ESL has announced that the Rio CS:GO major will now take place in November – replacing the previously pencilled in second 2020 major – due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
CS:GO fans were pumped to see a major descend on Brazil in May, but they’ll have to wait towards the end of the year to see the action go down in South America. The tournament will now run from November 19-22. These dates were previously set aside for the second major of the year, but Rio will now replace it, with the prize money being added to Rio’s total to bring it up to $2,00,000. This will make it the biggest CS:GO major prize pool in the esports’ history.
The venue for the major, the Jeunesse Arena, remains the same and tickets purchased to attend in May will be valid in November, however refunds are being made available for those who cannot make the new dates.
The May 2020 @CSGO Major in Rio has been rescheduled to November 19-22 due to the COVID-19 situation. The event will remain at Jeunesse Arena and the prize money will be added to the November Major, upping it to $2,000,000https://t.co/WXxJGdSkbK
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 23, 2020
Minor qualifying events for ESL One Rio were set to begin next month, but new dates for these are yet to be confirmed.
14 of the teams for Rio have already been confirmed, with the remaining ten spots up for grabs through the regional minors.
Hopefully we will be safely on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic when November comes around, as a major-less CS:GO year will be heartbreaking for fans, particularly those who were excited to see Brazil play host to a major for the first time.
