London will host the decider of a major professional gaming tournament next year when the Counter-Strike 2 Spring Final rolls into the UK capital.
As part of the five-day event, eight of the best teams will duke it out for a massive prize pool of £350,000, and a place in the world final next year, where an even bigger prize pool of $1 million (£824,000) awaits.
The action will take place at Wembley Arena on June 12-16, with the last three days of the tournament happening in front of a live crowd between Friday, June 14 - Sunday, June 16.
Tickets for the event will go on presale from Wednesday, October 25 and general sale from Friday, October 27.
While rival Call of Duty gets all the glory, Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) has steadily built up a reputation as one of the most popular first-person shooter franchises of all time.
The game’s tactical stealth-based gameplay and fast-paced gunplay make for great entertainment. Its no-nonsense setup - terrorists vs counter-terrorists in quick-fire skirmishes on tight maps - also means it’s easy to follow. Together, those ingredients have turned it into a mega esports title.
More than a decade since its launch, CS:GO has consistently remained one of the most popular games on Steam, consistently attracting over three million players per day. It also regularly ranks as one of the most-watched games on livestreaming site Twitch.
In late September, the franchise received a massive overhaul with the release of Counter-Strike 2. The new game boasts radically improved graphics compared to its 2012 predecessor, courtesy of Valve’s Source Engine 2. The same game engine is used to power other Valve games praised for their graphics including Dota 2 and Half-Life: Alyx.
The Spring Final forms part of a packed calendar of CS:GO competitions for esports firm Blast. The company hosts seven events throughout the year across two seasons as part of the Blast Premier global tournament series. The winners from the Spring and Fall finals then go into the world final, or the final of finals if you will, where one team is crowned the world champions.
Although the qualifying teams have yet to be decided, you can probably expect to see last year’s winners G2 at the London event. They’ll likely be competing for a place in the tournament with the likes of Navi, Faze Clan, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, Astralis, Big, OG Esports, Evil Geniuses, Complexity, NIP, and Heroic.
The Spring Final 2024 will be the biggest Counter-Strike event to take place in the UK since the London Major 2018, which also took place at Wembley Arena and saw Danish organisation Astralis crowned champions.
The decision to bring the final to the UK capital should help to bolster London’s ambition to become a hub for pro-gaming. Already this year, the city has played host to several esports and video games events including the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, the Red Bull Contested Fortnite tournament, and the Pokémon Europe International Championships.
The UK currently has an 8 per cent share of the global esports industry, according to the Ukie, the trade body for the games and interactive entertainment industry.
The location of the Spring Final was officially announced at the ESI London 2023 esports and games festival in Boxpark Wembley, a stone’s throw from where the tourney will be held.
Andrew Haworth, programme director for Blast Premier, said: "London is renowned for hosting world-leading events in sport, music and entertainment with the city now setting its sights on being a leading destination for esports."
He continued: "We look forward to working with London & Partners and Live Nation to achieve this aim. Bringing the first Blast Premier arena event of 2024 to London is an important and exciting first step in this journey."
