ESL Gaming Announces Exciting Changes to StarCraft 2 Pro Tour Format
ESL Gaming, one of the leading organizations in esports, has unveiled its plans for the upcoming StarCraft 2 ESL Pro Tour in 2023 and 2024. The event will feature a series of weekly cups throughout the year, culminating in live Masters Finals at DreamHack Summer 2023 and DreamHack Atlanta 2023.
In a bid to streamline the experience, the competition will see some regions merged. Latin America and North America will combine to form a new region, simply called ‘Americas’. Similarly, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Oceania, and the Rest of Asia will be merged into the ‘Asia’ region. The European and Korean regions will remain unchanged.
One of the most exciting changes is that ESL will now fund the program entirely, including the prize money. This means that the publisher of StarCraft, Activision Blizzard, will no longer bear the financial burden.
Michael Van Driel, the VP of Game Ecosystems at ESL FACEIT Group, expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming event, saying, “Moments like Li ‘Oliveira’ Peinan’s win at the Championship earlier this year at IEM Katowice are why we want to continue providing the platform for players to excel and succeed. We look forward to seeing the fans and community unite once again this year around the ESL Pro Tour.”
The tournament will feature weekly ESL Open Cups, two online StarCraft Masters Regional tournaments, and the EPT Championship as the flagship event of the year. The DreamHack StarCraft 2 Masters will be rebranded to ESL StarCraft 2 Masters.
StarCraft 2 is one of the most popular games in esports, and the ESL Pro Tour is one of the most prestigious events in the competitive gaming calendar. With these exciting changes, fans of the game can look forward to an even more engaging and streamlined experience.
