After much doubt and several contradictory statements, ESL has finally decided on the format of ESL One Cologne 2020. Despite the fact that the tournament organizer initially planned to hold the competition in a face-to-face format, this will not be possible in the end. Due to the fact that the epidemic situation remains difficult, many countries continue to impose restrictions on public events and foreign travel. In the official blog, ESL representatives note that the team made every possible effort to hold a LAN tournament, but still failed to achieve this. After carefully studying the rules of international travel that are currently in effect, it was decided to hold the competition online.
All teams will be divided into four regional divisions. Thus, teams from Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania will compete separately. Teams will compete for $500,000 in prize money. The participation of some teams has already been confirmed. Thus, Astralis, fnatic, NAVI, G2 and about ten other top teams received places in the European division. From North American teams TeamLiquid, 100 Thieves and EvilGeniuses were invited, from Asia – TyLoo, and from – Renegades.
At the same time, ESL hopes that from the beginning of 2021 it will be possible to return to the usual format of LAN tournaments.
