ESL has announced how the next two IEM tournaments will be played. It is expected that the November IEM: Beijing-Haidan competition will be held in an online format, divided into regional divisions, but the IEM: Global Challenge in December is planned to be held with the usual LAN matches, which players have had to get used to over the past six months.
ESL representatives explain that these plans remain in place “unless there is a dramatic deterioration in the situation on a global scale.” IEM: Global Challenge will be the first major LAN tournament since March, when the competition organizer had to abandon this format due to the risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The IEM: Global Challenge prize pool will be $500,000, and the top eight teams from North America and Europe will compete for it. A studio in Cologne was chosen as the venue.
However, even before this, in November, another ESL tournament should take place – IEM: Beijing-Haidan. It will be organized into four divisions based on geography. 32 teams will compete for a total prize pool of $250,000, and will also be able to receive rating points, which will be taken into account to qualify for the first Masters series tournament in 2021.
