ESL Pro Tour for StarCraft® II to Return to Intel® Extreme Masters Katowice 2024

ESL FACEIT Group announces additional tournaments in the ESL Pro Tour 2023/24 season, including ESL SC2 Masters Spring 2024 and a brand new ESL Pro Tour Championship event later next summer

November 10, Cologne/New York/Katowice – As 64 top StarCraft® II (SC2) players are continuing their extragalactic battle at the ESL SC2 Masters Winter 2023: Regionals, ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), the leading esports and video game entertainment company, today announced that the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) for StarCraft II 2023/24 season will continue next year with three additional live competitions.

On top of the weekly ESL Open Cups, two ESL SC2 Masters seasons, and one EPT Championship announced earlier this year, the 2023/24 program will include a live standalone event at Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2024 as well as an additional Masters season.

Intel® Extreme Masters SC2 Katowice 2024

The EPT for SC2 will return to Katowice, Poland, with a standalone competition. On February 8 - 11, 2024, 24 of the world’s best players will enter the Auditorium of the International Conference Center (MCK) to battle it out live in front of their fans. The contenders will compete for a share of the $500,000 total prize pool and the top four will secure themselves a spot in the EPT Championship event later next year.

The 24 spots of the standalone tournament will be distributed as follows:

• Eight players will be invited based on them winning a regional competition:
  • ESL SC2 Masters Summer 2023 - EU Regionals Champion:
    • Joona “Serral” Sotala
  • ESL SC2 Masters Summer 2023 - AM Regionals Champion:
    • Maxwell “Astrea” Angel
  • ESL SC2 Masters Summer 2023 - AS Regionals Champion:
    • Reigning World Champion Li “Oliveira” Peinan
  • ESL SC2 Masters Winter 2023 - EU Regionals Champion
  • ESL SC2 Masters Winter 2023 - AM Regionals Champion
  • ESL SC2 Masters Winter 2023 - AS Regionals Champion
  • Global StarCraft II League 2023 - Season 1 & Season 2 Champion
    • Cho “Maru” Seong-ju
      
  • Global StarCraft II League 2023 - Season 3 Champion
    • Kang "Solar" Min-soo
• The 16 remaining contenders will be defined based on Open Qualifiers, for which anyone can sign up, and Closed Qualifiers, which will pit the top placements of the Open Qualifiers against invitees from the EPT standings:
  • Qualifiers will take place from December 5 - 10, more information available here.

The ticket sale for IEM SC2 Katowice 2024 starts on November 15, 2023, at 3pm CET. More details about the ticket types – including 4-day Premium tickets featuring an exclusive goodie bag, 4-day Regular tickets, and 1-day Regular tickets – and how to secure your particular ticket can be found here. Limited seats are available for free on a first come, first serve basis for IEM Expo visitors.

“Each year, IEM Katowice really is a unique highlight for the StarCraft community and every player dreams of ultimately lifting the iconic IEM trophy in front of their fans,” said Oleksii Trushliakov, Senior Product Manager – StarCraft II at ESL FACEIT Group. “We’re therefore thrilled to return to Poland again at the beginning of 2024 and can’t wait to create countless more memorable moments together with all of you. At the same time, we’re expanding and upgrading the current EPT season with two additional tournaments and look forward to continuing our support of the StarCraft II esports scene.”

The remainder of the ESL Pro Tour 2023/24 season

Unlike previous years, the currently ongoing EPT season will continue after IEM Katowice. In the spring of 2024 there will be another ESL SC2 Masters season of which the top four will qualify for the EPT Championship event as well. With an extra $50,000 in prize money up for grabs compared to previous seasons, the Spring 2024 season will see a total prize pool of $250,000:

• Online Regionals featuring $150,000 in prize money will take place on April 11 - May 5.
• Finals featuring a $100,000 prize pool will take place live at the immersive gaming lifestyle festival DreamHack Dallas 2024 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, USA, on May 31 - June 2.
  • Ticket sale dates, types, and prices for DreamHack Dallas 2024 will be announced.

The 2023/24 season of the EPT will come to an epic conclusion in the summer of 2024 at the new flagship EPT Championship event, which will crown the next World Champion. Stay tuned as further details will be revealed at a later date.

The currently ongoing ESL SC2 Masters Winter 2023: Regionals will come to a conclusion on November 19, 2023. The world’s best players will then secure a spot at the live Finals taking place at DreamHack Atlanta 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on December 15 - 17. Fans looking forward to follow the battles from around the globe can tune in during the live transmissions on ESL’s Twitch and Youtube channels, and via dedicated broadcast partners. Those looking to experience the interstellar action of the finale in-person can purchase their DreamHack Atlanta ticket here as tickets to the festival also grant access to the SC2 stage.

For more information about the ESL Pro Tour in StarCraft II, for the latest news updates, and to follow all the matches live, check out the official website and follow ESL StarCraft 2 on X (formerly Twitter).

For more general information, head to eslfaceitgroup.com or follow ESL FACEIT Group on LinkedIn.