BLAST Pro Series has announced a new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament series, BLAST Premier, which will have a total annual prize pool of $4.25 million (£3.4 million) in 2020.
The circuit will have two season finals and a Global Final where the winning team will take home $500,000 (£399,807.50) and $1,000,000 (£799,615) respectively.
Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST Pro Series discussed the venture in a release: “The next evolution of our tournament series is going to blow people away. We have spent months developing the right format. A format that will create the greatest entertainment product for fans at events and viewers watching across the world. We believe we have perfected that format. We will finish the year with a surge of excitement as we crown the 2019 BLAST Pro Series Champion. And we look forward to creating something incredible in esports with BLAST PREMIER in 2020.”
The official announcement for the circuit states that it gives the opportunity for any team to qualify for both the season finals and Global Final. The series will utilise best-of-three series, ditching the best-of-ones that were used in BLAST Pro Series.
Nicolas Estrup, Director of Product and Experience at BLAST Pro Series added: “Developing our 2020 format and experience has been one of the most exciting tasks since I joined the company. We’ve taken onboard the incredible feedback from our show surveys and across the Counter-Strike community.
“It’s only been 12 months since we were in Istanbul, our second ever event, and here we are, almost a full trip around the world later and a lot wiser. The culmination of everything we’ve done so far is BLAST PREMIER – a competitive Best of 3 format, where anyone can win the Global Final – enhanced by great storytelling and a fan focused experience.”
Earlier this week, the tournament organiser revealed that its 2019 Global Final will be hosted in Bahrain with a total prize pool of $500,000 (£401,225).
Esports Insider says: The CS:GO scene is going to be in a weird and busy state in 2020 with the ESL Pro Tour and now BLAST Premier. It appears as that companies are trying to corner the market and become the sole organiser of prominent events and we sincerely hope that doesn’t happen.
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