Esports production company and event organiser BLAST has confirmed that it will produce the first-ever CS:GO Major in France.
The tournament, called BLAST.tv Paris Major, is set to take place in May 2023 and will be the first BLAST-produced Major in CS:GO.
The upcoming tournament will be the first Major since 2019’s Starladder Berlin Major that is not produced by ESL Gaming or PGL. PGL was behind the last two CS:GO Majors, with ESL Gaming set to host the upcoming Major in Brazil later this year.
The news about BLAST’s Major was shared by a number of media outlets last week, however BLAST only confirmed the event over the weekend. French president Emmanuel Macron annonuced the event on his official Twitter acount on Sunday.
Macron has campaigned for France to host large-scale esports tournaments in the past, including the CS:GO Major, but also the League of Legends World Championships and The International in Dota 2. For now, only CS:GO is definitely coming to France.
This is also a major announcement for BLAST, a company that notably did not apply to host any Majors before this one. In recent months, BLAST has been steadily diversifying its portfolio and angling itself towards more games than just CS:GO. This has resulted in the company producing large-scale events in both FIFA and Fortnite.
Robbie Douek, BLAST CEO, commented on the announcement: “BLAST has always had an ambition and dream to be involved in a Major, an event that is rightly viewed as the pinnacle of esports and competitive gaming. We’ve been watching and waiting for the right moment to deliver an unforgettable Major.
“Paris is the world-class location to host the tournament and will precede another high-profile international event in the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. Next year marks 10 years of Majors and we are highly confident of marking this occasion by delivering the greatest Major to date for CS:GO fans to experience and enjoy.”
