The first CS:GO Major in nearly two years will occur in the country where the first Counter-Strike Major and features a larger prize pool.
PGL is hosting the next Counter-Strike Major in Stockholm, Sweden. The major will take place at the Ericsson Globe. Currently, the plan is for there to be an in-person audience, and the capacity for the Ericsson Globe is 16,000. The Ericsson Globe is the same arena where DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 and DreamHack Invitational 2014 took place. However, the tournament will only happen if “all safety conditions… are met by that time.” If the safety conditions are not met, Valve may cancel this Major just like the 2020 Brazil Major, which it first moved to November and then canceled entirely due to COVID-19.
For this major, the prize pool will be $2 million, making it the largest Major prize pool. Once again, teams will have to place well in Valve Regional Major Ranking events. While most of these will occur online, there are plans for “one offline RMR per region before the Major.” The main event will happen from Nov. 4 to 7 in front of a live audience
What is unique about this CS:GO Major?
As stated in PGL’s press release, the 2021 CS:GO Major will be unique to all others. First, it will be the first Major to be streamed in 4K resolution versus the standard 1080p. Next, PGL plans to add “Augmented Reality elements, brand new custom HUD and other brand new features.” However, it is unknown how they will do this.
📢 PGL TO HOST THE FIRST CS:GO MAJOR AFTER A TWO-YEAR BREAK
📰 Read more -> https://t.co/V7nBgesXnf#PGLMAJOR pic.twitter.com/qexpQgeTRo
— PGL (@pglesports) January 14, 2021
The major will take place from Oct. 23 to Nov. 7. The current format and talent line-up is unknown.
What team do you think will take home the first CS:GO Major in two years? Will the tournament be delayed due to the ongoing pandemic? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
You can see the full announcement here.
