The ESL Pro Tour revealed its StarCraft II esports tournament schedule on Friday. The events will run from May 2022 to Feb. 2023. A total prize pool of $1.3 million will be on the line across the entire tour.
These gaming events for StarCraft II will combine the past legacies of Blizzard, ESL and DreamHack. This is meant to create an open ecosystem where interested participants can either play or watch the tournaments.
How the StarCraft II circuit works
There will be three main ESL competitions:
- DreamHack StarCraft II Masters in Valencia (May 18 to June 5, and July 1 to July 3)
- DreamHack StarCraft II Masters in Atlanta (Sept. 28 to Oct.16, and Nov. 18 to Nov. 20)
- Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023 (Feb. 11 to Feb. 16)
The StarCraft II World Champion will be crowned at the Intel Extreme Masters event, which will run between Feb. 11 and Feb. 16 in 2023.
The schedule will also have partner tournaments involving TakeTV and Team Liquid competitions.
DreamHack festivals and more
Currently, there are plans for the return of DreamHack festivals, according to the press release. There will also be a mix of LAN and online tournaments.
“We are proud to share the 2022/23 plans for our ESL Pro Tour SC2 tournaments,” Shaun Clark, Director Product Management at ESL Gaming, said.
Clark added that the esports company’s work with Blizzard has “gone from strength to strength.” There will be exciting plans in the pipeline as ESL Gaming begins working closely with new and old tournament organizers.
“ESL has been an incredible steward of StarCraft II esports,” Joshua Owyang, Senior Manager of Global Esports at Blizzard, said. “We are thrilled with what is to come in 2022. It’s bound to be another brilliant year for one of the greatest competitive games ever.”
The tour will allow players to compete globally through online qualifiers and regional tournaments. Supported regions include North America, Europe, Latin America, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Oceania and the rest of Asia.
