Asian esports event organiser Hero Esports (formerly VSPO) has unveiled the format for its Counter-Strik 2 (CS2) competition in the Asian Champions League (ACL), a new multi-title esports tournament.
According to a post by Hero Esports, the event will be divided into four stages, starting with the Open Qualifiers. This means that any team from the country can participate and earn their way to a major competition, a first for the Chinese CS2 esports scene.
All stages of the competition will also take place in venues across China.
From February 15th to March 23rd, teams will play in a mixed best-of-one (BO1) and best-of-three (BO3) single-elimination format in what has been called the ‘Rookie’ stage.
The top eight regional winners will each win $4,000 (~£3,283) and will face off in a double elimination bracket to earn a chance to enter the next phase, the ‘Rookie Advanced’ stage.
In this stage, the four qualified teams will face four invited teams in a double-elimination bracket. The best four will advance to the Closed Qualifiers, taking place in mid-April, facing teams ranked 5th to 16th in Asia’S Valve Regional Standings (VRS).
The winning four teams will then face the top four of the Asia VRS in the playoffs stage, featuring a BO3 double-elimination bracket. The two finalists will head to the ACL Grand Finals on May 16th in Shanghai. Featuring a total prize pool of $300,000 (~£246,237), the winning team will take home $100,000 (~£82,079).
Announced in September 2024, the ACL is a multi-title esports tournament run by the Asia Champions League Foundation, a division within Hero Esports. With a six-month-long season and up to 10 game titles in its debut edition, the company has recently confirmed a total prize pool of 15m RMB (~£1.67m).
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Shanghai, Hero Esports (previously known as VSPO) is one of the biggest tournament operators in Asia. The company made headlines in 2023 when it received a $265m (~£219m) investment from Savvy Games Group, a Saudi Arabian investment group launched and owned by the government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
