Cologne/New York – ESL Gaming, the world’s leading esports company, today revealed details about the highly-anticipated Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Rio CS:GO Major Championship, the first-ever Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Major to take place in Brazil. Coming to the heart of South America, the competition is set to take place October 31-November 13, with fans being able to experience the spectacular action live at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 10-13.
With a great deal at stake, 24 of the world’s best CS:GO teams will face off in this 18th CS:GO Major in order to compete for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be the winner of the very first CS:GO Major in South America. Moreover, the teams have a chance to take home their share of the US$1M total prize pool and a win towards their Intel® Grand Slam run.
The CS:GO Major consists of three stages, each its own format. During the first phase, the Challengers Stage will host 16 teams qualifying via IEM Road to Rio (the RMR series) to enter a Swiss bracket and face off in a best-of-one. The elimination and advancement matches will be played out as best-of-three, with the top eight teams proceeding to the Legends Stage. Here, these teams are joined by eight other teams coming through IEM Road to Rio while playing a similar format to the previous stage. The eight best teams in the Legends Stage will qualify for the Champions Stage that will be played out in a single-elimination playoff bracket and that will allow for the best team to eventually claim the coveted title.
“We couldn’t be more excited to finally bring the Major to Rio de Janeiro,” said Ulrich Schulze, SVP Product Management at ESL Gaming. “The ever-growing and passionate Brazilian esports community is amazing and for the past couple of years we have been hoping to provide the fans with one of the greatest esports experiences ever. Now the time is finally here and we can’t wait for the world’s best CS:GO teams to ultimately enter the Jeunesse Arena and have it shake to its foundations from the excitement from Brazil and beyond.”
“Intel is very proud to bring Intel Extreme Masters back to Brazil – and this time as a CS:GO Major so our local gaming community can experience firsthand one of the top CS:GO tournaments in the world. Gaming happens with Intel, and we have increasingly sought to offer the best technologies to gamers around the world. Brazil is one of Intel’s key markets in the world and when it comes to gaming, 3 out of 4 Brazilians play electronic games, so being part of the organization of an event as big as this one is very important for us”, says Carlos Augusto Buarque, marketing director at Intel Brazil.
The IEM Rio Major marks ESL Gaming’s 10th Major since the very first Major tournament took place at DreamHack Winter in 2013. The event was initially set to take place between April 26 and May 24, 2020, but eventually got postponed due to the ongoing global pandemic. Nonetheless, ESL Gaming and Valve have been devoted to bringing the CS:GO Major to Brazil once circumstances would allow.
The tickets for the IEM Rio Major will go on sale on Wednesday, May 25 at 14:00 BRT/19:00 CEST. Prices range between R$90 for an early bird Thursday/Friday one-day ticket, and R$1,999 for the Lounge ticket. More details about what each ticket type entails and information about how to secure your particular tickets can be found here.
Fans who bought a ticket in 2020 and decided to keep it instead of refunding it, can use that respective ticket for the same day(s) and categories of the tournament.
For more information about the IEM Rio Major, and the latest updates, please visit the official website, and follow ESL CS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
