ESL One Cologne 2020 to be Held Online with Four Regional Divisions

ESL have decided to transition ESL One Cologne 2020 to online due to the global travel restrictions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of being held at ESL Studio in Cologne, Germany, as was planned initially, the event will be played online between August 18th – 30th and will be split into four regional leagues – Europe, North America, Oceania and Asia. The tournament’s prize pool has been reduced from $1,000,000 down to $500,000 – the rest of the money will be evenly split between IEM Katowice and ESL One Cologne in 2021.

The biggest regional division is Europe, where sixteen teams will compete for a $325,000 prize pool. Astralis, Fnatic, Natus Vincere, G2 Esports, mousesports, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and BIG received slots at the event thanks to their Road to Cologne rating, while Complexity Gaming, OG, Heroic and MAD Lions have been invited thanks to their ESL World Ranking. Additionally, the tournament line-up includes Team Heretics, who are the champions of EPEC 2020. The final participant will be announced on July 20th.

North America is the second-biggest region, with eight teams competing for $135,000. Among confirmed participants are Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses, FURIA Esports, Cloud9 and Gen.G Esports.

Both Oceanic and Asian divisions will feature four teams competing for $20,000. Currently we know only one participant of each league – Renegades and TyLoo respectively.

Earlier we reported that GG.Bet has become the official global betting partner of a number of Dota 2 and CS:GO events by ESL in 2020, ESL One Cologne 2020 included.