ESL Pro League will continue to feature Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) for the time being, despite the release of Counter-Strike 2. The tournament organizers have decided to preserve the integrity of the ongoing competition and plan to host future events on CS2.
ESL confirmed on September 27 that CS:GO will be the focus of ESL Pro League Season 18, considering it potentially the last Tier 1 league in this chapter of Counter-Strike’s history.
While there was speculation about when the competitive scene would transition to CS2 and what would happen if the game was released during a tournament, ESL has made it clear that they will not switch to CS2 in the middle of the ongoing Pro League.
Despite polling players on the possibility of switching to CS2 upon its release, ESL has decided to stick with CS:GO for now.
In the world of Counter-Strike, different tournament organizers host various leagues and competitions, with Valve awarding certain organizers rights to Majors. As the competition for events is fierce, many organizers have used the strategy of declaring their event as “the last XYZ CS:GO event” to attract attention from esports fans.
BLAST and ESL have both employed this tactic in the past, but now that CS2 has been released, fans can finally enjoy the game without the constant marketing of “last events.”
CS2, the highly anticipated new version of the Counter-Strike franchise, was released during an ESL Pro League match between Complexity and Monte.
| Time | Score |
|---|---|
| Before Release | Complexity vs. Monte |
| After Release | Complexity vs. Monte |
Source: DOTESPORTS
