ESL’s CS:GO Pro League Gets a Facelift

ESL’s CS:GO Pro League is getting tweaked for the 2019 season, announcing plans to add more teams, along with a new format for year nine. According to the ESL announcement, changes were made following talks with the World Esports Association in order to help with “oversaturation of events and Pro League being online as well as time consuming.”

Starting with the New Year, the regular season will now be played in three separate regions: Europe, Americas and Asia-Pacific with each divided into four groups of four teams with seeding based on the ESL World Ranking. While APAC matches will remain online, EU games will be hosted offline at the ESL studio in the United Kingdom and the AM region in the United States in a move to “provide the most competitive environment possible to all participating teams.”

“WESA’s goal was to bring Pro League to the next level. With the great commercial and competitive success of recent years we are grateful to be in the position to invest into improving Pro League even further. We want to make it more attractive for users and players who expressed their interest in improving the schedule, in order to have more time to prepare for matches,” said Pietro Fringuelli, Commissioner of WESA. “With the new high-quality production in offline locations as well as the new league format, we are confident that the games will become even more attractive and more competitive than ever.”

The regular season will feature two Group Rounds in a move to decrease the time commitment needed by teams and spectators

“The CS:GO Pro League will return with a brand new format featuring live studio matches in Europe and North America, offering more teams the chance to earn one of the coveted spots in the toughest CS:GO league to date,” said Ulrich Schulze, Senior Vice President at ESL. “We want to provide players, teams and the passionate CS:GO fans all around the world with the best possible experience – esports at its purest.”