Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's Third ECS Begins February 18th
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is ramping up for another big tournament with the start of the third Esports Championship Series on February 18th, the beginning of qualifiers. The Open Qualifiers take place on the weekend of the 18th-19th and the 25th-26th.
“The top two teams from both North America and Europe will then battle the relegated teams from the ECS Season 2 in a best-of-five match,” ECS detailed in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “The winner of each showdown will earn their place in Season 3 and the chance to compete alongside CS:GO powerhouses Astralis, FaZe, Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming, along with the opportunity to opt-in to a co-ownership stake in the ECS league. This arrangement gives participating teams financial and benefits, akin to the co-ownership arrangements of professional sports leagues like the NBA.”
Four qualifying teams and four invited teams will compete in the Development League, and compete in a best of two round robin from February 28th to the March 16th.
In the second series of ECS, players competed for a $750,000 prize pool. Wish I could aim.
ECS is also bringing back the Community Caster Challenge, letting casters show off their talent by streaming the ECS Development League, possibly earning an invite to the ECS studios. Details can be found in the ECS blog post.
