Due to the worsening situation with coronavirus in Europe, ESL had to abandon plans to hold the IEM Global Challenge in a LAN format. The tournament organizer had previously hoped to stage the competition in Cologne to mark the end of a year in which most of the competition was held online. However, on October 29, German authorities announced that a partial lockdown would be introduced from November, and as a result, the possibility of holding large events was in doubt.
Michal “Carmac” Bliharz, Vice President of Professional Esports at ESL, commented on the decision as follows: “Given the increase in the number of Covid-19 infections in Europe, we are moving the competition online. We would love to bring everyone together for this tournament, but we feel an obligation to act responsibly towards the players and staff involved in organizing the event."
The dates of the tournament will not change: the IEM Global Challenge will take place from December 15 to 20, and the total prize fund will be $500,000. Since the participants included the best teams from Europe and North America, and the tournament itself will be the final one for 2020, the results achieved in it will be taken into account for the Intel Grand Slam.
By now it is known that Heoric and FURIA have already passed the selection. The remaining teams will be determined based on the results of IEM Beijing-Haidan, as well as the ESL rating.
