The ESL CS:GO UK Premiership is a competition for Valve's shooter that has been running for six seasons already, and now organiser ESL has announced it'll return for a seventh, beginning on Monday February 19, making it the longest-running CS:GO tournament in the history of the UK.
The competition, powered by Intel and Gaming from Currys PC World, has been expanded from eight to 10 teams, split into two groups of five. Playoffs have also been added to the Premiership, with thrid and fourth places teams competing across groups before facing second place teams for a place at the LAN finals. What's more is that the prize pool will be increased to £12,000 this year and the 2018 champions will compete at in the Mountain Dew League at a European level too (a competition that gives low-level teams a chance to shine), as part of the Path to Pro programme.
The group stage will run for five weeks, and matches will be broadcasted on Monday and Wednesday evenings. We don't have a full schedule just yet, but this will be released soon, as well as details on the live finals to be held in late April.
"We are super excited to bring back the CS:GO ESL Premiership powered by Intel and Gaming from Currys PC World for another season," commented James Dean, UK managing director at ESL. "By increasing the prize pool and including more teams at the group stage, we are working hard to provide more opportunities for UK esports players to compete at the highest level and solidify the ESL Premiership as the UK's premium national esports league."
Are you a regular viewer of the UK Premiership?