The new circuit offers a total prize pool of $500,000 spread across two league seasons and a standalone event.
ESL has just posted on their blog details of ESL Impact, their new, all-women competition circuit. This is part of their inclusivity initiative #GGFORALL, which was announced last December. The new circuit is a global one, designed as a first important step towards a more diverse CS:GO ecosystem.
There will be two new leagues under this circuit, with the first ESL Impact League to be played starting from March onwards. The final for the first league will be held at DreamHack Dallas, scheduled for 3-5 June where the event will welcome the eight best teams from all participating regions.
The eight-team breakdown will be as follows:
- Europe – 2
- North America – 2
- South America – 2
- South Africa – 1 (Wildcard)
- Asia/Oceania – 1 (Wildcard, Oceania for Season 1 and Asia for season 2)
Mechanics
For the two leagues, 24 teams will be playing in each region to see who will be in the grand final and win a spot in the eight-team at the final event at Dallas.
Starting on March 17th, ESL Impact League will be played and broadcast every Thursday and Friday for six weeks. The eight teams per region will be split into two groups of four and play out a round-robin best-of-three format with each team facing each other twice to create more frequent play days and matches for the all-women teams to compete in. The winner of group A will then face off against the second-placed team of group B and vice versa for the two slots at the global finals. At the same time, the last-placed teams of each group will go into relegation against the best teams from open qualifiers.
After Season 1 the format will be reviewed with the women players council to make adjustments based on their feedback.
Qualifiers
The qualifier for the first season of the ESL Impact League kicks off in less than a month, starting in early March. The dates for the qualifiers are as follow:
- Qualifier Dates
- Open Qualifier #1: 08 – 09 March (3 teams qualify for the league season)
- Open Qualifier #2: 11 – 12 March (3 teams qualify for the league season)
- Wildcard Qualifiers
- Open Qualifier ZA: 23 – 24 April (winner qualifies for Global Finals)
- Open Qualifier OCE: 23 – 24 April (winner qualifies for Global Finals)
Teams who are interested to register for the qualifiers can head to the following links to sign on:
Europe Open Qualifier
North America Open Qualifier
South America Open Qualifier
The qualifiers for South Africa and Oceania will open in Early March
