ESL returns to Rio in April with IEM Brazil 2023

What was an open secret has now been confirmed. Well, one of the best esports event organizers in the world, ESL, has confirmed that the next IEM Brazil 2023 will be played in Rio de Janeiro, just as it was with the IEM Rio Major 2022.

ESL announces Rio as the venue for IEM Brazil 2023

On Thursday, February 16, through an announcement on its Twitter account and official blog, the ESL revealed that IEM will return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this season. The event’s official name will be IEM Rio 2023, and it will be played at the Jeunesse Arena, Barra da Tijuca, the same place where the IEM Rio Major 2022 playoffs were held. This stage saw Outsiders lift the trophy of the last Major 2022.

IEM Rio will take place from April 17-23, 2023, and will feature 16 teams, six of which are ESL partner teams, while the rest are invited or have qualified through various online qualifiers in recent days.

The prize pool of the IEM Rio 2023 is $250,000, of which $100,000 will go directly into the pocket of the champion team. In addition, this tournament is part of the Intel Grand Slam, the grand championship circuit ESL organizes.

Participating teams

As mentioned, six teams did not need to go through qualifiers and invitations, as they were simply ESL partners. However, the rest of the teams had to earn their place for this IEM Rio 2023. The participating teams are:

• FaZe Clan
• Fnatic
• MOUZ
• NaVi
• NiP
• Team Vitality
• FURIA Esports
• Heroic
• Outsiders
• Cloud9
• OG
• 9INE
• BIG
• MIBR
• 9z Team
• IHC

Of these 16 teams, FaZe, Fnatic, MOUZ, NaVi, NiP, and Team Vitality arrive directly because they are ESL partner teams. In addition, ESL invited FURIA Esports. Furthermore, heroic, Outsiders, Cloud9, and OG earned their ticket by their positions in the ESL world ranking. Finally, the rest of the teams had to battle different closed qualifiers in their regions to get a ticket to IEM Rio 2023.

IEM Rio 2023 format

The 16 participating teams will be divided into two groups of 8 teams each. The Group Phase will be played in a double-elimination format. The team that finishes first in each group will advance directly to the semifinals, while the second and third-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals. Unlike the Group Phase, the playoffs will be played in a single-elimination format.

However, the first-round matches of the Group Stage will be played in a best-of-one (BO1) format. On the other hand, the rest of the matches will be played to the best of three (BO3). The playoff matches will also be played in BO3 format, except for the Grand Final on April 23, which will be played in BO5 format.

Shaun Clark, Senior Director of Gaming Ecosystems – CS:GO at ESL FACEIT Group, said:

“Last year, during the IEM Rio Major, the Brazilian audience showed enthusiasm and passion as we had never witnessed before in eSports. So, when we announced that we would return to Brazil, we could already count on a lot of excitement from the community. IEM Rio 2023 is set for an intimate atmosphere and countless memorable moments.

We look forward to entering the Jeunesse Arena again this year and doing more in and for the region in the future.”.

Header: ESL