ESL African Championship announcement

ESL reveal the ESL African Championship, a ~$150,000 prize pool series featuring CS:GO and Hearthstone tournaments.

ESL have unveiled their first ever championship on the African continent - the ESL African Championship. Professional South African CS:GO teams and Hearthstone players from all over the world have been given the chance to participate at this event, featuring a yearly aggregate prize pool of R2,000,000 (~$150,000). 

ESL’s Executive Board Member, Malte Barth expressed the following in the announcement:

We are excited to bring the ESL African Championship to the local esports community. By giving gamers the opportunity to compete at the leading global leagues and tournaments, we help them pave their way to create legendary moments within the ESL esports universe. Together with our partner Kwesé, we are committed to making the ESL African Championship a great success!”

The pre-series for the event will take place from April to June, featuring open qualifiers where all interested parties can participate in a bid to secure eight placements in the group stage. The top four players/teams from the group stage advance to the playoffs of the pre-series, whilst the bottom four players/teams are sent into the second series relegation matches. 

Regarding the second series, it will immediately follow after the conclusion of the pre-series, commencing in July. The top four players/teams from the second series qualifiers will join the bottom four players/teams from the pre-series group stage in relegation matches, where the sole winner will advance to the group stage of the second series. The top four players/teams to emerge from the group stage join the four pre-series victors, advancing to the LAN finals, hosted in October at the rAge Gaming Expo, Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Images courtesy of ESL