. “The focus is now fully on the Winter Edition, so that it not only lives up to your expectations, but gets even better.”

The Winter Edition of DreamHack is scheduled to run from December 14 to 17, 2023.

Participating Teams

ESL has announced the four teams participating in the event, which will be held at the same time as the BLAST Premier Spring Finals in Washington, DC: ENCE, paiN, FORZE and Virtus.pro.

The teams earned the place thanks to their World Ranking, while Virtus.pro got the place because it is the highest-ranked team in Europe according to ESL.

The team list for the ESL Challenger Katowice 2023 is as follows:

• Virtus.pro
• paiN
• STRENGTH
• ENCE
• Europe qualifier winners
• North America Qualifier
• South America Qualifier
• South Africa Qualifier

Header: ESL