ESL focus on CS:GO in upcoming tournaments

It’s summer, and all of us in the Counter-Strike community are anticipating the release of the long-awaited CS2. However, as they have become accustomed to in recent times, Valve is keeping silent, and we still do not indicate the exact date of the new game’s worldwide release.

On the other hand, the arrival of CS2 will likely not be in the next few weeks. We have heard different professional players, content creators, and well-known commentators mention that CS2 will arrive after the end of ESL Pro League S18 in October. Furthermore, these rumors increased after a Tweet posted by ESL’s Marc Winther stated that tournaments will continue to be played in CS:GO until further notice.

ESL focuses on CS:GO after an impatient wait for CS2

A CS:GO community member asked Marc Winther, in charge of the Counter-Strike ecosystem at ESL, if future Counter-Strike tournaments would be played on CS2. However, Winther answered convincingly, explaining that because the new game’s exact release date is unknown, all tournaments will be played in CS:GO. Furthermore, it is also clarified that they will communicate the switch to CS2 as soon as possible.

Until further notice, CS:GO will be the game played. CS2 currently has no specific release day, we’ll communicate on the change to CS2 as soon as we can.

— Marc Winther (@marcwinther) June 26, 2023

As we have mentioned in different opportunities, Valve announced the worldwide release of CS2 in the summer of 2023. However, there is still no specific date for this release even though, a week ago, summer officially started.

As a result, tournament the community still does not know when the transition to the new competitive scene will begin. In addition, the fact that there are plans to change the game in the middle of the tournaments is not ideal, as this would certainly affect the competitive level of the teams.

On the other hand, we are very close to enjoying the first tournament of the highest competitive level, the BLAST Premier Fall Groups. While the IEM Cologne will be played at the end of July. We can conclude that both tournaments will be played in CS:GO barring an unexpected twist in the coming hours.

Uncertainty in the community is higher

As we know, the summer ends in mid-September, specifically on the 21st. But the community expected the release of CS2 at the end of the first part of this 2023 season. However, Valve does not give any information regarding the arrival of the new game. So, both BLAST and ESL will have to decide to play both tournaments with CS:GO.

The offseason is several days old. As a result, many teams are making changes in their lineups, thinking directly about the imminent arrival of CS2. Similarly, uncertainty reigns in the Counter-Strike competitive scene. It is unclear when CS2 will arrive and when CS:GO will be played in official tournaments.

Header: ESL