Valve has awarded Ukranian based company StarLadder the 15th Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major, which will take place in the Fall of 2019, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. It is expected that event will take place in Berlin, Germany with an in-house English production, one source said.
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StarLadder has organized a number of premier tournaments in Counter-Strike but had yet to receive a Major prior to this award. Germany will be also be a first for them, as all of their StarSeries events have previously taken place in Ukraine, Belarus, and China.
With the IEM Katowice 2019 Major ending in early March, there will be approximately a six month gap between the two events. Unless a change is made, the yearly player break toward the end of August will precede the event like it did for the FACEIT Major: London.
StarLadder recently hosted the ChongQing Dota 2 Major.[ad name=”article2″]
The news about StarLadder comes just days before the New Challengers Stage of the IEM Katowice Major is due to begin. The highly anticipated event will kick off on February 13 and the first round matches were revealed by ESL on February 6.
Majors are the most prestigious events in CS:GO due to the support from Valve, in-game team and player stickers, and large prize pool of $1,000,000. A percentage of all sticker purchases goes directly to the competitors.
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Players that make the playoff stages with their team are also awarded unique in-game medals for their accomplishments. Viewers receive extra incentive to watch the tournament by participating in the team Pick’em challenge.
Fans will need to purchase the newly released IEM Katowice Viewer Pass for $9.99 in order to play the Pick’em challenge. Buying the pass will now ensure that all viewers receive souvenir cases if they watch matches during the event.
